Evaluating Impact

Making a difference: evaluating the impact of your work Vivienne Porritt Executive Director London Centre for Leadership in Learning Institute of Education

v.porritt@ioe.ac.uk

www.lcll.org.uk

Aims To support you in developing and refining your approach to evaluating the impact of your work • Designing for impact – clarity of purpose • Achieving impact - approaches • Evaluating impact – applying the approach and evidence

Key questions…

• Why should we evaluate impact – what is its purpose?

• What is impact evaluation?

• For whom do you want to make a difference?

• What kind of a difference?

• By when will the difference be seen?

• Does it make a positive difference?

• How much of a difference?

• How do we know – nature of evidence?

• How can we evaluate impact simply and practically? © Copyright LCLL, 2008

Designing impact Why should we work on impact evaluation?

For whom do you want to make a difference?

Š Copyright LCLL, 2008

By when do you want to make a difference?

• • • •

short term? medium term? long term? practical implications of timescale? © Copyright LCLL, 2008

Establish learning objectives and outcomes at the planning stage “ Good evaluation does not need to be complex; what is necessary is good planning and paying attention to evaluation at the outset of the professional development program, not at the end �

Guskey, 2002

Guskey’s levels pupil learning outcomes use of new knowledge and skills

organization support and change

professional learning

initial reactions

How will you know?

From what ……….

to what?

• • • •

• • • •

Baseline picture Current practice Information / data Type of measure

© Copyright LCLL, 2007

Impact picture Changed practice Information / data Type of measure

Does it make a positive difference?

• How much of a difference?

• Implications for return on investment?

• To whom?

• By when?

© Copyright LCLL, 2008

Does it make a positive difference?

What evidence will demonstrate the difference you have made?

Distinguish between Evidence source Evidence

Evidence

Evidence

source

© Copyright LCLL, 2008

A simple and practical approach Plan at the beginning • For whom do you want to make a difference?

• What is the difference you want to make?

• By when?

• Establish a baseline picture and evidence and data at the outset • Establish the impact picture you want to achieve and evidence and data at the outset Then • Evaluate the difference you have achieved © Copyright LCLL, 2008

© Copyright LCLL, 2008

At the outset – to design actions needed

Your collaborative focus: Evidence sources Adults Pupils

Evidence Adults

Pupils

Soft data

Impact practice outset – date? For whom?

Adults?

Pupils?

School:

--------------------------------------------------------------------Hard data

Evidence sources Adults Pupils

Evidence Adults

Pupils

Soft data

Baseline practice outset - date? For whom?

Adults?

Pupils?

--------------------------------------------------------------------Hard data