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Learning from Practice: Continuous Improvement and Evaluation. A- 011B Candice Bocala Spring 2014 Module. What is “improvement”? . [2 min] Think about a time when you or a group you were a part of tried to improve something...
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Learning from Practice: Continuous Improvement and Evaluation A-011B Candice Bocala Spring 2014 Module
What is “improvement”? [2 min] • Think about a time when you or a group you were a part of tried to improve something... • This can be a practice, a routine, a product, or an outcome. [5 min] • Share your experience with your neighbor. Switch after 2 minutes. [5 min] • What common characteristics did each story have?
Evaluation is the systematic assessment of the operation and/or the outcomes of a program or policy, compared to a set of explicit or implicit standardsas a means of contributing to the improvement of the program or policy. Carol Weiss (1998)
Course essential questions • How can program theory be used in evaluation and improvement? • What are the relationships among practitioners, researchers, and evaluators in various models of continuous improvement? • How can improvement science and evaluation practices be used to build organizational capacity?
Assignments • Task: Develop formative evaluation proposal • Key skills & capacities: • Communicate with program stakeholders • Diagram program theory / logic modeling • Write evaluation questions • Align data collection with evaluation questions • Task: Reflect on your learning • Key skills & capacities • Demonstrate understanding and integration of course content • Synthesize learning for your future work
A-011B partner organizations MEDscience Curriculum for High School Students
Logistics Grading: • Attendance and class participation: 25% • Progress on components of evaluation proposal: 25% • Completed evaluation proposal: 25% • Final reflective memo: 25% • Can take class for a grade or pass/fail • Final assignments are due March 13, 2014 (1 week after class ends) • No need for instructor permission to enroll • No enrollment limit on the course
Candice Bocala ceb193@mail.harvard.edu Office: Gutman 405 Hope to see you in class!