Sustaining Evaluation
There are a number of ways of implementing evaluation throughout the year. Each time you meet as a site team, you can evaluate at the end of your meeting (just as the Public Achievement teams evaluate their meetings). You can also evaluate specific events, such as the issue convention. Writing down your responses to a few questions after the issue convention can really help to make next year’s convention even better. You can also do a mid-year review. The following tool is one you can use for a mid-year evaluation. It was created with use of some of the questions from the Year End Self Evaluation Packet. Set aside a specific meeting for your site team in the middle of your Public Achievement year to respond to and discuss the questions.
Mid-Year Review
- How is the year going so far?
- What has happened that was unexpected? How did you deal with it? What did you learn from it?
- What is going well?
- What new things have you tried?
- What is not going well? Is there anything you can change to improve the situation?
- What goals do you have for the remainder of the year?
Work as a Site Team
- How well are you all working together?
- How well do you communicate with one another?
- Are there any problem areas that need to be addressed?
- What things are going well with the site team?
Work with Coaches
- How would you judge the coach training?
- Are there specific things you need to address with the coaches?
- How are the coaches supported by the team?
- How is the communication between coaches and teachers?
- What is going well with the coaches?
Work with Issue Groups
- How did the issue convention go this year?
- How are the teams progressing?
- Have the teams researched their issues sufficiently? Do they have a deep understanding of the issue?
- Have the teams made contacts with the community? If so, how has that gone? If not, how can the site team facilitate community connections?
Are there any other issues that need to be addressed?
What are the site team’s goals for the rest of the year?
Weekly questions for Public Achievement coaches
Please answer yes or no for the first three questions and answer the rest
- Youth are central in planning and implementing the project? (Yes | No)
- Youth accept responsibility for the project’s success or failure? (Yes | No)
- Youth and adults are engaged and working towards the same goal? (Yes | No)
- Explain the topics and related activities that were covered this session.
- What important things did you learn about PA and the civic capacities of individuals?
- What did you learn about the following?
a. youth-
b. communities-
c. institutions-
d. service/citizenship- - What challenges were encountered?
- What opportunities were encountered?
- Describe any interesting project related stories?
- What do you need to do to prepare for the next session?