Presentation focusing on common evaluation mistakes and how audience members can avoid similar situations. Slides contain a list of audience generated take aways and lessons learned.

1. Evaluation Bloopers
and How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes
Panel presentation at the 2015 Eastern Evaluation
Research Society Conference, Absecon, NJ

2. Cheryl M. Ackerman
@AckermanCheryl
University of Delaware
Your Fearless Leaders
Jennifer Hamilton
@limeygrl
Westat
Isaac Castillo
@Isaac_outcomes
DC Promise
Neighborhood Initiative

3. Let’s Get Real: Evaluation Problems &
Solutions
We all make mistakes
Open discussion and therapy session
Turning water into wine, lemons into
lemonade…
Introduction

4. Evaluation design
Evaluation administration
Data analysis, cleaning, & reporting
Working with people
Take-aways & Wrap-up
Structure

5. 1. Mistakes happen. Own them and
move on. Bad things happen to good
evaluators.
2. Courses devoted to mistakes
3. don’t make assumptions, and
test/check assumptions
Participant Take-Aways

6. 4. Forgive others for mistakes. Help
people through them.
5. Value people sharing mistakes –
especially with junior evaluators.
6. Have / find a support system to lean
on and share with. 12 step program
for evaluators.
Participant Take-Aways

7. 7. Document as much as possible.
Transparency is important.
8. Mentor or orient others. Don’t be the
evaluator that doesn’t share. Ask for
mentoring. Say yes to people that ask
you to be a mentor.
9. Multi-level set of control and build in
time for review.
Participant Take-Aways

8. 10. Recognize and present on
challenges/mistakes. Talk about
what didn’t work.
11. On going professional development.
Don’t assume you know everything
12. Build in time. And recognize that
time spent time in beginning can
save time on back end.
Participant Take-Aways

9. 13. Self-evaluation and self-reflection is
important. Create time and space to
review what worked and didn’t
work for each evaluation.
14. Share mistakes with others and use
them as a way to talk about solutions
and potential remedies.
Participant Take-Aways

10. Our mistakes change with
experience
We all make mistakes, so ask
and accept help
We all see mistakes, so provide
help (nicely)
Wrap-Up

11. Acknowledgements