Transformimg Jewish Lives
Program Evaluation
Afterschool Evaluation 101: How to Evaluate an Expanded Learning Program Featured
Afterschool Evaluation 101 is a how-to guide from The Harvard Family Research Project for conducting an evaluation. It is designed to help out-of-school time (OST) program directors who have little or no evaluation experience develop an evaluation strategy. The guide will walk you through the early planning stages, help you select the evaluation design and data collection methods that are best suited to your program, and help you analyze the data and present the results.
Evaluation helps your OST program measure how successfully it has been implemented and how well it is achieving its goals. You can do this by comparing the activities you intended to implement and the outcomes you intended to accomplish to the activities you actually implemented and the outcomes you actually achieved.
- Handbooks and Guides
- Reference
Assessing the Effectiveness of School Leaders: New Directions and New Processes
Research concludes that most assessments of school leaders in use today are not as focused on learning as they should be, nor are they effective in gathering reliable facts about how leaders' behaviors are or are not promoting learning. This Wallace Perspective describes the elements of a possible new direction in leader assessment - what should be assessed, and how. It highlights newly-developed assessment instruments that seek to apply those elements. And it discusses the potential, the challenges and the unknowns of using assessment as a key means of promoting not only better leader performance but also systemwide improvements that benefit children.
Assessing the ...
- Research Reports and Studies
Center for Educational Technology (CET)
The Center for Educational Technology (CET) is an Israeli, nonprofit organization, dedicated to the advancement of the education system in Israel, in the Jewish world and around the globe. In its 37 years of activity, CET has invested significant resources in carrying out its social mission, and has established its expertise and reputation as a content developer, introducer of advanced technologies and the leader of next generation learning.
- Organizations - National and International Organizations
Contact: The Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
Contact is the quarterly journal of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. Each issue of Contact explores vital issues affecting the American Jewish community and the philanthropic vision of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. It is the goal of Contact to stimulate discussion throughout the community on the most effective programs and ideas that will help to revitalize American Jewish life.
- Journals
- Organizations - Foundations
Enhancing Program Performance with Logic Models
Online course that introduces a holistic approach to planning and evaluating education and outreach programs. Module 1 helps program practitioners use and apply logic models. Module 2 applies logic modeling to a national effort to evaluate community nutrition education.
- Programs and Initiatives
- Reference
- Interactive Resources - Online Courses
Evaluation 101: Evaluating Jewish Youth Programs
Evaluation is critical to assessing the effectiveness of Jewish educational and communal programs and services. Evaluation need not be daunting or ominous. Ideally, it is a valuable and manageable process of reflective learning to explore different aspects of a program by asking and answering carefully considered, relevant questions. The following brief article originally appeared, in edited form, in Torah at the Center (Union for Reform Judaism. Volume 12, No. 1. Winter, 2009). The authors consider evaluation in the context of Jewish youth education, camp, enrichment programs, and other youth programming. However, the ideas and guidelines presented here are applicable to and valuable for many other types of programming.
Harvard Family Education Project, Evaluation Publications and Resources
Site includes extensive collection of publications and resources related to methodology and design of program evaluation, especially for out-of-school programs, family involvement, complementary learning, advocacy and communication, and results-based accountability.
- Databases and Resource Centers - Resource Centers
How Can Program Evaluation Help Me? Webinar 1
The first in a 3-part webinar series with Leora Isaacs, JESNA's Vice President for Programs and Organizational Learning, on the how-to's of program evaluation in Jewish education. Webinar 1 focuses on "Why Evaluate," and "How to Get Started."
Please note that the video is broken up into 4 parts (due to file size restrictions), posted here in the correct order. When you get to the end of the first clip, simply click on the next one to play.
You may view and download the PowerPoint that Dr. Isaacs presents in this webinar HERE.
You may also be interested in the JESNA publication Pathways: A Guide for Evaluating Programs in Jewish Settings, which is also discussed in this presentation. Download Pathways here:
How Can Program Evaluation Help Me? Webinar 2
Part 2 of 3 in the webinar series with Dr. Leora Isaacs, JESNA's Vice President for Programs and Organizational Learning, on the how-to's of program evaluation in Jewish education. Webinar 2 focuses on articulating outcomes and planning for successful attainment.
Please note that the video is broken up into 3 parts (due to file size restrictions), posted here in the correct order. When you get to the end of the first clip, simply click on the next one to play.
You may view and download the PowerPoint, worksheets, and Glossary of Commonly used terms that Dr. Isaacs presents in this webinar here:
How Can Program Evaluation Help Me? Webinar 3
The final installment of the Program Evaluation webinar series with Dr. Leora Isaacs, JESNA's Vice President for Programs and Organizational Learning, on the how-to's of program evaluation in Jewish education. Webinar 3 focuses on moving from outputs & outcomes to indicators. You may wish to view the first 2 webinars in this series before viewing this final installment; both are available in the JESNA webinar library here.
Download Dr. Isaacs' PowerPoint presentation from this webinar here:
Program Evaluation Webinar III (1.32 MB)...
- Interactive Resources - Webinars
Introduction to Program Evaluation
Basic introduction to program evaluation. Covers topics including: types of program evaluation, who should be involved, steps in program evaluation, methodologies and techniques, analysis, sharing of results. There is an extensive bibliography for further reading.
- Reference
National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing
National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, includes research reports, and other assessment publications. For more than 36 years, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE) and, more recently, the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) have been on the forefront of efforts to improve the quality of education and learning in America. Located within UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, CSE/CRESST has pioneered the development of scientifically based evaluation and testing techniques, vigorously promoting the accurate use of data, test scores, and technology for improved accountability and decision making.
- Organizations - Academic Institutions
November Learning
November Learning provides a wide range of custom-designed keynotes and practical hands-on workshops. Our NL Review and planning services can help you maximize your investment in educational technology. Services include workshops and keynotes, comprehensive curriculum review, and developing professional development conferences. Online resources include publications, online courses, podcasts, articles, and instructional handouts.
- Organizations
Pathways: A Guide for Evaluating Programs in Jewish Settings
A guide published by CIJE and JESNA in 1997 focusing on program evaluation in response to the growth in Jewish education programming. The guide includes an outline of a program evaluation paradigm, a case study of program evaluation, and an analysis of non-formal, informal, and formal methods.
Pathways: A Guide for Evaluating Programs in Jewish Settings (251.28 kB)
- Handbooks and Guides
Selected Bibliography: Logic Models in Program Evaluation
Bibliography of articles, resources, guides and handbooks on the use of logic models in program evaluation.
Selected Bibliography: Logic Models in Program Evaluation (Link)
Strategic Management of Human Capital
Through a Task Force, this Web site, an Annual Conference, Case Studies and a National Reform Network, the SMHC action project will share and implement nationwide effective practices to recruit, train, retain and reward top teacher and school administrator talent. Website includes many free downloads on professional development and program evaluation for schools.
- Organizations - National and International Organizations
Targilon: A Workbook for Charting the Course of Jewish Family Education
Now that the field of Jewish Family Education is becoming more firmly established, the time is right to seek greater refinement and clearer direction though systematic planning and evaluation. This Targilon (workbook) presents a series of exercises designed to help communities or institutions engage in such planning processes.
Targilon (54.5 kB)
- Handbooks and Guides
The ABCs of Effective Evaluation
Effective evaluation can help organizations, and the Jewish educational and communal sectors, go from good to great. The current economic downturn means funders, federations, central agencies for Jewish education, and program providers have to be savvier than ever about implementing and measuring the impact of their programs and services. Here is what you need to know to hit the ground running, from JESNA's Berman Center for Research and Evaluation.
The Center for Leadership Initiatives Resource Gallery
A list of resources from the Center for Leadership Initiatives, a U.S. based operating foundation dedicated to supporting current and emerging leaders in the Jewish world. The uniqueness of CLI lies in its ability to network key individuals and to listen to the needs they express in their leadership positions. The resource gallery includes links to resources information about the Jewish communal sector and links to Jewish texts, creative forum ideas and facilitation methodologies, reflections on leadership development, and tools and tips for non-profits.
- Databases and Resource Centers - Resource Centers
The International Journal of Jewish Education Research (IJJER)
The International Journal of Jewish Education Research (IJJER) is a peer-reviewed electronic journal with free Internet access. IJJER aims to portray and explore Jewish education as a multifaceted, heuristic and dynamic phenomenon from a variety of disciplinary, geographical, cultural, religious and historical perspectives and contexts. IJJER invites researchers of Jewish education to submit their original studies. The Journal also welcomes researchers in other disciplines to submit manuscripts that enrich and expand understanding of Jewish education.
IJJER aims to provide an interdisciplinary, international and multi-language platform where past and present forms and aspects of Jewish education are reflected through research. The scope of the Journal includes any local or global setting in which Jewish education occurs, ranging from early childhood to adult education and including f ...
- Journals