University Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness

Evaluation

ASU’s Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness is uniquely positioned to provide evaluation assistance and/or to serve in an independent evaluation capacity for externally funded programs and grants or for internal evaluation efforts. We develop evaluation plans, design research and evaluation instruments, collect quantitative and qualitative data, analyze results, and provide high quality reports to clients.

What is UOEEE’s evaluation capacity?

  • UOEEE staff members perform a variety of evaluation roles from external consultants to guide internal evaluation activities to running full service evaluations.
  • Senior leaders, Dr. Shelly Potts and Dr. Lenay Dunn, provide training and consultation to universities across the country on program evaluation.
  • We have five trained and experienced evaluators on our team, and three of our staff members serve on the Executive Board for the Arizona Evaluation Network, the local affiliate of the American Evaluation Association.
  • Members of our team have experience conducting evaluations for a variety of funding agencies, including the U.S. Dept. of Education, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Summerbridge/Breakthrough Collaborative, U.S. Marine Corps, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Math National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Guilford County, NC School District, Operation Aware, First 5 LA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Safe States Alliance.

What types of evaluation services does UOEEE offer?

  • Development of evaluation sections for grant proposals
  • Monitoring program goals
  • Measuring program outcomes
  • Small scale evaluation of programs
  • Full scale evaluation of programs
  • Social science research planning, data collection, and reporting
  • Consultation and evaluation capacity building for university units

While most of our services to the University are provided free of charge, selected services are part of our recharge center function and have associated fees and rates. Information about our recharge center is located here: http://sharedresources.asu.edu/node/5504 .

Please contact Dr. Shelly Potts at 480-965-9291 or shelly.potts@asu.edu or Dr. Lenay Dunn at 480-965-9291 or lenay.dunn@asu.edu to discuss your evaluation needs.

What is evaluation?

  • Process of determining merit or worth of a project
  • Systematic way of determining how well a project is meeting its goals
    • Define outcomes in measureable terms
    • Ask good questions
    • Collect information to answer questions
    • Use answers for project improvement
    • Share information with stakeholders

What can evaluation do?

Provide information to help improve a project

  • Measure progress
  • Inform activities, practices, & resource allocation
  • Identify problems and costs
  • Identify unintended consequences

Provide information for stakeholders or funders

    • Determine outcomes & impact
    • Confirm success
    • Enhance planning, decision-making, & policymaking

Sample UOEEE External Evaluation Projects and Clients:

National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), Arizona State University

National Science Foundation, Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE): CareerWise, Arizona State University

U.S. Department of Education, Child Care Access Means Parents In School Program(CCAMPIS), Arizona State University

National Science Foundation, GK-12 GIOS: Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools, Arizona State University

National Science Foundation, MAISON: Middleware for Accessible Information Spaces on NSDL, Arizona State University.

U.S. Department of Education, FIPSE Comprehensive Program, Center for Small Business, Arizona State University

National Science Foundation, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) in Urban Ecology, Arizona State University