Reporting Project Evaluation Results in NSF Annual Reports

National Science Foundation grantees are required to submit annual reports through Research.gov. ATE principal investigators should include information from their ATE project’s or center’s evaluation. But when you look at the required sections, you will not see one that says, “Evaluation Results.” That would be too easy! Lori Wingate’s recent blog, “What Goes Where? Reporting Evaluation Results to NSF,” offers straightforward guidance for this task.

Reimagining Evaluation Reports

A detailed technical report is by far the most common means of communicating evaluation results. If you need something different to share with your project’s stakeholders, get some fresh ideas from BetterEvaluation’s overview and resources on alternative reporting media. These include newsletters, postcards, web conferences, posters, videos, cartoons, and infographics—just to name a few.  If you just need an efficient way to report project facts in a no-nonsense manner, try naked reporting – a way of communicating essential project information with minimal descriptive text.

Data Visualization Resources

Great data visualization can make a report more readable and understandable. Bad data visualization can make it confusing and seem unprofessional. Whether reporting within your organization or to external audiences, good charts can help communicate project achievements. Check out Ann Emery’s instructional videos to boost your visualization skills using Excel. To make sure you are getting it right, review your work against the Data Visualization Checklist, by Stephanie Evergreen and Ann Emery. Both of their websites include lots of other helpful information on data visualization.

Party Time!

That’s right, time for a “data party.” Sharing data with stakeholders doesn’t have to be boring. In “Have a Party to Share Evaluation Results,” an AEA365 blog by Kendra Lewis, you’ll learn about gallery walks, data placemats, and other fun and memorable ways to engage stakeholders in reviewing and making sense of evaluation data.

Evaluation Reporting Checklist

Are you writing an evaluation report? Check out EvaluATE’s Evaluation Reporting Checklist – Version 1.1 (a new version is being developed – stay tuned). This checklist is full of helpful guidance for developing comprehensive and straightforward evaluation reports. EvaluATE is currently looking for a few volunteers to pilot Version 1.2 and provide feedback. If you are interested, please send an email to kelly.robertson@wmich.edu – you’ll be among the first to review the new and improved checklist and help shape the final product. Just want to learn more about evaluation reporting?  Watch the recording of EvaluATE’s December 2016 webinar, Anatomy of a User-Friendly Evaluation Report.

American Evaluation Association (AEA) Summer Evaluation Institute

This year’s AEA Summer Evaluation Institute is June 4-7 in Atlanta, Georgia. EvaluATE’s director, Lori Wingate, is giving two workshops on Identifying Evaluation Questions. You can also learn about evaluation theory, survey design, logic modeling, evaluating collaborations, data visualization, and much more from a great line-up of instructors.

Did you miss our last webinar? Get the slides, recording, and handout here.