Data Use Consulting Group and ARCHES Empowerment Evaluation

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DataUse Empowerment Evaluation Workshop

Dr. Paul St. Roseman  (Principal, DataUse Consulting Group) and Sharon Twitty (Executive Director, ARCHES) facilitated a DataUse Empowerment Evaluation Workshop at a Career Success Network Convening. 

It was hosted by the Alliance for Regional Collaboration to Heighten Educational Success (ARCHES).    The goal was to facilitate a collaborative data analysis process that encouraged and supported dialogue, inquiry, decision making, strategic planning, and continuous learning.  Participants included the executive leadership team and data scientist from Educational Results Partnership.  In addition, representatives from the following regions in California were engaged:  Stanislaus, Santa Cruz, and Tulare-Kings.

They were divided into workgroups (focusing on each region). The executive leadership and data scientist worked with each workgroup and served the role of critical friend and technical support. 

Participants completed two activities.  Activity One (60 minutes) focused on collaborative data analysis.  Participants were asked to frame their approach to supporting one another while they reviewed the data. 

This was followed by a collaborative review and analysis of the data set.  Participants considered what the data presented, what it could and could not answer, as well as the strengths and challenges it presented. 

For Activity Two (30 minutes), participants mapped challenges identified in the first activity to strategies that could be administered across the regional collaborative.  Participants also discussed and documented the benefits that may emerge from the strategies.  Each group compiled their work and entered it into Google document worksheets on an activity webpage.  They were encouraged to review each other’s work through a virtual gallery walk and had opportunities to discuss key learnings from session experiences.

At the conclusion of the session, an evaluation (using Google Forms) was administered to regional collaborative participants.  95% of eligible respondents completed the form and 90% of respondents rated the session as excellent (55%) to very good (35%).

 Comments converged across three themes: Session Content, Data, and Collaboration.  Participants appreciated session content and activities.  They communicated that they were thoughtful, well designed, informative and relevant.  The ability to collaborate with participants was also a highlight.  Being exposed to varied perspectives and roles enriched dialogue as well as opportunities to learn.  Participants also indicated that they were able to share and define next steps; in addition, they expected to use what was developed during the convening.  Indicators measuring each item exceeded 80%.