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Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting
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Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting
Enhancing Learning in Organizations

Second Edition
Edited by:


December 2004 | 384 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

"Rosalie Torres, Hallie Preskill and Mary Piontek have furnished a text that is not only thorough, but also easily accessible to both the beginner and the experienced practitioner alike. Not only are they masters at writing with jargon-free clarity, what they have to say demonstrates their apparent underlying methodological grasp of the field. They have succeeded in practicing what they preach."
John Scougall, Western Australia Institute for Sustainable Technology and Policy at Murdoch University

"[This is] a book that addresses some of the overlooked, taken-for-granted aspects involved with the planning, conducting, and reporting of good evaluation. This book helps evaluators improve the utilization of evaluation results by using an ongoing, integrative collaborative learning approach with project stakeholders. Through the use of collaborative techniques and emphasis on various communicating and reporting formats, evaluators gain knowledge and skills that will assist them in helping organizations learn, grow, and improve."
—Steven R. Aragon, Human Resource Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"This is among the most thorough and practically applicable texts written about communicating and reporting evaluation findings. The additions of the new sections in this edition reflect the changing nature of work-related communication in general, of which evaluators need to be aware and take advantage.  This is a significant contribution to our practice."
—Jennifer Martineau, Center for Creative Leadership

Do your communicating and reporting strategies seem outdated? Are you looking for ways to communicate more effectively? The Second Edition of Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations helps full-time evaluators and those with evaluation responsibilities successfully plan, conduct, communicate, and report the findings of evaluations using creative techniques. This comprehensive book is designed to help evaluators facilitate understanding, learning, and evaluation use among individuals, groups, and organizations by communicating and reporting more effectively. It guides the reader through the phases of an evaluation, from early planning stages through the final reporting and follow-up. 

Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting has been thoroughly revised and updated creating 75% new material and 34 new case examples. The Second Edition provides worksheets and instructions for creating a detailed communicating and reporting plan based on audience needs and characteristics. Authors Rosalie T. Torres, Hallie Preskill, and Mary E. Piontek cover advances in technology including Web site communications, Web and videoconferencing, and Internet chat rooms. Also mentioned are several additional topics for consideration, including communicating and reporting for diverse audiences and for multi-site evaluations.

This book is intended for graduate program evaluation students in departments of education, public policy, and organizational studies. Managers, researchers, practitioners and anyone responsible for designing, conducting, or managing evaluations will find this book invaluable.

New to this Edition:

  • New creative coverage of communicating and reporting techniques by way of photography, cartoons, poetry, and drama in formative evaluations
  • New coverage of how to communicate evaluation processes and interim findings to stakeholders during the evaluation
  • New coverage of the use of technology in communicating and reporting evaluations, illustrated with examples, and complimented by guidelines, tips, and cautions for using these high-tech formats
  • Actual examples from well-known evaluators that illustrate various communicating and reporting techniques
  • A recap of how the latest information on learning processes mediates the way that readers and stakeholders assimilate and use information

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgements
 
1. Introduction
Individual Learning

 
Group Learning

 
Organizational Learning

 
Learning Approach to Evaluation

 
Organization of the Book

 
 
2. Understanding and Planning for Effective Communicating and Reporting
Purposes of Communicating and Reporting

 
Timing

 
Audiences

 
Individual, Group, and Organizational Learning

 
Overview of Communicating and Reporting Formats and Options

 
Developing a Communicating and Reporting Plan

 
Summary

 
 
3. Communicating and Reporting Strategies to Facilitate Learning
Making Contents Easy to Assimilate

 
Short Written Communications

 
Interim Reports

 
Final Reports

 
Executive Summaries

 
Newsletters, Bulletins, Briefs, and Brochures

 
News Media Communications

 
Web Site Communications

 
Summary

 
 
4. Communicating and Reporting Strategies to Maximize Learning
Potentially Interactive Formats

 
Fully Interactive Formats

 
Summary

 
 
5. Creative Forms of Communicating and Reporting
Photography

 
Cartoons

 
Poetry

 
Drama

 
Summary

 
 
6. Additional Considerations for Communicating and Reporting
Communicating and Reporting for Diverse Audiences

 
Communicating Negative Findings

 
Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation

 
Developing Recommendations

 
Multisite Evaluations

 
Summary

 
 
7. Issues and Opportunities for Evaluation Practice
Breadth and Depth of Skills Evaluators Need

 
Evaluator Roles

 
Time for Collaboration

 
Misinterpretation/Misuse of Findings

 
Organizational Readiness for Evaluation

 
Parting Thought

 
 
Appendix A: Key Terms
 
Appendix B: Summary of Chapter 3 Implementation Tips, Guidelines, and Cautions
 
Appendix C: Summary of Chapter 4 Implementation Tips, Guidelines, and Cautions
 
Appendix D: Summary of Chapter 5 Implementation Tips and Cautions
 
Appendix E: Summary of Chapter 6 Implementation Tips and Cautions
 
References
 
Index
 
About the Authors

[This is] a book that addresses some of the overlooked, taken-for-granted aspects involved with the planning, conducting, and reporting of good evaluation. This book helps evaluators improve the utilization of evaluation results by using an ongoing, integrative collaborative learning approach with project stakeholders. Through the use of collaborative techniques and emphasis on various communicating and reporting formats, evaluators gain knowledge and skills that will assist them in helping organizations learn, grow, and improve.

Steven R. Aragon
Human Resource Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This is among the most thorough and practically applicable texts written about communicating and reporting evaluation findings. The additions of the new sections in this edition reflect the changing nature of work-related communication in general, of which evaluators need to be aware and take advantage. This is a significant contribution to our practice.

Jennifer Martineau
Center for Creative Leadership

"Rosalie Torres, Hallie Preskill and Mary Piontek have furnished a text that is not only thorough, but also easily accessible to both the beginner and the experienced practitioner alike.  Not only are they masters at writing with jargon-free clarity, what they have to say demonstrates their apparent underlying methodological grasp of the field.  They have succeeded in practicing what they preach."

John Scougall
Western Australia Institute for Sustainable Technology and Policy at Murdoch University
Key features
  • New coverage of communication techniques to use in formative evaluations.
  • New coverage of how to communicate evaluation processes and interim findings to stakeholders during the evaluation.
  • New coverage of the use of technology in communicating and reporting evaluations, illustrated with examples, and complimented by guidelines, tips, and cautions for using these hi-tech formats.
  • Actual examples from well-known evaluators that illustrate various communicating and reporting techniques.
  • A recap of how the latest information on learning processes mediates the way that readers and stakeholders assimilate and use information.    

           

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