12 - The Power of Evaluator Collaboration in Planning for Sustainability and Impact with with Complex, Multisite, Multilevel Educational Capacity Building Efforts

Abstract Information: Conducting multisite, multilevel evaluations in complex contexts such as state education systems is challenging, let alone coordinating the evaluation activities across multiple projects and agencies. In this interactive discussion, presenters will share lessons learned about leveraging the expertise and experience of internal and external evaluators of a five-year study of multilevel, multi-state capacity-building efforts associated with the partnerships between State Education Agencies and three federally funded Comprehensive Assistance Centers (CC). The CCs, led by WestEd, have provided technical assistance and capacity-building services to SEAs in three regions across the country. Presenters will highlight the ways in which the collaboration across the three CC evaluations has allowed for greater consistency and quality of evaluation findings that can be used to inform future efforts. Importantly, at the conclusion of this five-year grant program, planning for sustainability and impact is critical for project success. Having tools to assess the capacity built and readiness to sustain the changes can provide insights into how SEAs, divisions, or departments are positioned to maximize their long-term impact. Presenters will share examples of the common tools and protocols the CC evaluators developed collaboratively for identifying capacity-building outcomes and assessing SEA readiness for sustaining projects or initiatives after the CC support ends at the conclusion of the project period. Presenters will share how they supported project staff in using the tools across the three regions to ensure the success of the technical assistance and capacity-building efforts, leveraging the evaluation evidence from across regions, cross-state, and multilevel contexts. In addition to sharing examples of tools and resources developed, the presenters will discuss the challenges they overcame and provide advice for others engaged in similar work, including tips on how to leverage evaluation findings using common conceptual frameworks.