by Dana Ansari During the brief time I've worked as an evaluator, for various projects I've had to report on different types of information in different formats and structures. Given that Ive had limited-to-no access to the actual databases for these projects, I typically have had to request needed information from the project staff members who have access to it. As a result, the data I receive is mostly in raw format, lengthy and complicated to understand at a glance.

by Jill Scheibler Before working in program evaluation, I received education and training as a clinician, specifically as an art therapist. Through my work as an art therapist, which was based in a personal belief in and, more importantly, empirical observations supporting the mental health-promoting effects of making art, I became curious about how to demonstrate arts impacts to the general public (including dubious funders and policymakers) and found a lack of relevant research to back up what Id seen in practice.

by Sarah McCruden So youve compiled some raw data for your next big report, or, youve come across a few clients records that have errors that need to be addressed. If you need to share these tasks with a coworker, email is often the most convenient method for sharing: just attach and send! Sounds simple. But, have you ever wondered just how the email makes its way to the recipientand whether its really safe on its journey there?

by Thomas Kelly, Jr. What are theories of change meant to do? As evaluators, we need to define what it is we are examining and measuring naming outcomes, uncovering assumptions, describing cause and effect relationships, and articulating the pathway of change intended by the program implementers. This diagram of the logic and belief about how our efforts will achieve impacts is used to measure the progress of work, and to test the validity of what we really know about the world and our role in changing it.

by Taj Carson, PhD Last week, we were talking to a prominent early childhood expert. We were trying to map out the pathways for children to develop good reading skills by the time they reached third grade (no small task). We had factored in instructional techniques, summer reading programs, and attendance initiatives, all of which have clear connections to literacy in school-aged children. In looking at the things that predict school success from birth to five years of age, however, it became a lot harder.

by Tracy Dusablon The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program is part of the Affordable Care Act, which has ignited heated debates both for and against the program. The program aims to improve quality of care and lower costs by reducing hospital readmissions for Medicare patients. To accomplish this, hospitals are essentially dinged when patients are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, and these dings turn into financial penalties for the hospitals. As it currently stands, the penalty is one percent of hospital payments, and is set to increase to three percent by 2015.

There is no need to skirt the issueprograms being evaluated have justifiable concerns around what an evaluation report may do to the future of their program. Now, if all stakeholders have been honest with themselves from the beginning, it wont be entirely unexpected to learn that their program is or is not performing well. However, the evaluation report may be the very first time that the outcomes are displayed in such a concrete way.

by Meridith Polin The role of the evaluator is much like that of Peter Brand in the movie Moneyball (based on the book by Michael Lewis, a favorite author of mine). Peter Brands role as an economics whiz kid hired by the Oakland As was to help them figure out how to win. Using meaningful statistics, Peter and the General Manager Billy Beane, helped turn the game of baseball on its head by looking at data in a new way.

Carson Research has had an exciting and productive 2012, and we’re thankful for our clients, friends, families, and evaluation colleagues, who were an integral part of our successes this year! The CRC Team, 2012 Of all the developments that have taken place, one of the most noticeable is the growth of our team, and the diversification of our skill set that has come along with our new team members. Looking towards the New Year, we’d like to share how each CRC staffer chose to complete the following statement: