Evaluation

The CPER evaluation has been designed to ensure that findings serve as ongoing learning tools for all sites and for CPER as a whole. Through a participatory evaluation process, CPER hopes to help sites document their outcomes and improve their work. It also seeks to demonstrate how timely, relevant data can inform program and strategy development.

CPER selected an experienced evaluation team, Blueprint Research & Design, Inc., to work with all CPER partners to design and conduct the evaluation. After a six-month planning process, implementation of the evaluation plan began in November 2007. To date, Blueprint R&D has:

• Worked with the CPER sites, Public Interest Projects' staff and the CPER Steering Committee to outline the goals of the initiative and the strategies employed to reach them at both the site and national levels. Click here to download the CPER Program Strategy Diagrams (PDF).

• Helped CPER grantees and funders focus what they sought to learn from the evaluation, prioritizing a set of core evaluation questions centering on the areas of:
  • Policy change/education reform
  • Capacity building and leadership development
  • Student/Parent/Community engagement
  • Collaboration/Coalition-building
  • Scaling Up
  • Value of and support for education organizing

• Drafted benchmarks of progress to be tracked across each site. To review the evaluation benchmarks, download the CPER evaluation benchmarks (PDF) prepared by Blueprint R&D

• Conducted a capacity assessment of all CPER-funded organizations

• Interviewed CPER partners and external stakeholders after periods of significant activity. Information gleaned from the interviews will aid CPER partners in reflection and strategy refinement, and will help document the growth and impact of the partners and their work.

Evaluation is ongoing. For more information, contact Catherine Crystal Foster or Justin Louie at Blueprint R&D.