Evaluation & Assessment

AWE Resources

AWE, the NSF-funded Assessing Women and Men in Engineering Project, offers assessment surveys, literature resources and capacity building tools for STEM outreach and education personnel.

Use AWE surveys to understand whether your outreach activities are achieving the goals that you want them to!

AWE surveys—redesigned with NGCP outreach activities in mind—are tested, realizable and easily personalized to your activities. AWE surveys are easily accessible as paper downloads on AWEonline.org, following a quick, free registration. Exportable online versions are also available. Download the AWE Survey Implementer Guide at the same time to support your use and adaptation.

AWE support tools include:

• Literature Overviews— Browse these to find out more about the girls you serve
• Spreadsheets for survey data entry
• Tips on assessment
• Much more

Find out more:
AWEonline.org – Access to all AWE products and tools (with a quick free registration)
AWE Product List – A complete list of AWE assessment products and tools
AWE Overview – An overview of the AWE project and assessment tools

Developing Measurable Objectives
This powerpoint presentation, developed by AWE, walks through the process of developing clear, measurable objectives.

Other Evaluation Resources

• Assessment Tools in Informal Science
  This searchable Web site provides assessment tools for informal science learning. The goal is to provide practitioners, evaluators, researchers, and policy makers with the information to choose appropriate tools for assessing program quality and outcomes for children and youth. Supported by the Noyce Foundation, PEAR (Program in Education, Afterschool and Resiliency) located at Mclean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, reviewed existing tools and published the findings in a report. This Web site is based on the findings of that report and will be continuously updated in collaboration with the Youth Development Researchers at 4-H.
  http://atis.pearweb.org/
• Harvard Family Research Project
  The Harvard Family Research Project provides a variety of evaluation-related publications and resources, including The Evaluation Exchange, a one-of-a-kind periodical that contains new lessons and emerging strategies for evaluating programs and policies, particularly those focused on children, families, and communities.
  http://hfrp.org/evaluation
• InformalScience.org Website
  This Web site includes a collection of evaluation resources related to informal science, including evaluation publications, online evaluation sources, how-to manuals, and evaluation reports that projects have shared.
  http://informalscience.org/evaluation
• National Science Foundation Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects
  This book introduces a framework for evaluating the impacts of informal science education projects, including guidance on measuring specific STEM-related impact categories (knowledge, attitudes, behavior) and project types (exhibitions, mass media, youth and community programs and collaborations).
  http://informalscience.org/evaluations/eval_framework.pdf
• National Science Foundation 2010 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation
  This handbook is aimed at people who need to learn more about both what evaluation can do and how to do an evaluation, including overviews of evaluation types, steps in doing an evaluation, quantitative and qualitative data collection, and culturally responsive evaluation strategies.
  http://www.westat.com/Westat/pdf/projects/2010UFHB.pdf
• Online Evaluation Research Library
  This National Science Foundation-supported Web site provides a large collection of sound plans, reports, and instruments from past and current project evaluations in several content areas and guidelines for how to improve evaluation practice using the Web site resources.
  http://oerl.sri.com/
• The Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG)
  This online collection of STEM-related assessment tools is designed primarily for classroom STEM instructors, but also relevant for informal STEM educators. Assessment tools are sorted by discipline, purpose, and technique.
  http://www.flaguide.org/tools/newsearch.php
• The New Girls' Movement: Assessment Tools for Youth Programs
  Based on research conducted by the Ms. Foundation, this collection of assessment tools is designed for youth programs and foundations interested in conducting and supporting participatory evaluation research, especially with girls and young women.
  http://www.ms.foundation.org/resources/publications/the-new-girls-movement-assessment-tools-for-youth-programs-
• Toolfind
  This online directory is designed to help professionals in youth-serving programs find measurement tools for up to 11 youth outcome areas. Tools included in this database address elementary, middle and/or high school students and youth, parent, staff and teacher respondents.
  http://www.toolfind.org/
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook
  This comprehensive handbook from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provides a framework for thinking about evaluation as a relevant and useful program tool and outlines a blueprint for designing and conducting evaluations.
  http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2010/W-K-Kellogg-Foundation-Evaluation-Handbook.aspx
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Development Guide
  This guide was developed to provide practical assistance to nonprofits engaged in this process. In the pages of this guide, we hope to give staff of nonprofits and community members alike sufficient orientation to the underlying principles of "logic modeling" to use this tool to enhance their program planning, implementation, and dissemination activities.
  http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2010/Logic-Model-Development-Guide.aspx