Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase is an online resource aiding education professionals in their pursuit of public and private grants to support local programs. Its five elements contain information and resources that assist the grant seeker with developing their project, writing the grant proposal and managing the grant upon its award.

Task 7: Design Project Evaluation

Guideline: Evaluation addresses whether the program has accomplished what it set out to do in the way it was intended. Evaluation provides the grantee an opportunity to make mid course adjustments in their execution. The evaluation also supports requests for continued funding. For the funding source, evaluation offers a way to assess how well its resources are being utilized. The project plan should describe the evaluation process design.

Resources

Checklists

Critical Questions

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook includes a list of five questions the foundation suggests are critical for all evaluation plans to consider over the life cycle of a project.

Possible Project-Level Evaluation Activities

This worksheet from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook lists possible evaluation activities for each project stage from planning to policy.

This checklist contains a list of elements that might be contained in the evaluation plan.

Tools

Evaluation Budget

This worksheet from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook is intended to help project planners develop a budget for project evaluation. Alternate format: PDF

Program Evaluation Planning Worksheets

These worksheets takes the grant seeker through a process of thinking through how to conduct a project or program evaluation.

Guidelines

Data Collection Considerations

This resource from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Evaluation Handbook provides a list of things to consider when deciding upon data collection methods and instruments.

Program Evaluation Standards

This link is to program evaluation standards published by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation.

Legal

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools receiving funds under any applicable U.S. Department of Education program. School districts should ensure all staff members and outside contractors, such as counselors and interpreters, are familiar with the applicable policies on the privacy of student records.

Protection of Human Subjects in Research

A research activity involves human subjects if the activity is research, as defined in the U.S. Department of Education's regulations, and the research activity will involve use of human subjects, as defined in the regulations. Such activities must follow the Regulations for the Protection of Human Subjects. When developing a program evaluation, it is important to keep these restrictions in mind.

Practical Tips

Evaluation Tips

This document contains tips for evaluators from designing the evaluation to reporting findings.

References

The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation

This guide reviews the basic elements of the evaluation process. Though written to fulfill program goals of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Children, Youth and Families, it may be useful as a basic primer on evaluation.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook

This handbook provides a model for program evaluation developed by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.