Project Evaluation

The NGCP evaluation team will conduct evaluation activities designed to look at the effectiveness of the implementation of the NGCP model on two levels; the national level and the regional level. Local collaborative evaluation activities will be administered by local collaborative leadership using the instruments designed by the national evaluation team and submitting their data for the overall evaluation and best practices across regions. Review of quarterly reports, annual surveys, Mini-Grant reports, event surveys and feedback, as well as site observations will be used to measure project impact and inform formative evaluation activities.

Questions guiding the NGCP evaluation are as follows:

National Collaboration Evaluation Questions

1. To what extent are regional collaboratives implementing the NGCP model?
2. To what extent is training from the national level effective in helping regional collaboratives successfully implement the NGCP model?

Regional Collaboration Evaluation Questions

1. To what extent does implementation of the NGCP model impact collaboration between STEM programs and/or other organizations?
2. To what extent are individual STEM programs affected by access to shared resources of the NGCP?
3. How are individual STEM programs strengthened by an infusion of research-based strategies in informal education and evaluation and assessment?

Evaluation of the NGCP is being conducted by Evaluation & Research Associates (ERA). ERA provides evaluation services for organizations interested in program improvement and/or looking at the impact or outcomes of their programs as well as research and online survey administration.