Building Evaluation Capacity for State Workforce System Programs
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Building Evaluation Capacity for State Workforce Systems Programs, analyses the 2023 Evaluation Peer Learning Cohort (EvalPLC) technical assistance activities related to states’ evaluation capacity, as part of the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) efforts to support states in further developing the evaluation capacity of workforce agency staff. The six state teams in the 2023 cohort were Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, and Wisconsin.
To begin the process of assessing States’ evaluation capacity, States completed and application and two self-assessment tools from the State Workforce Agency Evaluation Toolkit to identify strengths, challenges and opportunities related to their capacity to conduct key evaluation activities. Results from these self-assessment responses influenced the technical assistance topics and approach. Overall, states rated themselves at or near the halfway point in readiness to conduct evaluations (for example, data management readiness, having a culture of readiness, etc.) and rated themselves lower for evaluation design and research questions (for example, having a data analysis plan).
Throughout the EvalPLC, state teams had the opportunity to participate in virtual workgroup meetings to build their knowledge, met regularly with coaches to provide tailored technical assistance to address their evaluation needs, engaged with SMEs on evaluation topics, and exchanged promising practices across states. State teams used coaching sessions to identify steps needed to implement actionable evaluation strategies and prepare states to participate in virtual EvalPLC sessions. At the end of the EvalPLC, states developed a state specific capstone project.
States developed several strategies for enhancing evaluation culture and awareness, identifying funding strategies, data management, building evaluation capacity and developing evaluation plans. Examples of strategies included conducting focus groups with select group of customers and community stakeholders to better understand their needs and collect data on the ways each Title delivers services and refers participants, developing a common referral process that’s usable by all WIOA Titles and supported by a common data repository, and developing protocols and standard operating procedures for evaluations.
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- Resource Publication Date: 2024
- Posted by: Katie Mehle
- Posted in: Evaluation and Research Hub