Development and Use of Cooperative Client-Evaluator Data Collection Systems.

Examples from the evaluation of a program in which data collection systems were developed jointly by the program's staff and evaluators are described. The Louisiana SPUR (Special Plan Upgrading Reading) Project was evaluated by the Louisiana Department of Education Bureau of Evaluation. SPUR involves 63 of the state's 66 public school systems and is implemented by a field-based staff of approximately 60 technical assistants. The size and geographic dispersion of the program led to several problems in data collection and evaluation use. The SPUR field staff often acted as data collectors for the evaluation, a procedure that demanded careful quality assurance of instruments and activities. With potential audiences ranging from state legislators to classroom teachers, no single report could meet all needs for evaluative information. In the first year of the evaluation, data collection methods were developed that could be easily used by SPUR field staff and would have utility beyond the evaluation itself. Examples were developed cooperatively by the evaluators and program staff members. The instruments serve management and program improvement needs as well as providing evaluation information. Although the data collection systems described are specific to the SPUR evaluation, their development and use is applicable to other large scale evaluations. (Author/DWH)