Challenges in Measuring and Collecting Data for Evaluation When the Community is the Unit of Analysis Petrice Sams-Abiodun, PhD Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy NIFL Community Literacy Summit
Dec 14, 2015
Challenges in Measuring and Collecting Data for
Evaluation
When the Community is the
Unit of Analysis
Petrice Sams-Abiodun, PhDLindy Boggs National Center for Community LiteracyNIFL Community Literacy SummitMarch 19, 2007
Mission
The mission of the Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy is to promote adult literacy as a vehicle for personal, economic, and community empowerment
Pre-KatrinaLiteracy Challenge
• 40% of adults in Orleans Parish read below the 6th grade level
• 30% of adults in Orleans Parish read between 6th & 8th grade level
• Less than 10% of low-literate adults are enrolled in an adult education program.
Pre-KatrinaData Collection Strategy
• Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans
• Service Provider Network
• Data Sharing Project
Data Sharing & Measurement Challenges
• Diversity of providers
• Using a range of assessments and instructional methods
• Funders’ reporting requirements
Literacy Alliance Evaluation
• Measuring strength of partnerships and collaboration
• Integration of best practices into Provider Network
Adult Learners Initiating Voices for Education (ALIVE)
Collecting qualitative data on stories
and experiences of adult learners in
and out of programs
Post-Katrina Measuring &
Data Collection
• Transient Geographic Area
• Major Demographic Shifts
• Creating New Ways to Count Things
Measuring Institutional and System Change
The Boggs Center is developing and implementing a community-based
research & evaluation agenda focused on the impact of racism and
poverty on adult literacy.
Work
• Literacy as a tool for getting a good job
• Creating a Regional Workforce Intermediary
• Creating a Performance Measurement and Management System
Family
• Literacy as a tool to assist families to return, reclaim and renew their lives
• School system• Community
College System• Other recovery
organizations and systems (Road Home)
Neighborhood Story Project
• Writing as a tool to give voice to the voiceless
• Neighborhood stories – Five Books
• “Coming out the Door” Nine Times Social Aid and Pleasure Club
• Upcoming Project: Writing and Re-Entry