Discussion Post: Lessons Learned from the Field of Practice
Though data inform action, they do not necessarily equal action. Why? If data indicate clear strategies or initiatives that can address the needs of young children, their families, or early childhood professionals, why is immediate action not taken? Likewise, why do reliable evaluation results not yield necessary change?
Though the answers to these questions are quite complex and differ among each unique program and its stakeholders; consider broad challenges that may exist at a programmatic level. Imagine, for example, that an evaluation identified disadvantaged children as consistently having less access to services at your program. If you used these data as means to immediately increase services for these young children, how might this impact other parts of the program such as budgetary resources, the workload of professionals involved, or the commitment required by families? What other challenges might ripple from your well-intended change?
When attempting to implement evaluation findings, it is important to fully consider how each change, big or small, might positively or negatively impact the program as a whole. It requires you to observe and analyze the larger picture, identifying strategies which will help to overcome any potential challenges.
In this Discussion, you listen to the presenters featured in this module's media and reflect on the information you gathered from interviews with program leaders in the field, sharing their experiences with implementing program evaluations and their findings. You then draw on these stories to explore strategies and lessons learned.
In this Discussion, you will draw on stories of stakeholders to explore strategies and lessons learned from the field.
To prepare
In preparation for this Discussion, you will conduct interviews for the Module 4 Assignment and reflect on what you learned in that process.
• After completing the Module 4 Assignment, do the following: Listen to the presenters featured in Module 4's media. Reflect on information shared by the presenters.
• Reflect on information you gathered from interviews with program leaders in the field sharing their experiences with implementing program evaluations and their findings.
• Draw on stories from Module 4 resources and interviews you conducted in the field, in order to explore strategies and lessons learned. Consider how you can use the lessons learned to positively implement data-driven change.
Task
Post the following to the discussion forum:
1) Provide a brief description of the roles and responsibilities of the people interviewed, the type of site, and some context for the program evaluation.
2) Compare the presenters' experiences, in the media presentation, to the interviewees' experiences you gathered. Based on the experiences shared, did the program:
a) Encounter the same challenges? What kinds of similarities and differences occurred?
b) Implement similar strategies for overcoming challenges? Why or why not?
3) Describe at least one lesson learned that might assist you in positively implementing data-driven change.