Presenters:
Rebecca Woodland, Professor of Education Policy, Leadership and Evaluation, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Becky Mazur, Senior Evaluation Research Scientist, Collaborative for Educational Services

Description:
Logic modeling, the process through which tacit understandings of how explicit undertakings, such as interventions, programs, and networks, are theorized to bring about change are made explicit, is considered to be standard, and even best professional practice in the field of evaluation. Humans want to design, develop, and deliver services and systems that have value and worth. And evaluator facilitation of logic modeling can enable practitioners to make informed and inspired decisions about resource allocation, organizational design, program improvement, and intended desired outcomes. Yet, logic modeling gets a bad rap both by evaluation stakeholders (many of whom perceive/see it as a painfully transactional and overly linear discrete task, a tool that they need to ‘produce’ to satisfy some external entity), as well as evaluators (a great proportion of whom aren’t entirely clear on its merit, or are ill-equipped to facilitate its development and use.) In this active and engaging workshop, attendees will delve into the myths and merits of logic modeling, and acquire specific strategies for the integration of logic modeling throughout the program evaluation cycle. We believe widespread evaluator use of logic modeling is central to the advancement of the mission of the AEA. That is, if evaluators, writ large, have competence and confidence in the enactment and management of logic modeling, evaluation practices will improve, evaluation use will increase, evaluation as a profession will be promoted, and evaluation generally will be more likely to contribute to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action.

Learning Outcomes:

• Attendees will examine common myths and misperceptions about the process, products, and outcomes of logic modeling.
• Attendees will acquire specific strategies for the meaningful engagement of stakeholders in the process of logic modeling from evaluation design through evaluation use.
• Attendees will become energized by how widespread use of logic modeling leads to the advancement of the field of evaluation and the mission of profession.

This workshop is aligned to AEA’s Competencies and Guiding Principles as follows:
Professional Practice Domain: Focuses on what makes evaluators distinct as practicing professionals.
Competence: Evaluators provide skilled professional services to stakeholders.

Facilitation Experience:
Rebecca Woodland, Ph.D. is Professor of Education Policy, Leadership and Evaluation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has facilitated highly engaging workshops and courses for adult learners for more than 20 years. She is an AEA “Dynamic Dozen” honoree, recognized as one of Association’s most effective presenters. She has delivered pre-conference workshops for AEA annual meetings, and at AEA summer institutes for many years. Her sessions are consistently well-attended and highly rated. Attendees have fun while learning!

Becky Mazur, Ph.D. is the Senior Evaluation Research Scientist at the Collaborative for Educational Services. She is a former high school teacher-librarian and a certified principal, who was twice recognized as teacher of the year. She has extensive professional development facilitation experience, including serving as director of the Instructional Leadership Institute for Pakistani Educators, and as instructor of graduate and undergraduate courses at UMass Amherst.


Dates:
October 5th, 2022 12:00 - 2:00 PM ET
October 12th, 2022 12:00 - 2:00 PM ET

Note:
Once you purchase the eStudy you must register for each session. Recordings will be made available to registrants unable to attend sessions live. Recordings will be made available to all registrants for 90 days.