E-Eval

Pre-Eval Webinar Series

Are you seeking to:

  • Ensure your programs are doing what you want them to do?
  • Improve your programs?
  • Demonstrate your programs’ impact to leadership, funders, the individuals involved in your programs, and the broader community?
  • Contribute to our understanding of mentorship in Alberta?

Evaluation is the tool you need! By evaluating your program, you can achieve all of the above and more. If you want to learn more about evaluation, are not sure where to start, or feel overwhelmed by the idea of evaluation, our Pre-Eval Webinar Series is made just for you!

You will learn about the processes behind evaluation and get practical application examples to help you put what you learned into practice. Guest speakers from mentoring programs in Alberta will talk to you about their experiences with building their evaluation capacity and conducting evaluations. There will also be time for questions and participation.

The first three webinars will be on the following topics: 

  1. What is Program Evaluation (and Why Do It?) 
  2. When to Start Planning Your Program Evaluation
  3. Building an Organizational Culture of Evaluation

Future topics will cover how to get started on your evaluation, evaluate your program within your means, how to gather data that is meaningful to you, ethical issues in evaluation and working with vulnerable populations, and analyzing and mobilizing your data.

If you watch all 8 webinars, you will receive a certificate of completion. Webinars will be recorded and made accessible for you to watch again or watch later if you can’t join live.

Pre-Eval Online Portal

As well, you can now register and access the online Moodle site at eval.albertamentors.ca. Recordings of previous Pre-Eval webinars will be available on the Moodle site for your review by the end of the week. There are also discussion boards where you can connect with the facilitators of Pre-Eval and fellow mentoring staff about evaluation topics and questions. In the coming weeks, more resources will also be shared there to support you in growing your evaluation capacity. Finally, you will be able to access coaching sessions through this website in the near future. More information about the Moodle site will be provided at the 3rd Pre-Eval webinar on December 15, 2021. 

Upcoming Webinars

What is Program Evaluation (and Why Do It)?

When: October 13, 2021 12:00 - 1:00 PM MT

This webinar will focus on describing what program evaluation is, why you should evaluate your programs, and how you might already be doing some forms of program evaluation. We will focus on creating a general understanding of evaluation, its flexibility, and its value in Alberta’s mentoring community. Practical examples of evaluation and its benefits will demonstrate how you too can use evaluation within your given program, resources, and capacity.

When to Start Planning Your Program Evaluation

When: November 10, 2021 12:00 - 1:00 PM MT

In this webinar, we will discuss the best times to start planning your evaluation so that you can set up your evaluation and program for success. Planning ahead for your evaluation will also ensure you have information about your program to share with your community, coworkers, participants, and funders. We will talk about the practical steps of setting up an evaluation and integrating the process into the day-to-day of your program. 

Building an Organizational Culture of Evaluation

When: December 15, 12:00 - 1:00 PM MT

This webinar will centre on the importance and process of developing evaluative thinking within your organization. Examples of how evaluative thinking is already occurring in your day-to-day functioning will be given, and we will discuss how to intentionally build a ‘culture of evaluation’ in your organization.

Getting Started: Laying the Foundation for Evaluation

When: January 2022,  12:00 - 1:00 PM MT

In this webinar, we will discuss the first steps of planning your evaluation: identifying and mapping your stakeholders and creating or clarifying a program theory of change in order to guide your evaluation. We will talk about using what you already have to work through these steps. In addition, we’ll discuss why and how you should involve certain stakeholders in the evaluation process.

Evaluating Within Your Means: Fitting Evaluation to Your Resources, Capacity, & Scope

When: February 2022, 12:00 - 1:00 PM MT

This webinar will focus on setting you up for success in completing an evaluation that is manageable and meaningful to you given your context. In particular, we will discuss picking an evaluation purpose and questions that are reasonably achievable and will result in usable findings for your organization. Considerations will include available resources (money, time, staff), organizational capacity for evaluation, and only biting off what you can chew.

Coming Soon!

Meaningful Methods: How to Collect Data that’s Useful for You

Ethical Considerations: Ethics in Evaluation & Working with Youth & Vulnerable Families

Analyze & Mobilize: Using What You’ve Learned from Your Evaluation

E-Eval

E-Eval is a collaborative, flexible, and hands-on learning opportunity offered by the Evaluation Capacity Network and the Alberta Mentoring Partnership. E-Eval focuses on building the evaluation capacity of mentoring organizations. Over the course of approximately 6 months, mentoring organizations plan and conduct meaningful and useful evaluations of their programs. To support their ability to complete these evaluations, organizations join synchronous group learning sessions and have access to individual coaching sessions, a website with resources, and group coaching on more specific topics. The structure, content, and time commitment of the course is flexible based on organizational needs, but previous offerings have involved approximately 27 hours of group training. Networking and co-learning between organizations is also emphasized to provide valuable and contextual knowledge and resources specific to the mentoring sector. Learners will receive a certificate of completion.

Our current offering concluded in April 2021! Please check back for future offerings. To stay informed and learn more about similar initiatives, please sign up for the Alberta Mentoring Partnership’s evaluation email newsletter