EvaluATE to the Rescue!

8 Resources to help with ATE proposal evaluation plans

The EvaluATE team is busy preparing our proposal for a third round of funding from the National Science Foundation to continue our work as a support center serving the ATE community. So, it’s a good time to remind folks of the EvaluATE resources that may come in handy at proposal development time.

Evaluation Planning Checklist for ATE Proposals
This checklist identifies all the areas in your ATE proposal in which information related to the project’s evaluation should appear, with guidance on what you need to do to present a strong evaluation plan.

Evaluation: Don’t Submit Your ATE Proposal Without It
This webinar from August 2015 focused on developing evaluation plans for ATE proposals. We reviewed the contents of the evaluation planning checklist (see above) in detail, with illustrative examples. Also check out our 2014 webinar on the same topic, featuring the perspectives of an ATE PI, evaluator, and program officer in addition to the EvaluATE team.

10 Helpful Hints and 10 Fatal Flaws: Writing Better Evaluation Sections in Your Proposals
Elizabeth Teles, former ATE program co-lead and member of EvaluATE’s National Visiting Committee, offers her advice on ways to strengthen your proposal’s evaluation plan and avoid common serious mistakes.

ATE Logic Model Template
A logic model isn’t required for ATE proposals, but it is a useful and efficient way to communicate an overview of what you intend to do and achieve with your ATE funding. This template provides a format for you to identify your project’s activities, outputs (products), and outcomes.

Data Collection Planning Matrix
An evaluation plan needs to describe what data will be collected and how, from what sources, by whom, and when, as well as how the data will be analyzed. This worksheet prompts you to record this information in table format, which may then be copied into a proposal’s project description or supplementary document.

ATE Annual Survey Findings
The ATE survey, conducted annually since 2000, provides aggregate information about ATE-funded projects and centers. The survey data may be used to demonstrate a particular need within the ATE program or describe your project’s past performance in relation to the program overall.

Checklists for the Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development
If your proposal is for targeted research or includes a research component, you should show familiarity with the Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development, published jointly by the National Science Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences. EvaluATE’s checklists serve as a quick-start guide to those guidelines.

Project Resume Checklist
If you are applying for renewal funding, a project resume is an efficient means for communicating your past productivity and capacity for future work to reviewers. The checklist explains what to include in a project resume and how. See also our May 2015 webinar on this topic for more information.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the latest issue of our summer ’15 newsletter, which is devoted to evaluation-related issues for ATE proposals.