Schools and education organizations need good information about their programs to understand what works, for whom, and why. Obtaining and acting on that information, through program evaluation, is what transforms good organizations into great ones.

But when organizations support underserved students, it is especially important to design and implement evaluations with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in mind.

In “Approaches for Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Evaluation,” Bellwether’s evaluation team describes approaches to make evaluation more equitable and inclusive. The approaches in this brief are framed around three main goals — engage representative stakeholders, ensure quality data, and communicate across differences — and potential strategies and concrete examples are included for each one.

We believe that every stage in the process of generating evidence, from designing the evaluation to sharing results, can benefit from incorporating a DEI lens. The approaches described here are intended to ensure that evaluation design, data collection, analysis, and reporting reflect the diverse perspectives of the students and staff involved in the program being evaluated.

The brief also includes additional resources for further reading, but we know there are many other things that could be included here. We welcome additions or comments at contactus@bellwether.org.

Download the brief here or read it in the viewer below.