Assess Your Reporting Project

Reporting comparative quality information to consumers is typically not a one-time event but an ongoing activity. For this reason, evaluation is a key part of your work, an aspect that has to be thought about and, in some cases, acted upon from the outset. Learn more about the planning of an evaluation. To learn more about the planning of an evaluation, go to How Will You Assess Whether You Achieved Your Goals.

An evaluation helps you answer two key questions:

• Did your report “work?”
• What could you do differently next time to create a better process and a better outcome?

To answer these questions, you need to assess your efforts as systematically as possible.

This section discusses ways to assess the effectiveness of your report card and suggests how to use the lessons you learn.

• Why You Should Evaluate Your Reporting Project
• What You Can Evaluate
• Elements of an Evaluation Plan
• What’s Next? Applying What You Have Learned
• Recommended Reading on Evaluation