Chapter 11: Building Evaluative Thinking Skills and Capacity Through M3® (Making Meaning With Multiple Data Sets)

On a beautiful fall day in 2013, nearly 30 youth workers spent 2 days in a meeting room at a park in St. Paul, Minnesota, being trained in the use of yet another “required” evaluation tool. During reflection activities, participants were grappling with perceived overlaps and inconsistencies in what was being asked of them in terms of data collection, analyzing, and reporting. Some of these folks were overwhelmed by adding yet another form of measurement to their already busy programming schedules; while many others were overwhelmed by measurement and data in general. And more than a few thought the value of what they were learning was outweighed by the fleeting September sunshine and bright red and orange leaves calling to them from outside. Most notably, however, most people had questions related to differences in what various instruments were evaluating and why it was important to add something new to the mix. They wondered aloud whether this tool would replace another that many of them were already trained in and using. At one point on the afternoon of the second day, a small discussion group identified a need to “marry” different types of data to help them make sense of it all and, ultimately, paint a better picture of their programs. This chapter tells the story of how several OST intermediaries came together to figure out how to do just that, so that others may learn from and build on what was learned along the way.