WREN Spring Workshop

1

• WREN Spring Workshop
• Program Evaluation Methodologies, Policies, and
  Management of RD Organizations Where are We
  Now and Where do We Want to be?
• June 6, 2008
• The George Washington University Marvin Center
• Washington, DC

2
Thank You, Sponsors

• GWU Center for International Science and
  Technology Policy (and student volunteers)
• Office of Research and Development,
  Veterans Health Administration, Department of
  Veterans Affairs

3
Thank You, Partners and Planners

• American Evaluation Association (AEA)   
• AEA Research, Technology, and Development
  Evaluation Topical Interest Group  (AEA RTD TIG) 
• Washington Evaluators (Local AEA Affiliate) 
• Federal Evaluators
• GSA, Susan Turnbill - Wiki production  
• WREN meeting planning team Nicholas Vonortas,
  Connie Chang, and Cheryl Oros

4
Agenda

• Session 1 AEA Evaluation Policy Task Force
  dialogue with Bill Trochim, AEA President,
  plus AEA breakout session
• Session 2 RD Plenary
• Session 3 Prospective Evaluation Help for
  Policymakers
• Session 4 Lunch Networking (complimentary
  buffet here)
• Session 5 Prospective Evaluation Approaches
• Session 6 Monitoring Program Performance
• Last Opportunity to Network Adjourn

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Meeting Format

• Interactive Workshop
• Open to dialogue of questions/ answers and
  sharing of ideas and experiences
• Creation of networking relationships to advance
  RD evaluation
• Use of Wiki to post presentations

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AEA Evaluation Policy Task Force

• 845 am 945 am
• Session 1 AEA Evaluation Policy Task Force
  dialogue
• Bill Trochim, AEA President and Professor,
  Cornell University and Director of Evaluation,
  Weill Cornell CTSC
• 945 am 1100 am
• AEA EPTF breakout session available to
  continue dialogue

7
AEA Evaluation Policy Task Force

• What message should AEA convey to federal
  policy makers re
• Evaluation of programs and
• Evaluations usefulness,
• Appropriate evaluation approaches,
• Funding needed for performing evaluation and
• Funding for developing evaluation tools?

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WREN Plenary Session

• 945 am 1030 am
• Program Evaluation Methodologies, Policies,
  and Management of RD Organizations Where are
  We Now and Where do We Want to be?
• Cheryl Oros
• Gretchen Jordan
• Stephanie Shipman
• 1030 am 1045 am
• Break

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WREN Purpose

• Forum for Federal RD evaluators
• Part of international network of government
  evaluation practitioners and associates
• Goal is the application and exploration of
  improved approaches to the evaluation of federal
  RTD programs

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How to be Involved in WREN

• Network! Create collaborations.
• Sponsor development. Try new approaches.
• Attend WREN meeting in December 2008
• Volunteers needed for
• Next WREN meeting
• Sponsors
• Logistics
• WREN Steering Committee

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International Partners in WREN

• Partners involved from Europe and Asia
• Here with us today (updating us at lunch)
• Costas Paleologos, Evaluation Office of DG
  Information Society and Media, European
  Commission
• Neville Reeve, Evaluation Office of DG Research,
  European Commission
• Yongsuk Yang, Science and technology Policy
  Institute (STEPI), South Korea
• Plattform Collaboration
• Klaus Zinoecker

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Information Sources

• Wiki for this WREN meeting (http//colab.cim3.net
  /cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WashingtonResearchEvaluationNetwo
  rk)
• WREN web site (www.wren-network.net)
• Federal Evaluators web site (www.FedEval.net)
• AEA web site (www.eval.org)
• AEA RTD TIG
• Chair Gretchen Jordan

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WREN Plenary

• Marburger Science of Science Policy (SoSP)
  initiative has greatly accelerated U.S. efforts
  to develop a coherent strategy that would result
  in SoSP community of practice.
• SoSP Task Group is in final stages of developing
  a Roadmap which will be presented at December
  WREN meeting.

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WREN Plenary Questions

• What progress have we made in RTD evaluation?
• Where we are headed and what efforts are
  currently underway in prospective (ex ante)
  evaluation?
• What are the top RTD evaluation concerns and
  topics of interest?

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WREN Plenary Questions

• How has PART changed the evaluation of Federal
  RD programs? GPRA?
• What may happen next in federal RTD performance
  measurement?

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WREN Plenary Questions

• What training in RD evaluation would federal
  evaluators find helpful?
• What training in evaluation should be provided
  for OMB examiners, Congressional committee staff,
  and Senior Executive Service policy and
  decision makers?

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WREN Plenary Questions

• What are the upcoming evaluation events and key
  opportunities of which federal evaluators should
  be made aware?

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VA ResearchImproving Veterans Lives
Thank You