Create an Effective Evaluation Strategy

Create an Effective Evaluation Strategy

Principal Investigator’s Guide: Managing Evaluation in Informal STEM Education Projects

An initiative of the Visitor Studies Association, produced in partnership with the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE).


Designing Evaluations 2012 Revision

Published by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) Office of Applied Research and Methods, Designing Evaluations is a guide to assist in planning and designing evaluations. It presents commonly used methodologies, highlights potential issues in designing program evaluations, and indicates where more detailed information is available.


A Program Director's Guide to Evaluating STEM Education Programs: Lessons Learned from Local, State, and National Initiatives

In today's world of high accountability, strong evidence on intended outcomes is key to building credibility and replicability of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs.  This primer, for program directors/managers, educators and others responsible for developing and implementing STEM programs:


STELAR Research & Evaluation Webinar: How and When to Engage an Evaluator & Role of the Evaluator on NSF ITEST Grants

Dr. Melissa K. Demetrikopoulos of the Program development and Evaluation Institute for Biomedical Policy shares her presentation "How and When to Engage an Evaluator" followed by Dr. Karen Gareis of Goodman Research Group on "Role of the Evaluator on NSF ITEST Grants."


ITEST Instrument Database

Beginning in 2009, the ITEST resource centers (LRC and STELAR) asked active ITEST projects to report their use of externally developed and reliable instruments to collect data on their project outcomes. The STELAR website now houses a database of instruments. All of the instruments listed were used to some extent by at least one ITEST project. The ITEST project is listed under the "Related Projects" heading on the instrument's page. Only instruments that could be located online are included in the database.