Evergreen was selected by the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) to evaluate the state’s K-20 Data Project. The K-20 Data Project connected existing OPI databases to databases owned and operated by the Montana University System (MUS). OPI designed data reports and dashboards to assist stakeholders in assessing college readiness of Montana K-12 students. Specifically, the K-20 database enabled stakeholders to retrospectively assess the success of college students in the MUS and correlated that success (or failure) to that student’s K-12 experience. This effort represented an step for both the OPI and MUS, as little if any data was available linking K-12 and post-secondary outcomes.
Evergreen’s role as the program evaluator was to collect initial input from stakeholders on K-20 dashboards and reports and track implementation of the K-20 data project; assess the effectiveness of training modules and training tools for the entire K-20 Data Project (which included not only the reports and dashboards, but data transport and an electronic transcript); assess the ease of use of the system for end-users; develop a tool to measure whether end-users found the data useful; provide additional data in the system; utilize and apply the data and reports effectively in regards to their information needs and goals; and provide ongoing and annual reports to the OPI on progress and feedback on the K-20 data project.