Evaluation - CISV International

Evaluation and Research

Evaluation and research are essential for CISV to ensure the quality of our programmes, educational content and methods. See our yearly evaluation and quality management cycle here. Evaluation also allows us to improve and develop and to show how well we’re working to other organizations and our supporters.

Why We Evaluate

Educational evaluation is a quality assurance process, which allows us to ‘see how well we are doing what we aim to do’. For CISV’s educational programmes, this means finding out how successful we are in making our purpose – to educate and inspire action towards a more just and peaceful world – a reality for all our participants.

We view educational evaluation as a two part process:

1. Monitoring: The collection of evidence during an educational programme or training

2. Evaluation: Putting the evidence together to look for trends, patterns and results, so that informed judgements can be made.

CISV programmes follow a goals-based approach to programme planning and evaluation. Educational goals reflect the key attitudes, skills and knowledge that participants should develop, and our programmes and activities are designed to achieve these goals.

Educational evaluation helps us to identify good practice as well as weaknesses of our educational programmes and trainings. In this way, evaluation is at the heart of our effort to continuously improve the quality of our programmes and trainings.

Evaluation Tools

CISV is constantly developing its suite of evaluation tools to monitor, evaluate and improve the quality of all our educational programmes and trainings.

Programme Evaluation

The Programme Director’s Planning and Evaluation Form (PDPEF) is our comprehensive programme evaluation tool. It is an online form that covers administration, education, practical arrangements and other aspects.

The PDPEF is for use by people with programme responsibility such as Programme Directors, staff, leaders, and National Interchange Coordinators.

Programme-specific PDPEF Packages can be accessed here; they include all of the explanations and forms you need to evaluate a CISV programme:
Interchange
IPP
Seminar Camp
Step Up
Village
Youth Meeting

For commonly asked questions, see the PDPEF Frequently Asked Questions.

Training Evaluation

Regional Training Forum Evaluation Form

The Regional Training Forum Evaluation form is a general evaluation tool for Regional Training Forums (RTFs). It is not specific to individual training goals and indicators.

Check-In Sheets

Check-in sheets are to evaluate programme and organizational development trainings. The check-in sheets use specific training goals and indicators. They allow trainers to evaluate their trainings and are an optional tool. Trainers can also use their own evaluation techniques, but all training evaluations must be based on training goals and indicators.

1. Training goals check-in sheet for recording individual responses

2. Master sheet for trainers to collate individual responses

What Have We Learned So Far?

Our evaluation team produce annual PDPEF evaluation reports, which give a yearly picture of how well our programmes are reaching their goals. Read our programme-specific evaluation reports here.

PDPEF FAQ

Where can I find the online PDPEF?
The online PDPEF is available on CISV Forms.
How do I access the online PDPEF?
Claim participation in your programme on myCISV as 'director' or 'staff' (or NIC or LIC for Interchange), by:

1 February for March-April programmes

1 May for June-August programmes

1 November for December-January programmes

Closer to the start of your programme, you will receive access information from Forms Support .
I have claimed participation in my programme but as there is no Programme Manager yet my claim has not been approved. What should I do?
Send an e-mail to Forms Support, telling us your name and which programme you have claimed participation in (e.g. V-2013-085). We will then approve your claim, and closer to the start of your programme, arrange access to the online form.
I am a Programme Director and I can access the online PDPEF. Will my staff colleagues also be able to access the PDPEF for our programme?
Yes, as long as they too have claimed participation (as 'staff' or 'LIC') in your programme on myCISV, the International Office programme administrators can arrange for them to access, edit and add to the PDPEF.
Who do I contact for technical support?
Please contact Forms Support.
What should we do if we do not have internet access at the site?
Download the PDPEF-package from the Evaluation Tools section above. This includes a ‘PDPEF Sample sheet’ mirroring the online form. After your programme has ended – within 2 weeks - you can fill in the online PDPEF and submit it.
How long can I work on the on-line PDPEF before it logs out?
The form auto-saves frequently.
Why does the ‘Submit’ field not allow me to select ‘Yes’?
The PDPEF can only be submitted when all mandatory fields (*) have been completed. Check the ‘status’ for each section – are they all ‘complete’.
How do I know if my PDPEF has been submitted correctly?
When you change ‘Submit’ to ‘Yes’, you will see a message below: ‘Thank you. You have now successfully submitted the PDPEF. Please now close the form”. You can close the form by closing the browser window.
Can I make changes in the PDPEF after submitting it?
Yes. Please contact Forms Support. They will return your form to draft, so that you can resubmit it.
When does the PDPEF have to be submitted?
The PDPEF is due two weeks after the end of the programme or each Interchange host phase.
As a Mac-user, what internet browser should I use?
We recommend that you use the Firefox internet browser as it works best with SharePoint. We do not recommend that you use Safari.
Should we attach the Address List to the online PDPEF or just e-mail it directly to the International Office?
The Address List is now part of the PDPEF and should not be submitted as a separate document. You can use information from the Delegate Information Form or Individual Participant Information Forms to gather the requested information. You will not be able to submit the PDPEF until information for all staff, leaders, and participants has been included.
Where can we find the Individual Evaluation Form, which we will need during our programme?
You will find it in the relevant PDPEF-package in Evaluation tools. The PDPEF-packages include: PDPEF Quick Notes (with E-Notes), (2) Group Evaluation Form (3) Individual Evaluation Form, and (4) PDPEF Sample Sheet.
Where can we find the Activity Writing Template for our programme?
You will find it in the relevant Activity Writing Templates by clicking on any of the following shortcuts: Interchange, IPP, Mosaic, Seminar Camp, Step Up, Village, and Youth Meeting.
Where can I find some training material about how to use the PDPEF?
In the Evaluation Tools section above you will find the Educational Evaluation Training Session + Presentation, and The Complete notes to Evaluation.
Where can I find out more about evaluation?
See above for Evaluation & Research.
Where can I find help notes for programme/event managers?
Simply download my CISV Help Notes - Programme Manager.

What We've Learned

Educational evaluation helps CISV to monitor the educational quality of our programmes, and to continuously improve them. The educational performance of every programme is evaluated using the Programme Director's Planning and Evaluation Form.

The gathered data for the completed programme years since 2010 can be found in CISV Programme Educational Evaluation Results.

For the annual Trainer Notes (based, in part, on the analysis of the educational evaluation results), see Training Materials.