Evaluating Challenge Grants for Technology in Education

To promote the use of technology in education, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) awards Challenge Grants (i.e., matching grants) to local communities. One condition is the development and implementation of a project evaluation plan to measure the project's success. At ED's request, RAND prepared this sourcebook to help project managers and evaluators design an evaluation that would (1) delineate and communicate expectations and key milestones; (2) provide regular feedback to project leaders and other participants; (3) document project outcomes and lessons learned; and (4) provide an account to funders and stakeholders. RAND proposes that documentation of projects take the form of a Progress Portfolio. This report describes the form and purposes of such a portfolio, furnishes sample worksheets, and gives a detailed hypothetical example. The methods and issues discussed in this report should be of interest to anyone responsible for the successful completion or evaluation of a large-scale developmental project embedded in a reform-type effort.