Evaluating the Kellogg Project at Trinity College

Evaluation Coordinator Position. Trinity College is now looking for an Evaluation Coordinator to continue and expand the evaluation of Trinity’s urban initiatives (Trinity’s City Connections). Click here for the announcement describing the position and application procedures.

Evaluating the Kellogg Project

Trinity has been engaged in an evaluation process encompassing the collection of qualitative and quantitative data, an analysis of both process and outcomes, and feedback to those responsible for various aspects of the Kellogg Project. Data collection methods have included structured and open-ended interviews, surveys, focus groups, and secondary data sources. The primary aims of data collection and analysis have been (1) to determine the project's success in achieving its objectives, (2) to identify any unintended consequences of the project, and (3) to understand why and how the project produced these effects and, perhaps, why it did not achieve other anticipated effects.

Our evaluation has followed the principles for effective evaluation set forth by the Kellogg Foundation in the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook (1998). As part of its grant to Trinity College, the Kellogg Foundation has asked our evaluation efforts to address five central questions about our efforts to develop an extended community of learning. The evaluation is also guided by major research questions and expected outcomes drawn from the initial proposal for the project. The evaluation has been planned and guided by an evaluation team, comprised of College faculty, administrators representing Kellogg Project initiatives, and others from the College and community with evaluation insights and skills. Staffing is by Trinity’s Office of Institutional Research & Planning and an Evaluation Coordinator funded by the grant. Evaluation Challenges describes our approach to evaluation as it evolved over the first four years of the grant.

Much of the focus of the evaluation has been on the initiatives supported by the Kellogg grant, examining their effectiveness in meeting their objectives for both the College and the community. The Smart Neighborhood initiative and the Community Learning Initiative (CLI) have received the most detailed evaluations. To assess the experiences, needs, and perceptions of neighborhood residents, the evaluation team also conducted a neighborhood survey with personal interviews of a statistical sample of residents. In designing this survey and other measures of community outcomes, the evaluation has closely involved community stakeholders, such as residents from neighborhoods surrounding the College, neighborhood group coordinators, and administrators and staff from non-profit organizations in the City of Hartford.

Each year, the Evaluation Coordinator has prepared annual reports based on findings from the evaluation and year-end reviews and analyses by the individual initiatives.