Corporate publications > Strategic Plan > Other Strategic Plans > Evaluation Strategy 2010-2014 > Phases of evaluation >

Beginning the evaluation

The Department regularly reviews and updates a schedule that lists those evaluations that are formally overseen by the Evaluation Steering Committee (ESC). Prior to an evaluation getting started, approval is gained to have the evaluation listed on the schedule and evaluation teams are provided with an induction by Governance, Strategy and Planning (GS&P), which includes assistance about how to establish effective governance for the evaluation.

Evaluation schedule

Departmental initiatives that have been identified to undergo a formal evaluation are listed on the department's Evaluation Schedule

The type of evaluation is negotiated during meetings between the Accountable Officer and GS&P during the annual review and approval process of the rolling four year Evaluation Schedule. During this process decisions are made regarding the formative or summative nature of the evaluation and whether the evaluation will be conducted internally or through an external provider.

Induction

Induction of internal evaluation teams are provided by GS&P's Evaluation Services The induction provides evaluation teams with information about:
- DET approaches to and expectations around formal evaluations
- How to undertake a departmental evaluation
- The structure and roles involved in the governance of evaluations.
- The DET evaluation approval process
- The tools and services available to support the evaluation team throughout the process.

Evaluation Governance Group (EGG)

Establishing effective governance 253k structures is a critical part of the evaluation planning process. Evaluations undertaken by the department are guided by an Evaluation Governance Group (EGG). An effective EGG will comprise of a mix of people with expertise to direct and have input into decision-making during each phase of the evaluation. EGG provides quality assurance of the program mapping, performance indicators, data sources and the conduct of the evaluation.
The team develops an EGG Terms of Reference 895k identifying, membership, roles and responsibilities, meeting frequency etc for endorsement by the Accountable Officer.
In addition to oversighting the full processes, the EGG endorses the materials to be approved by Evaluation Steering Committee. This includes the evaluation proposal and program mapping (generally program logic model), regularly progress reports and the draft and final reports. See the approval process flowchart 20k.

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This page was last reviewed on 07 Jun 2011