Discussion Guide for Inclusive Evaluation

We use this tool to more intentionally incorporate inclusive evaluation practices in our work.

Centering inclusion in evaluations is important for evaluators, funders, and the communities they serve. The initiatives and interventions we partner with often aim to promote inclusion in addition to improving the health of their whole community. While inclusion is implicitly embedded in CCHE’s mission and values, we have not always explicitly or systematically reflected on how inclusive practices are incorporated into our work.

CCHE developed and uses a discussion guide as part of our evaluation planning process to more intentionally embed inclusive practices into our evaluation work. The goal is to standardize and socialize across our project teams the consistent integration of inclusive evaluation principles in all our projects.

How it works: Each evaluation project team uses this tool by inviting one or two CCHE peers to review a draft evaluation plan. The peers then meet with the project team to share their perspectives and questions, and to discuss how well the plan reflects inclusive evaluation principles. The project team draws on the conversation and identifies next steps.​​​​​​​

What we’ve learned

Through implementing the discussion guide, CCHE staff have learned the following:

• Engaging peers external to project teams prompts us to consider a wider range of sample pools, explore ways to segment data differently, and think critically about qualitative data collection and analysis - all of which are opportunities for us to strengthen our evaluation approach.
• Incorporating new perspectives from reviewers working on a wide range of evaluations increases capacity across the organization as our evaluators learn how other project teams integrate inclusive evaluation practices.

• Developing a broad-based discussion guide works more effectively than a prescriptive checklist. A discussion guide prompts CCHE evaluators to:

  • Consider inclusive evaluation from many angles

  • Thoroughly discuss assumptions and implications

  • Clearly articulate limitations in our evaluations, due to timelines, resources, participant burden, or other factors.

• Transparently and explicitly stating how inclusivity is, or is not, addressed in an initiative and evaluation can:
  • Help strengthen relationships with funders and community participants
  • Inform future investments and evaluation approaches

CCHE’s discussion guide is a work-in-progress and is informed by the work of our peers and partners. The guide provides steps, roles, and language for inviting participants to share their experiences and approaches to strengthening inclusive evaluation practices. We invite others to contact us for more information about the guide.