Proposed measures are not results
Why we publish what we intend to evaluate, and why we will not call it impact until it has been tested.
The SPARK team · · 4 min read
Education is full of promising ideas, and it is tempting to describe a promise as if it were already a result. We have chosen not to.
On this site you will find a list of proposed evaluation measures: the things we intend to look at when SPARK works with schools, and how we might look at them. They are a plan, not a finding.
Three levels, used consistently
- Proposed measure: something we intend to evaluate. No data has been collected.
- Data being gathered: a measure in use inside an agreed pilot. Early and partial, not yet a finding.
- Verified impact: a finding from completed evaluation, with method and sources published and reviewed beyond our own team.
Today, every measure we list is at the first level. When that changes, we will say so, show the method, and name the sources.
Why this matters to partners
School leaders, funders and authorities make real decisions on the basis of what they read. A careful distinction between intention and evidence protects those decisions, and it protects the teachers and learners on the other side of them.
This article describes SPARK's approach to evaluation. It does not report any outcomes.