Findings Nobody Reads Change Nothing

Most evaluation reports get only a few minutes of a reader’s attention. A school leader may open one between meetings, scan the first page, and close it. A grant director may need a single finding for a board update. When findings sit inside pages of dense narrative, many readers never reach them. At Shaffer Evaluation Group, we judge a report by whether the people who need it can find and use what it says. That standard led us to overhaul how we report and to work with each client to choose the formats that fit their audiences.

We Rebuilt Our Reports So Readers Can Find the Findings

In recent years, SEG completed a major overhaul of how we write and design evaluation reports. Our reports for Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) grants show the change most clearly. These grants support public school districts that serve military-connected students, and their reports reach funders, district leaders, principals, and teachers. Our DoWEA reports once relied on long narrative sections. Readers had to work through page after page to locate the results that mattered to them. The new format puts findings up front and organizes the report so readers can move straight to what they need. The full detail remains for readers who want it, but it no longer stands between a busy reader and the results.

Headings and Executive Summaries Now Tell the Story on Their Own

Our report headings now state the finding, not just the topic. A heading such as “Teacher Practice” tells readers where they are in the report. A heading such as “Teachers Used New Mathematics Strategies More Often Each Year” tells them what we learned. A reader with five minutes can skim the headings alone and leave with an accurate overview of the results. Letting headings carry the key messages is a widely recommended practice for accessible evaluation reporting (BetterEvaluation, 2014).

We also rebuilt our executive summaries so they stand alone. Each summary gives a complete picture of the project: its goals, what it accomplished, what the data show, and what comes next. Many readers will read only the summary, so it must work without the rest of the report. A district leader or board member should be able to read it and describe the project accurately to someone else.

We Work With Clients to Choose the Right Products

A full report serves as the official record of an evaluation, but it is rarely the best tool for every audience. SEG works with each client early in the project to decide which reporting products will serve them. We start with three questions: Who needs the findings? What decisions will they make? How much time will they have to read? This approach reflects a core principle of utilization-focused evaluation, which designs every step around the intended users and their intended uses (Patton, 2008). 

The answers shape a reporting plan that may include:

• One-page briefs for board members, community partners, and funders who need the main results at a glance.

• Slide summaries for leadership meetings and staff presentations.

• Dashboards for teams that want to follow their data during the year instead of waiting for an annual report.

• Full reports that document methods, findings, and limitations for funders and the project record.

Most clients choose a combination. A district might receive a full annual report for its funder, a one-page brief for its school board, and a slide summary for principals.

Survey Dashboards Put Results in Clients’ Hands

SEG builds survey dashboards that give clients a direct, visual view of their results. Program staff can open a dashboard, filter responses by group, and compare results without waiting for a written report. Dashboards work especially well for surveys that repeat each term or each year, because staff can see trends as they develop. They also help clients prepare for conversations with staff, partners, and leadership, since the data arrive already organized. We create these directly on SurveyMonkey.

Sensemaking Sessions Turn Findings Into Action

Data do not explain themselves. SEG conducts evaluation sensemaking sessions in which we bring preliminary findings to program staff and stakeholders and interpret them together. Participants review the results, discuss what surprised them, and offer explanations that the data alone cannot provide. We frame these sessions around three questions: What do the data show? Why does it matter? What should we do next?

These sessions improve both the evaluation and the program. Staff often know why a result looks the way it does, such as a scheduling change or a new curriculum, and that context sharpens our interpretation. Participants also leave with a shared understanding of the findings and a stronger commitment to act on them.

Reports Should Fit the People Who Use Them

An evaluation creates value only when people use what it finds. Clear headings, stand-alone summaries, audience-specific products, dashboards, and sensemaking sessions all serve that goal. Each one shortens the distance between a finding and a decision.

If your team wants reports that leadership, staff, and funders will read, contact SEG. We will work with you to build a reporting plan that fits your audiences from the start of the project.

References

BetterEvaluation. (2014, March 26). Week 13: Producing engaging and accessible evaluation reports. https://www.betterevaluation.org/blog/week-13-producing-engaging-accessible-evaluation-reports

National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2026). Interpreting data. https://www.nsvrc.org/evaluation_tool_kit/interpreting-data/

Patton, M. Q. (2008). Utilization-focused evaluation (4th ed.). SAGE.

Where the Land Becomes the Classroom: Place-Based Learning in Alaska

This summer, one of our many site visits took us to Nome, Alaska, where we had the opportunity to see place-based instruction in action. We observed an “On the Land” workshop offered through the University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus’s High Latitude Range Management program. The workshop exemplified high-quality experiential,

place-based pedagogy. Over seven days, students sampled water quality, fished and examined their catch under microscopes, visited a reindeer corral, and contributed to tanning fish skins into leather, among other activities.

Instruction followed the sequence of real scientific practice. Students collected water-quality data and netted aquatic insects while navigating a pond on packrafts; back in the campus lab, they analyzed those same samples under microscopes — field collection first, followed by laboratory interpretation, which is the way biologists work in the field. Several insect specimens were still alive, so students identified them by both form and behavior, using identification guides on plankton and macroinvertebrates. Each task began with an expert demonstration; instructors rotated among individual students, ensuring that student learning was continuously supported.

Fishing was also part of the week’s curriculum. Students watched their instructor dissect their catch and learned to distinguish internal anatomy and read stomach contents. The work then extended directly into applied arts: students contributed to rendering the same fish skins into leather using bark tannins they gathered on-site, treating a traditional practice as another mode of hands-on inquiry. This holistic approach aligns with Indigenous pedagogy, in which scientific observation, subsistence use, and cultural practice are not distinct domains but interwoven expressions of a single relationship with the land.

The course embedded Indigenous knowledge and mentorship in the curriculum. At a reindeer corral on the Seward Peninsula, a fourth-generation Alaska Native herder walked students through the design of a working corral and the day-to-day realities of herd management, touching upon topics such as why fence height matters, why a separate mothering pen protects calves, and why the slaughter area must sit out of the waiting herd's sight and hearing. Because two students were working herders, the visit became an exchange among practitioners rather than a one-way lesson, turning toward shared problem-solving about labor, logistics, and cooperation across communities.

Taken together, the week showed what place-based education can accomplish when the land becomes the classroom and students are treated as active participants in the learning process. Scientific inquiry, subsistence practices, Indigenous knowledge, applied arts, and peer mentorship reinforced one another throughout the course, giving students opportunities to develop practical skills while drawing connections across disciplines and generations. The result was a learning experience firmly rooted in the environment, culture, and working realities of rural Alaska. 

A Fresh Start to the School Year

 It’s hard to believe another school year is already upon us. The weeks leading up to the first day of school are full of energy including new calendars, refreshed schedules, updated routines, and that makes this season an ideal time to think about how evaluation can be woven into the work you’re already doing. A little planning now can make data collection feel like a natural part of your processes rather than one more task competing for attention.

Build Data Collection into your Calendars

One of the simplest ways to set yourself up for success is to add key data‑collection dates directly into master calendars and staff schedules. Early in the year, when calendars are being shared and finalized, it’s easy to build in reminders for the data you know you’ll need. If implementation data is required before reporting deadlines, add those dates now or send calendar invites to staff a few weeks ahead of time. This buffer gives you space to follow up and ensure everything is in place well before submissions are due.

For ongoing data collection, such as implementation logs, resource checkout calendars, or feedback forms, schedule recurring reminders for yourself or your team so updates happen consistently. And if you rely on your institutional research or assessment office for annual data pulls, add that request to your calendar as well. Survey windows, site visits, and observation dates can all be planned in advance, reducing last‑minute scrambling later in the year.

Reorient Staff to Data Procedures and Expectations

The start of school is also a perfect time to reintroduce staff to data‑collection procedures and expectations. Many school‑day staff aren’t immersed in the day‑to‑day world of grants, so a quick refresher on what data are needed, how they should be documented or shared, and why they matter can go a long way. This is also an opportunity to close the feedback loop by sharing examples of reports or summaries that use the data they helped collect. When staff see how their efforts support reporting and storytelling, it strengthens buy‑in and builds shared purpose. Reintroducing resource locations, implementation expectations, and available supports at the beginning of the year helps everyone start from the same foundation.

The start of the school year is also a great time to connect with your evaluator to ensure your evaluation plan is aligned with your goals for the year. At Shaffer Evaluation Group, we can help you revisit your evaluation plan, make adjustments, and identify additional ways to analyze data that provide just‑in‑time insights to support implementation. This is also an ideal time to discuss strategies for increasing response rates, strengthening data quality, and streamlining data‑collection processes so they fit naturally into your school‑year rhythm. 

With a little intentional planning, and the right evaluation support, data collection becomes a seamless part of your work, strengthening reporting, improving implementation, and helping you start the year with confidence.