On July 15, 2001, Even Start providers from around the country will submit their program data for the National Evaluation of Even Start using ESPIRS for the last time. Does this mean that providers should stop collecting data about the efficacy of their programs? Definitely not!ESPIRS (Even Start Performance Information System) is actually just the data collection tool used in the Department of Education's third national evaluation. Prior to ESPIRS, the second national evaluation, which finished collecting data in 1997, used a PC-based tool called ESIS (Even Start Information System). The first national evaluation finished collecting data in 1993 using a system called NEIS (National Evaluation Information System), hich consisted of paper and pencil forms that had to be scanned as well as key-entered.
Since its inception, Even Start has recognized the importance of data collection and evaluation to examine its effectiveness. The legislative requirement for the independent evaluation of Even Start at the national and local level has been in place since the beginning of the program. State involvement in the accountability process increased with the passage of the Reading Excellence Act of 1998, which amended Even Start legislation by requiring states to develop results-based indicators of program quality to monitor the performance of their projects.
The implicit question when projects ask "what happens when ESPIRS goes away?" is "do I still need to spend all this time and energy collecting data about my program?" The answer, of course, is yes. Collecting data for the national or local evaluation is not meant to be the end of its usefulness. It is in the best interest of all Even Start projects to employ this information to better understand their constituents and improve services. In a year 2000 report entitled Synthesis of Local and State Even Start Evaluations prepared by Abt and Associates for the Planning and Evaluation Service of the Department of Education,
it was noted that "Even Start projects rarely engage in the systematic use of data to manage and improve their programs. Instead, program improvements/alterations are made on the basis of anecdotal evidence..." Included in the report's recommendations is support "towards a modification of the current [evaluation] system in which grantees would be encouraged to use local evaluations as vehicles for program improvement." Additional recommendations include referring to "local improvement efforts" rather than "local evaluations" as well as providing assistance to projects by helping them determine the types of data to collect, how to analyze it and plow it back into their project in meaningful ways, and estimating the financial commitment necessary to engage in a rigorous evaluation process.So, what happens when ESPIRS goes away? Actually, the need for data collection and program evaluation will be stronger than it's ever been. This will be particularly true as projects learn more about how to use data for improvement and stop viewing data collection and analysis strictly as something that is imposed upon them. Of course, the tradition of data collection and program evaluation for Even Start projects will continue will into the foreseeable future. Local evaluations will continue as mandated by law and state-based evaluations will take on the larger role envisioned in the Reading Excellence Act. Further, and enhanced national evaluation process, which will likely include a new data collection instrument in addition to other innovations, will be put in place to help the Department of Education report to Congress on the value of Even Start. As funding for the expansion of Even Start manifests itself through the creation of more projects, there is an unparalleled opportunity for every project, existing and new, to model how to provide better participant service through the use of state-of-the-art data collection and evaluation practices to drive instruction. Thus securing the position of Even Start in the family literacy movement for years to come. by David Miller