The foundation of continual systems improvement is evaluation, a basic management tool integral to the cycle of system design, implementation, and improvement. At its best, evaluation offers compass readings that enable the managers of a system to navigate, continually adjusting course towards their basic objectives. Just as individuals reflect upon and learn from their experiences, systems that rely on evaluation as a management tool incorporate the lessons of experience into subsequent planning. Outcome evaluations look at how effectively the system is achieving its purposes, both for students and for the local schools, employers, and community. It enables management ultimately to assess the impact of the system on their students, specifically how their students perform in school and mature developmentally, and how their graduates fare in the worlds of work and postsecondary education.
Marketing is a secondary but important use of the information generated by evaluation.
Evidence of effectiveness also has internal value in that it affirms for the system's leadership and staff the importance of their work. The team's knowledge of the system contributes in crucial ways to the design of the evaluation and the framing of questions. Involving stakeholders from the beginning engages them in the evaluation process, a step likely to improve their understanding and their ownership of its findings, increasing their willingness to act upon them. Their involvement also helps evaluators gain access to people and other information sources. Define the Evaluation's Purposes.