Here are some one-liners I’ve used:
- To teacher friends: I do behind-the-scenes administrative stuff like analyzing standardized test scores. I bet there’s someone at your school or in the district office with a similar job.
- To the real behind-the-scenes data analysts: I’m like a data coach. I analyze a lot of the stuff myself but mostly I teach people how to understand it. I bet there’s a data coach in most of the schools in your district with a similar job.
- To the real data coaches, like instructional specialists: I crunch numbers.
- To people at bars: I crunch numbers.
- To my mom the former teacher: I crunch numbers.
- To the real number-crunchers, aka. my dad the economist: I have no idea what you’re doing on SAS right now but it looks awesome. When I grow up I’ll learn to really crunch numbers…
- To my husband with the non-office job: I push papers. Don’t worry, I’ll be home in time for dinner.
- To my public policy friends taking the obligatory program evaluation course: I teach people to make logic models. Friends: “My professor said we’re skipping those. Not enough space in the syllabus.” Nevermind then…
- To the social workers, GED instructors, youth workers, and mental health counselors at my youth center: I’m going to teach you how to collect useful information about your youth and your program so you can make decisions using that information.
- To the external evaluators: I’m an internal evaluator.
- To the external evaluators who think basing big decisions on results of an internal evaluation is unethical: That’s why we hired you.
What do you tell people in just a few seconds? Evaluators do all these things and so many more. Can you really boil such a dynamic field into just a few words?
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