How Might We Tell Beautiful Stories of Impact? Transforming Program Evaluation into Empowerment
This is a 1 Hour Presentation
How do we know if coaching truly transforms teaching and learning? Most programs default to counting sessions and surveying satisfaction—metrics that satisfy spreadsheets but miss the real story. This session shares Shanghai American School’s evolving journey to capture authentic coaching impact across 15 coaches and two campuses.
Now in Year 2 of our three-year strategic plan, we’re discovering how to make evaluation both rigorous and resonant. Our framework identifies five interconnected impact domains: Educator Growth & Practice, Student Learning Experience, School Culture & Community, Coaching Implementation Quality, and Program Value. But frameworks are just architecture—the real learning comes from implementation.
I’ll share honest insights from our mid-journey position: which evaluation approaches energize rather than exhaust stakeholders, how we’re learning to capture impact while still building the system, and why beautiful storytelling strengthens rather than softens accountability. Participants will explore our emerging practices for weaving evidence into narratives that inspire continued investment and engagement.
Through interactive protocols, you’ll experience how we’re transforming evaluation from extractive reporting to participatory meaning-making. We’ll practice crafting “impact moments”—short, powerful stories backed by evidence that communicate value to diverse audiences. I’ll demonstrate how we’re using monthly pulse data, coaching cycle documentation, and classroom observations to build a living picture of transformation.
Most importantly, we’ll address the evaluation paradox: how to demonstrate accountability while maintaining coaching’s non-evaluative, trust-based nature. Learn how we navigate confidentiality while still telling compelling program stories, balance qualitative richness with quantitative credibility, and engage teachers as co-authors rather than subjects of evaluation.
Leave with adaptable tools including our five-domain framework, evidence collection templates, story-crafting protocols, and stakeholder communication guides. Whether you’re launching a new program or revitalizing existing evaluation practices, you’ll gain strategies to make impact assessment a catalyst for celebration and continuous improvement.
Because great programs deserve evaluation approaches that illuminate rather than diminish their transformative work.
Key Takeaways:
- Five-domain impact framework adaptable to your context
- Practical protocols for evidence collection that doesn’t burden coaches or teachers
- Story-crafting techniques that balance data with narrative power
- Strategies for maintaining trust while demonstrating accountability
- Templates for stakeholder-specific impact communication
Interactive Elements:
- “Impact Moment” crafting exercise
- Evidence-to-story mapping activity
- Stakeholder perspective scenarios
- Peer feedback on evaluation challenges
Target Audience:
- Coaching and professional learning leaders
- Program directors seeking meaningful evaluation methods
- School administrators responsible for program accountability
- Anyone frustrated with transactional evaluation approaches
