CDC DNPAO has released the final version of its technical assistance document Partnership Evaluation: Guidebook and Resources.  This document provides guidance for evaluating your state’s obesity partnership.  It is based on the CDC Evaluation Framework and includes resources and tools for states to use in evaluating their partnerships.  Click on the PDF above to view the document.  You can view all three of CDC's evaluation guides here.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health conducted a partner engagement survey in summer 2010 to assess how partners are supporting the Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina movement.  The report of the survey results is available at Eat Smart, Move More NC.  Contact Jenni Albright if you would like to see North Carolina's survey instrument.

The Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory is a tool for evaluating partnerships and coalitions. 

The 2010 Handbook for Planning, Evaluating, and Improving Inter-Agency Collaboration (by R. & M. Woodland, for ASTDD, sponsored by CDC) is another tool that can help you develop a partnership evaluation.  The Handbook includes a number of elements: (1) Determine a Shared Purpose (2) Monitor Stages of Development (3)  Assess Levels of Integration (4)  Monitor Effectiveness of Communication and (5) Recognize Accomplishments and Identify Barriers and Challenges.

To review specific state examples of these tools, visit the eShare Forum.
 
The Partnership Self Assessment Tool is provided at no cost by the Center for the Advancement of Collaborative Strategies in Health at The New York Academy of Medicine, with funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.  The website includes a Coordinator’s Guide, Instructions for Using the Tool, and the questionnaire.  Instructions also explain how to analyze the information collected.

The Coalition Effectiveness Inventory (1998, Frances Butterfoss) is a self-assessment tool to evaluate the strengths of your coalition and its stage of development.  Click on the PDF above to view the Inventory.

Fundamentals of Evaluating Partnerships includes sample evaluation questions, evaluation content by stage of development, and sample meeting effectiveness surveys.

Hershey/Cause has a Network Health Scorecard.  You can also link to the Scorecard from the NACDD Healthy Aging grantee resources page which lists other collaboration resources.

Also see Champions and "Champion-ness:" Measuring Efforts to Create Champions for Policy Change, an Aspen Institute publication by David Devlin-Foltz and Lisa Molinaro.  This brief describes experiences with and challenges in assessing progress in identifying and supporting “champions” who can bring about changes in public policy.

In evaluating its partnerships, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reviewed staffing, funding, sub-committees and other factors and then assigned point values to each.  The Department collects this information as part of its annual survey to determine the effectiveness of its coalitions.  The description of the scored version and the self-scored survey can be found at the Department's website.