2017 in Review -- and Looking Forward to 2018

Image credit: Vladimir Kudinov http://www.vladimirkudinov.com/This year, instead of yearly goals which are too long-term and fluffy to really mean anything or actually be accomplished, I focused on quarterly goals. This was long-term enough that I didn’t feel rushed to do something in a month but short-term enough that they were nearly all accomplished. For the first three quarters, I accomplished each goal I set out to do. The fourth quarter I was way too ambitious, but I still managed to get a lot done over the year:

• Finished my thesis and submitted for publication. It was rejected and asked to resubmit once I revised per their recommendations. I never got around to that and instead posted a pre-print on Thesis Commons.
• Submitted a second paper to a journal. It was rejected, and I have since revised and submitted to another journal. It’s awaiting peer review right now!
• Submitted a third paper to a journal. Unfortunately, after a three month wait, the editor informed us it didn’t fit their journal. I’m a bit bitter at that one, but my collaborator and I are slowly revising to submit to another journal. It required a complete workover, so it is taking us a long time, but it’s nearly there!
• Presented two sessions at AEA! One was on using vignettes to teach staff about program quality and conducting observations. The other was on how to survey children effectively. The second one especially was a big success and I’m very proud of it. I hope to turn it into a white paper someday! I also chaired my first two sessions ever and hope to continue that in subsequent conferences. You can view the slides and/or resources of these sessions (and all my other presentations, evaluations, and research publications) here.
• Presented at AERA and was accepted to present at next AERA. I’m really excited about what I will present at AERA18 as it is a beautiful SEM model that tests the Farrington model of non-cognitive factors and how they relate to academic performance.
• Found a consulting job working remotely as a statistics (and eventually as an evaluation) consultant. Funny enough, I spent weeks figuring out a plan to email a bunch of people asking to work for them remotely for an internship requirement at our school. Right when I was about to do it, my advisor said, “Dana, one of my clients needs a stats consultant and you’d be perfect for them!” Never underestimate the power of networking!
• Was a guest on a podcast! Actually, two podcasts. I was on Eval Cafe with C Camman and Brian Hoessler where we talked about Twitter for evaluators. Then a couple days later I was asked by my good friend Ryan Budds to be on his Trivia with Budds podcast where my husband and I competed head-to-head on the topics of psychology and Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
• Finished a bunch of evaluation reports. I’m continually working to refine my data visualization and report formatting skills. It’s getting better. This year I really focused on white space. In the past, I found myself sacrificing white space to get under 25 pages. This year, I’ve really tried to break out reports into sections as data comes in that allows me to answer evaluation questions. This helps a lot, but I’m proud that one of our projects we were able to chunk out the evaluation reports more explicitly in the proposal. I’m really excited to one day be the PI and not just the project manager!
• Figured out my dissertation topic. I wrote about some of the basic topics incorporated into my dissertation previously: the differences between evaluation and research and why evaluators might be better equipped to work with practitioners than researchers. The topic has shifted slightly, but it essentially will operationalize partnership relationships and examine the effect those have on practitioner use of evidence. We say a lot how much relationships matter, but what do they look like? How can we teach budding evaluators to have high quality relationships with their clients? And do they really matter in promoting evidence use, or is it more the involvement of practitioners in the process? I’m particularly excited because we are going to be applying for a research grant to study this, in which case I’ll get paid to do my dissertation!

Looking forward to 2018

Many of my goals for the first quarter of 2018 are remnants of Q4 goals that I didn’t really finish.

• Finish and submit publications. I have about four papers in the works, all with collaborators. They are taking a long time to finish (partly because everyone is equally busy and these are low in priority) but I am confident that we can get them completed. Two are remnants from last year’s goals but two others are papers that have been really fast-paced thanks to a highly motivated PI leading the projects.
• Finish my PhD portfolio and become a doctoral candidate. This means finalizing my review paper (e.g., the first chapter of my dissertation), finishing my internship hours, and taking orals. Then I’ll be ABD (all but dissertation) and considered a doctoral candidate instead of a doctoral student! My dissertation proposal will probably be signed off relatively quickly as well, especially if I get this research grant *fingers crossed*
• Post blog posts monthly. I feel like I have really slacked on blog posts this year, particularly towards the end of the year (although, funny enough I look back and I have 23 blog posts from 2017…). Still, I should have taken the advice I’ve heard multiple times and had six months of content before getting started. This would have reduced the stress of thinking I needed to get another blog post out! My new goal is to post a new blog post on the first Monday of each month. With this post, I am 1/12 towards my goal!

Most of all, I look forward to networking more on Twitter with my fellow evaluators, continuing to refine my evaluation practice, and working towards graduation!