Appendix 4 - Examples of County and State uses of EFNEP Data

Appendix 4: Examples of
County and State uses of EFNEP Data

• The data is used at the state level for Congressional reporting.  The data is used at the county level 'Accomplishment Reports', to inform the County Extension Coordinators of caseload status/attainment, and County Commissioner Reports.

• We use the data in a variety of ways: We share it with administrations, county staff and we use it for programming at the state and county level. Administration uses the data for reporting purposes at the state and national level as well as marketing for the university.

• To evaluate the program, curriculum, and educators not only on graduate numbers but also behavior change. In addition, we use the system significantly for paraprofessional performance appraisal management.

• EFNEP Supervising Agents use CRS5 as a management tool with their county staff.  It is accessed on a regular basis to examine number of clients reached, percent of clients who complete educational objectives, number of youth and youth groups enrolled, and program assistant workload.  EFNEP Supervising Agents review the data entered by the Program Assistants to insure that it is complete and error-free before it is sent to the state EFNEP office.  It is important that agents have a reviewing option in a web-based system before the data is submitted to the state level.   County EFNEP Agents need access to the data at all times, as does the state office, because we prepare many reports using the data at various times throughout the year.  Georgia Cooperative Extension Impact Statements are prepared annually using data from CRS5 and the state Impact Statement is prepared using SRS5. 

In addition to program management, graduate student research projects are conducted using EFNEP data.  We anticipate that graduate student research projects will increase in the future as the university now has a College of Public Health and students who are very interested in community nutrition. 

The EFNEP evaluation and reporting system has been extremely valuable, both internally for program evaluation and externally for reporting the impressive impact of our program to stakeholders.  We strongly support continued efforts to collect dietary intake and food behavior data and hope that the web-based system will look very similar to the recent NEERS system, which was developed with a great deal of input from states in all regions of the country.      

• At the county level they input data, do reports by individual staff member and county based reports.  They make print out on the food recall for the enrolled families.  At the state level we do all the counties do, plus we troubleshoot the reports for inconsistency, check for recently enrolled families who are being re-enrolled, sometimes pull information using statistical programs to use for research, etc.

• I summarize the data into a narrative report and share it with the two District Directors, the Director of Extension, the Dean of the School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Congressmen and other decision makers, such as County Commissioners.  A goal for this next year will be to develop a “colorful, one pager” with photos and graphs that tell our story from the EFNEP data.

• I use the data from all levels all the time

• State: We use it sometimes as part of research projects; always for impact data as we share it with stakeholders, students, etc. County: to report to local city-co governments-the who, where and what changed data, Extension Boards—same, Share data with employees so they can see how participants have learned and behaviors have changed. Local data is also used with CARET (local).

• Each county uses county-level data throughout the program year for various reports and benchmarking their local program. At the state, I occasionally call for county- level data during the year as needed for various reports, etc. I always use the state-level data for my own annual reports and state and university reports -- including diversity, youth, and of course nutrition and health-related report.

• Assistant merit evaluations; County Reviews; County Impact reports-Report to the People and Extension Today-both used to share with stakeholders, etc; State Impact and Accountability reports

• Share with our supervisors and discuss (with a focus on improving consistency, graduation rate, behavior change); share with our Extension Director; put results on our web site; share with legislators when requested (we could be more proactive with this)

• We use EFNEP data in reports to decision makers, collaborators, and county commissioners.  In some cases fliers to tell the county story are developed using the EFNEP data.

• The county level EFNEP data is sent, electronically, to the state office.  At the state office, we analyze the data and report the findings in the annual report.  County staff use some of the basic functions available in CRS5 to analyze their county data – the state office uses the more in-depth functions to analyze the data from all of the counties combined.

• I use the EFNEP data in my annual evaluation which is then used in the development of our impact reports.  The impact reports are used to inform our stakeholders (national and state legislators, county commissioners, county managers, mayors, etc. as well as with our agency partners).  I also use the data in my strategic planning as I plan for program changes or expansions.  I also use the data in examining teaching effectiveness among the paraprofessionals (mostly in looking at how receptive the audience is to our program).

• We utilized the data at both the county/unit and state level very extensively.  We review the data to ensure quality entry.  The data is used with the individual participants, both to determine individual learning needs and to demonstrate the changes participants report to have made as a result of education.  We aggregate reports, at the state level, to prepare one-page impact statements, both for the individual counties and for the state.  We have also used the data to inform the knowledge base through publication of evaluation results on EFNEP in peer journals, such as JNEB.  Additionally, but certainly not the last of our uses, we review county specific data for meeting program expectations.  We would like to continue to have access to the individual participant data, demographics, behaviors and dietary, for our continued implementation of these practices.  We do have some concern regarding the security measures that will be implemented to ensure that our individual participant data will not be open to violation and/or compromise if it is maintained and/or entered on and/through the world wide web.

• EFNEP data at the county level is shared with participants after their enrollment data are entered, as an opportunity to establish individual goals for program participants. Then again after exit data are compiled the results are shared with the participant to see what gains have been made and areas that need more attention. At the state level the EFNEP data are used, as aggregated, to see if state goals have been met and how the state stands in comparison to others in our tier. I also use county and NEA data to assess strengths and weaknesses of the educator and help them set individual goals for the next program year.

• EFNEP data is also used as an institutional assessment (accreditation-related reports) indicator for our department CREES.

• Units enter data daily (or as families enter and exit) and submit one time per month to state. State share and discuss results quarterly with supervising educators . Units submit final report on September 30 to state. State checks for completeness, accuracy and forwards to federal. Unit supervising educators use data frequently to monitor PA/front line staff outcomes and workloads and to provide feedback to PAs.

• For facts and information. To share with others.

• County/Unit: (all comments apply to both EFNEP and FSNE): Staff performance review; Documentation in disciplinary actions; Program accountability; Assess training needs; Evaluate past training effectiveness; Report to stakeholders and partners; Civil Rights compliance; Track in-kind contribution; Awards/grant applications. State/Territory (In addition to those cited under County/Unit): Track participant demographic trends; Assess program direction; Evaluate curriculum effectiveness; Utilize subgroups and filters to track impact of state level programs and initiatives; FSNE grant submission and reporting; Support research conducted by CHES; Aid in development of personnel evaluation tools, i.e. Performance Review tools.

• We would like to have reports available at the staff person, group/classroom of participants, site (which may contain multiple classrooms), county, unit, state levels.   We use these various reports for various purposes.  For example.  A staff person's report would assist with performance appraisals.  A group/classroom aggregated data report may be shared with collaborative partners.  A site grouping aggregated report may also be shared with community collaborators such as a principal at a school where we have delivered EFNEP in multiple classrooms.  County level reports may be shared with County Commissioners and legislatures.  State level report assists state administrators in showcasing EFNEP in Oregon and used in Extension federal reports. 

• We compile reports at the paraprofessional level, by county or across county if they are working in more than one. We also prepare county reports where we have more than one paraprofessional working. We also prepare regional reports for our regional directors. And of course state reports.

• We use the EFNEP Data at all levels to provide impact information for our stakeholders and for Extension reporting.

• At the county/unit level everyone enters in their own data and they compile their own county/unit fact sheets that they distribute to local stakeholders. At the state level I am responsible for compiling all of the county/data into our state report and then I produce a fact sheet for local, district, state, and national stakeholders.

• All data is entered at the state level and used at the state level. We do from time to time provide demographic data to folks at the county level but not dietary intake data as the numbers are too low to be able to say anything about the data with any degree of certainty.

• Our EFNEP data is a significant report to our agents, county government, and key stakeholders.  Key stakeholders include federal and state legislators, and state agencies that work with our target population.  We use the data to report numbers to our agents, county governments, and our key stakeholders.  We report: Behavior change; Enrolled youth and adult numbers; Cost analysis information is used; and Qualitative data – such as success stories. We feel this marketing data is extremely important.  We are the only VCE program that can capture this type of significant information.

• We use the data at all levels. It is entered at the county level, and supervisors use this to review the effectiveness of paraprofessionals, monitor numbers of participants, assess emphasis needs, review results with paraprofessionals, and provide civil rights data for required reports. At the state level, I will use the data for briefing and impact reporting, to assess the effectiveness of the new curriculum, to target training to specific counties, to develop needs assessment plans, and review the effectiveness of paraprofessionals across the state.

• We use the EFNEP data system for our FSNE program reporting. Therefore, it is part of our Cooperative Extension Impact statements, our year-end reporting for EFNEP and FSNE, and other impact articles or publications to decision makers. It is an integral part of our reporting!