Pathwaves WA Evaluation 

Pathwaves WA creates pathways for leaders of color to hold decision-making roles in early childhood systems so they can equitably drive and shape the design of policies that affect generations and generations of our kids and our communities. In partnership with Pathwaves WA, the PSESD Strategy, Evaluation, and Learning (StEL) Team is evaluating the inaugural two-year fellowship for leaders of color in the early childhood policy arena. The evaluation is primarily intended to support learning and improvement and also provides relevant information to funders. 

The StEL Team has worked closely with Pathwaves staff and fellows to co-design an evaluation to understand how the fellowship is supporting fellows' individual and collective growth, anti-racist leadership among placement sites that host fellows, and how the fellowship is contributing to broader changes in the early childhood ecosystem. 

As of Spring 2023, our team has hosted storytelling sessions with each of the fellows and will be sharing preliminary results back with them for shared meaning-making. Through meaning-making, we discuss and interpret results with evaluation participants, consider areas for deeper exploration, and identify implications or next steps informed by what we have learned. We will also work with placement sites and Pathwaves staff and partners to understand their experiences and perspectives and continually refine our evaluation methods to provide relevant and useful information.