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As part of this process, the team identified “strengthened alignment” among cross-sector partners as a “catalytic outcome”—a key driver toward impact across the educational spectrum. To measure progress on this outcome and provide value to the field, ORS Impact designed a process to develop an online survey tool that: (1) is a reliable and valid measure of cross-organization alignment, (2) is sensitive to detecting improvements in alignment over time, (3) reflects experiences of those engaged in collaborative efforts focused on education, and (4) had buy-in from key stakeholders.
The development and validation of the Alignment Index was an iterative process that involved ORS facilitating a series of generative work sessions with the Education Pathways team, getting feedback on draft items from external partners, piloting the draft tool first with a smaller set of staff members of several organizations participating collaborative efforts then with a larger set, and conducting various statistical analyses to establish the reliability and validity of the tool and its subscales (e.g., through correlation of index scores with independent program officer ratings of cross-sector alignment within collaborative efforts and factor analysis). The resulting 28-item survey measures five dimensions of cross-sector alignment within education-focused collaborations: Common Language, Common Understanding of Readiness Terms, Collaborative Frameworks and Practices, Data Sharing, and Changes in Culture (Alignment Index Survey Example). The foundation and it’s grantees have used the tool to support learning and progress toward impact in their collaborative efforts.