Standards of Evidence

​​​​The Standards of Evidence underpin the Evidence Framework, providing a consistent way of assessing the evidence we use and generate.

The standards:

• provide a consistent way to assess the evidence we use and generate
• provide a common way of thinking and communicating about evidence
• facilitate a shared understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different evidence claims
• provide pathways for building and maturing our evidence base
• articulate clearly the evidence requirements for each level in each dimension
• guide everyday practice and support the Evidence Framework and the Performance Improvement and Accountability Framework

The standards incorporate four dimensions to consider when we use and generate evidence: design, impact, scalability and investment.

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Applying the standards

The standards can be applied by all staff during the course of their work. The standards can be applied to:

• plan or design new initiatives
• monitor and evaluate actions underway within the organisation to understand what is working, when, for whom and under what conditions
• consider external evidence.

The Standards of Evidence are being applied by Master Teachers across Queensland and also schools funded through the Collaboration and Innovation Fund to generate evidence to share through The Evidence Hub.

Our Standards of Evidence are a work in progress. We welcome your feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Dimensions of the Standards of Evidence

The Standards of Evidence incorporates four dimensions to consider when we use or generate evidence. Each dimension contains five levels indicating the relative strength of evidence, l​evels may differ across the dimensions. For example, an initiative may have very high (level five) evidence of impact but the scalability may be unknown (level one).

1. Design - quality of attribution
2. Impact - measureable change
3. Scalability - potential to implement
4. Investment - creating value.

A glossary of the terms used within the standards is also available.

Design

Rigorous, quality design allows us to attribute the change we see to the work we do.

The design dimension focuses on ensuring we identify and collect quality data and use quality methods to allow us to demonstrate the link between our actions and results. It helps us make connections between our actions and measurable change.

For more information about this dimension, view the Understanding the design dimension information paper​.

Impact

We know that nearly everything we do has impact. If we understand how strong the impact is, we can compare options and identify ways to be more effective.

Understanding our impact is a powerful way to inform how we make decisions and deliver our services.

For more information about this dimension, view the Understanding the impact dimension information paper​.

Scalability

Scalability looks at whether a practice or an initiative can be implemented with similar or better results in other settings or with other groups.

By considering the scalability of initiatives, we can better understand the conditions needed for successful implementation in different contexts. We know that not everything we do can be scaled up and implemented everywhere.

The scalability dimension helps us understand when larger scale implementation is appropriate and when it isn't.

For more information about this dimension, view the Understanding the scalability dimension information paper.

Investment

Understanding the cost of our initiatives and their cost-effectiveness helps improve our capacity to better target our resources.

Knowing the cost of initiatives enables us to compare the costs and benefits of options for improvement.

For more information about this dimension, view the Understanding the investment dimension information paper.​