Since 1983, we have helped stakeholders develop and evaluate strategies to promote the well being of children, youth, families, and their communities. We work primarily within three areas that support children’s learning and development—early childhood education, out-of-school time programming, and family and community support in education. Underpinning all of our work is a commitment to evaluation for strategic decision making, learning, and accountability.
Building on our knowledge that schools cannot do it alone, we also focus national attention on complementary learning. Complementary learning is the idea that a systemic approach, which integrates school and nonschool supports, can better ensure that all children have the skills they need to succeed.
How We Can Help You
Our work has supported thousands of people who have used our publications, tools, and workshops to:
- Make programs more effective
- Demonstrate results
- Learn to navigate tough evaluation challenges
- Read the latest promising practices
- Shape the direction of research projects
What We Do Best
By distilling information we learn through our own pioneering research and evaluation projects, and by synthesizing the work of others, we have one overarching goal: to provide practical information that will stimulate innovation and continuous improvement in policy, practice, and evaluation. To this end, we:
- Create research publications on the most timely and relevant issues facing our audiences, including practical information they can use to strengthen policy and practice.
- Conduct original research and analyses on key issues to promote best practices and inform policies that support learning and development.
- Develop and support collaborations, networks, and convenings that contribute to national, state, and local efforts to improve program quality, evaluations, and programs.
- Test and refine innovative evaluation approaches that build the capacity of non-profits to use data for continuous improvement and accountability.
- Build evaluation and program capacity by developing easy-to-use tools and “how to” guides.