|
All Publications & Resources |
New & Noteworthy: Expanded Web Only Version
This web only version of the New & Noteworthy section features an expanded list of new resources on the evaluation of community-building efforts, including reports, tools, and organizations of interest.
Xavier de Souza Briggs on Community Building: Expanded Web Only Version
Xavier de Souza Briggs, founder of the Art and Science of Community Problem-Solving Project at Harvard University, discusses the limitations and possibilities of using evaluation to improve community building in an expanded web only version of the printed article.
New & Noteworthy
A list of new resources on the evaluation of community-building efforts, including reports, tools, and organizations of interest.
Sustainability: Does Evaluation Have a Role?
Julia Coffman and Marielle Bohan-Baker of HFRP offer ideas for how evaluation can ensure that initiative stakeholders discuss sustainability before it is too late to be useful.
Evaluating Community-Based Initiatives
Many lessons have been learned during the past decade of community building; this issue of The Evaluation Exchange explores many of these lessons and their implications. Articles by experienced and insightful authors discuss a number of critical issues now surfacing in this field, including innovations in community-building evaluation, the role of cultural competency in community-based research and evaluation, and how evaluators and funders can better build on the evaluation and learning approaches that community-based organizations already use to improve their work.
Using Geographic Data for Neighborhood Revitalization
Josh Kirschenbaum and Victor Rubin from PolicyLink discuss the uses of community mapping.
Community Collaboration 90806: A Partnership to Increase School Readiness in Long Beach
Marielle Bohan-Baker describes the instructive and collaborative approach to planning and evaluation of six community partners in Long Beach, California.
Alternative Designs for Community-Based Research: Pittsburgh’s Early Childhood Initiative
Stephen Bagnato, Robert Grom, and Leon Haynes describe an evaluation design that provides scientific rigor in a community setting.
A Review of Activity Implementation in Out-of-School Time Programs
This Snapshot examines the range and scope of activities being implemented in current out-of-school time programs to set a context for understanding the links between program activities and positive outcomes for youth.
A Review of Out-of-School Time Program Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Evaluation Results
This Snapshot provides an overview of what the quasi-experimental and experimental evaluations in the HFRP's OST Database reveal about the impact of out-of-school time programs on an array of academic, prevention, and youth development outcomes. It also includes a resource list of other out-of-school time evaluation reviews and related evaluation information.
Lessons in Evaluating Communications Campaigns: Five Case Studies
This paper examines how communication campaigns with different purposes (individual behavior change and policy change) have been evaluated. It offers a discussion of theories of change that can guide evaluation planning, along with five case studies of completed campaign evaluations. Each case study includes lessons from the evaluation and the paper finishes with a set of cross-case-study lessons gleaned from these evaluations and others.
Why, When, and How to Use Evaluation: Experts Speak Out
This brief offers expert commentary on the implications of the first-year report of the national evaluation of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program for future evaluation and research. It includes a methodological critique of that study, written by Deborah Vandell.
Reframing Accountability for Urban Public Schools
Based on their research with community-organizing groups, Eva Gold and Elaine Simon from Research for Action and Chris Brown from the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform describe four strategies for building public accountability for education.
“Cooking With Data” to Target Education Gaps
Craig Jerald of the Education Trust describes several basic ways of analyzing data to reveal a more complete picture of what education offers different groups of students.
Flexibility and Feedback in a Formative Evaluation
Marjorie Weschler of SRI and Jane David of the Bay Area Research Group describe the importance of flexibility and feedback in conducting formative evaluation.
New & Noteworthy
This section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to the issue's theme of Evaluating Education Reform.
Beyond Input: Achieving Authentic Participation in School Reform
M. Elena Lopez and Holly Kreider of HFRP present a framework of authentic parent participation in school reform and its implications for evaluation.
How Schools of Education Can Strengthen Education Reform
Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, Dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and leading education historian, speaks to the role of schools of education in preparing future researchers and in contributing to the public discourse on education.
Evaluating Education Reform
Education reform is complex and so are its evaluations. This issue of The Evaluation Exchange explores key dimensions of reform, including standards-based reform, technology in education, Comer schools, and new forms of public accountability. It addresses the links among education policy, practice, and evaluation and how research and evaluation can inform policy and practice.
The Evaluation Exchange Special Report on Scientifically Based Research
This special report offers commentaries from experts on the challenges and opportunities presented by the current federal policy’s emphasis on scientifically based research for the practice and evaluation of education reform.
Avoiding Unwarranted Death by Evaluation
Lois-ellin Datta of Datta Analysis points to the importance of studying control and comparison group experiences when conducting experimental studies.
Youth Reframe Questions of Educational Justice Through Participatory Action Research
María Elena Torre and Michelle Fine describe the process and potential of participatory action research with youth researchers to investigate race, ethnicity, class, and opportunity gaps in education.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Evaluating Education Reform by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Balancing Priorities in the Evaluation of Educational Technology
Education reform policies place new emphasis on educational technology. Katherine McMillan Culp and Margaret Honey from the Center for Children and Technology have learned the importance of research rigor and local validity in their evaluations of educational technology.
Using a Framework Approach to Improve Youth Participation in Informal Learning
Megan Beckett, Sandy Berry, and Kristin Leuschner of RAND Corporation describe a framework approach for transforming research findings into a practical tool for policymakers, parents, and practitioners.