|
Ten Strategies for Enhancing Multicultural Competency in Evaluation
Teresa Boyd Cowles of the Connecticut Department of Education offers self-reflective strategies evaluators can use to enhance their multicultural competency.
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.
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.
Basic Applications of Multilevel Modeling
Eric Dearing, from the University of Wyoming, explains some of the basic uses of multilevel modeling, using examples from family involvement research and evaluation.
Spreading Our WINGS: Using Performance Data to Prepare for Scale-Up
Many nonprofits collect data to measure their impact. But as Ginny Deerin, CEO of WINGS for kids, describes, they can also mine a treasure trove of performance data to improve their program models even before they undergo the scaling process.
Using a Data Management Tool to Better Serve Middle School Youth Across a Variety of Settings
Elizabeth Devaney and Hillary Salmons from the Providence After School Alliance describe how a citywide data collection system helps track and improve after school services and strengthen linkages with community organizations, schools, and families.
Family Support America: Supporting “Family Supportive” Evaluation
David Diehl of Family Support America outlines their top evaluation projects: compiling an online national database of family support programs and developing new ways to measure the effectiveness of family support programs.
Wearable Computers and Evaluation
Edward Dieterle, from Harvard University's Handheld Devices for Ubiquitous Learning Project, discusses the potential of using wireless handheld devices for evaluation.
New & Noteworthy
This section features an annotated list of papers, organizations, initiatives, and other resources related to the community-based initiatives.
Coming of Age in the Information Age
Jacqueline Dugery of the Pew Partnership for Civic Change offers some innovative ways to build on organizational learning to engage in strategic communications campaigns.
How Can We Strengthen Family Support Research and Evaluation?
Carl Dunst, Co-Director of the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, urges getting beyond the question of “what works” toward a more detailed scrutiny of the relationship among family support principles, program practice, and family outcomes.
Challenges to Data Capacity for Outcome-Based Accountability
Nancy Dunton of the New York State Department of Social Services discusses the challenges to data capacity for outcome-based accountability.
Mindset Matters
Ann Dykman of MPR Associates illustrates that an organization's culture and mindset are important factors in the success of using evaluation for continuous improvement.
National Evaluation of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Mark Dynarski and Mary Moore of Mathematica Policy Research, reveal the challenges of evaluating a national program implemented in multiple locations with inherently different key elements.
Supporting Effective After School Programs: The Contribution of Developmental Research
Jacquelynne Eccles, Professor at the University of Michigan, shares her thoughts about the contribution of developmental research to the after school conversation and the need for an infrastructure to support this.
Reflective Assessments: A Tool for Learning
Sharon Edwards and Ira Cutler of Cornerstone Consulting Group explain how organizations can use reflective assessments to assess their progress and consider the choices ahead.
Evaluating Nonprofit Advocacy Simply: An Oxymoron?
Marcia Egbert and Susan Hoechstetter offer nine principles to guide advocacy evaluation, based on a recent and groundbreaking Alliance for Justice tool on this topic.
An Update on University-Based Evaluation Training
Molly Engle and James Altschuld reveal some recent trends in university-based evaluation training.
Civic Participation and the Citizens Research Method
Serene Fang of Harvard Family Research Project explains the Citizen Research method to better inform and engage citizens in understanding and influencing policymaking.
Why evaluate after school programs?
Olatokunbo (Toks) Fashola, Associate Research Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR), reveals the steps new programs can take to initiate evaluation.
Ongoing Evaluations of Programs in Parent Leadership and Family Involvement
Kelly Faughnan and Cassandra Wolos of HFRP present two listings of upcoming program evaluations, the first in parent leadership and organizing, the second in family involvement in education.
Technology Goes Home: Connecting Families, Communities, and Schools
Kelly Faughnan from HFRP describes a program that connects families and schools in the Boston area through the mechanism of technology.
Getting Serious About Excellence With Equity
Ronald Ferguson, Director of the Achievement Gap Initiative and Lecturer at Harvard University, proposes that parents must be part of a broader movement for excellence with equity.
Empowerment Evaluation in Theory
David Fetterman of Stanford University and the California Institute of Integral Studies describes empowerment evaluation.
Empowerment Evaluation's Technological Tools of the Trade
David Fetterman, from the Schools of Medicine and Education at Stanford University, describes how technological tools can be integrated into the practice of empowerment evaluation.