July 26, 2010 - 8:11pm
December 15, 2009 - 11:19am
I went to a number of insightful presentations at Evaluation 2009 an annual conference put on by the American Evaluation Association. One very interesting session I attended was called “Accountability, Context Transparency and President Obama: Evaluation and the New Administration”. As evaluators, we believe there is great value in examining programs in a rigorous method to find value, note best practices, look for needed changes and record usable, valid data.
November 12, 2009 - 5:30pm
I had the chance to collaborate with Tom DeCaigny of Performing Arts Workshop today to share some of the lessons we've learned about evaluation in the arts. With our participants we had a great discussion about figuring out the best questions to get the information you need, helping people to be honest and courageous during an evaluation, and ways to build buy-in and support for evaluation activities.
April 6, 2009 - 2:13pm
A recent book (summarized here) by the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy has received much ink and pixels by those who take issue with its premise that there are four basic criteria that should guide foundations:
* Values
* Effectiveness
* Ethics
* Commitment March 17, 2009 - 2:18pm
Educational data systems, long relegated to as a low priority in school districts and states, are now set to receive $250 million in federal stimulus funding.
Educational experts and President Barack Obama’s new emphasis on data systems say that the increased funding means that it is time for states and districts to take the next step: figuring out how to use the information they collect on student performance to improve student achievement. March 5, 2009 - 3:10pm
President Barack Obama has now signed into law the $787 billion economic stimulus package that includes $115 billion to public education. This amount is nearly double the U.S. Department of Education’s entire $59.2 billion discretionary budget for fiscal 2009. The $115 billion appropriation to education includes $5 billion that is under the control of the U.S. Secretary of Education to give to states as bonus grants for meeting key performance measures in education.
February 16, 2009 - 2:45pm
A recent study released by Mathamatica Policy Research finds that students who have teachers certified through alternative-training programs do no worse in mathematics or reading achievement than students whose teachers have been certified by traditional teacher education programs.