Limited resources for educational programs combined with increasing expectations for evidence of impact has made program evaluation more important than ever as a key decision-making strategy for district leaders. Today, programs must define intended results in terms of improving student learning and achievement.
PCG Education's Program Evaluation Services focus on results, provide a comprehensive examination of program effectiveness, and highlight areas for improvement. PCG Education has conducted evaluations of local, state, and federally funded programs, specific interventions, and school reform initiatives. We bring expertise and experience in the evaluation of reading, mathematics, and special education programs, and have also provided third-party evaluation services for Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grantees. With more than 20 years of providing program evaluation services for educational agencies, we are well-equipped to provide the formative and summative evaluations necessary to meet federal reporting requirements and, of equal importance, to help schools and districts monitor the progress of school reform initiatives.
PCG Education's evidence-based evaluation designs employ methodologies that triangulate data from three sources in arriving at findings and recommendations.
PCG Education's Program Evaluation Services utilize both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to acquire evidence of impact and program effectiveness. We emphasize a participatory approach that engages district and school administrators, program directors, teachers, and other stakeholders in the process. We call this our Collaborative Evaluation Model.
Our methods incorporate the use teacher and student surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews to acquire data on key aspects of program implementation that include: curriculum and instruction; assessment; teacher collaboration expectations and school climate; reading and mathematics intervention; and teacher professional development. Quantitative methods include growth and gains analyses of the longitudinal progress of students in specific programs.
Our approach is designed to provide formative feedback to guide improvement as well as summative data to demonstrate program effects. This approach enables superintendents and other leaders to systematically identify program strengths as well as the factors that are inhibiting program effectiveness.
Julie Meltzer is Senior Advisor for Strategy, Research and Design at PCG Education. As Director of the Adolescent Literacy Project at the LAB at Brown University, Dr. Meltzer developed the Adolescent Literacy Support Framework, and authored Adolescent Literacy Resources: Linking Research and Practice (2002) and other research-based professional development and technical assistance resources.
As a senior associate with PCG Education, Stephen Smith coordinates professional development and technical assistance services that focus on strategic uses of data at school and district levels. He is a former high school principal with extensive experience in coaching school leadership teams on effective data use strategies and action planning.
A field associate with PCG Education, Mr. Tornow works with the firm's education content consulting team on data services, instructional leadership, and program evaluation and improvement projects. He currently works with the Tennessee Academic Specialists Program as Director of Special Projects, as well as the Florida Rural Turnaround Leadership and NJ SMART data professional development projects. He has more than 30 years of experience working and teaching in the education field at the elementary and secondary levels.
For more information about PCG Education's Program Evaluation services please contact us at info@publicconsultinggroup.com or 1-800-210-6113.
