The Censeo Group evaluation team has been working on a number of evaluations of NSF and NIH-funded projects to support Primary Investigators and project teams as they build science curriculum materials and design professional development efforts for teachers to provide instruction aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Designing a Middle Grades Spatial Skills Curriculum; DR K112 #1720801. Dr. Nick Lux from Montana State University and his team are developing curriculum materials that use Minecraft to help teach middle school students important spatial skills. Zipping Towards STEM: Integrating Engineering Design into the Middle School Physical Science Curriculum; ITEST #1513205. The University of Akron project team developed a curriculum that brought engineering design principles into the curriculum unit on force and motion offered in the Akron Public School District. In this unit, students design, test, and redesign model stock mini-cars using computer- assisted design software, 3D printers, as well as virtual and desktop wind tunnels. PAGES: Progressing through the Ages: Global Climate Change, Evolution and Societal Well-being; NIH SEPA, R25OD020203-01A1. An ambitious teacher education program, the goal of PAGES us to empower K–12 science teachers to use high quality NGSS-aligned units that integrate ecology, evolution, and climate change topics across grade-bands. The University of Illinois team, under the lead...
Learn MoreWe are excited to support the Health In Our Hands (HiOH) team from Michigan State University in their work of developing, testing, and implementing science learning materials; blending classroom instruction and community-based learning; and examining how a community partnership can help support student science learning. This five-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award (NIH-SEPA) will give students and community members opportunities to understand, explain and apply ideas about health-related phenomena to their lives. Students will use two science curriculum units that the HiOH team previously created to investigate diabetes and addiction. By learning what controls their health, young people can understand that their genes are not the only thing that controls their health. They can make decisions and take actions to impact their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. The evaluation will examine successes and challenges of project implementation and the impact of the project on students, teachers, and the community. The evaluation will also support the community coalition in conducting a self-assessment of its processes and structures. This information will help the coalition to strengthen its impact and build stronger community connections to support student science learning. Read more about the project here: https://hioh.education/ and read the press...
Learn MoreTrained as a school psychologist, Dr. Jarosewich is pleased to be working as the external evaluator for Martin County Schools’ five-year School Climate Transformation Grant, ACHIEVE: Martin County. Located in rural eastern Kentucky, the school district will implement a Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports System (PBIS) at Martin County Middle School and at Sheldon Clark High School. Leading the effort is the district’s school psychologist Paul Baker, who is also president of the Kentucky Association for Psychology in the Schools (KAPS). Supporting implementation is Dr. Howie Knoff, creator of the Project ACHIEVE framework, a nationally recognized school effectiveness and school improvement program that the U. S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has designated a National Model Prevention Program. In creating the evaluation framework, Censeo Group has relied on resources from the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports OSEP National Technical Assistance Center. The following resources may be helpful to you in planning your STCG evaluation: • SCTG Webinar – YouTube video of Designing Evaluation Plans and Reports • Tool to assess implementation fidelity – SWPBIS Tiered Fidelity Inventory V2.1 • A series of evaluation briefs to help support your work. We are experts at preparing proposals for federal grants and at implementing...
Learn MoreWe are excited to be working with Dr. Susan Metz, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, and Dr. Sheryl Sorby, Professor at Ohio State University and Professor Emerita of Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technical University, as the external evaluator of their ATE project. The goal of the project, Adapting Tested Spatial Skills Curriculum to On-Line Format for Community College Instruction: A Critical Link to Retain Technology Students, is to demonstrate that spatial skills curriculum materials used successfully in four-year institutions of higher education can be adapted and effectively used at the two-year technical college level. The team is also researching the impact of using online materials delivered through iPad activities. Partnering in this project are Del Mar College (Texas), McHenry County College (Illinois), Tidewater Community College (Virginia), and Tunxis Community College (Connecticut). Students from various departments and programs at these four institutions will participate in targeted spatial skills workshops to increase their ability to visualize, manipulate, and solve 3D application problems. We will post project updates and share information about effective evaluation processes for technical education, ATE, and community college efforts. If you are preparing a proposal for an ATE grant, contact us. We’ll be glad to discuss your project...
Learn MoreIt’s time again for the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). We’re looking forward to sharing our work and learning from colleagues. Join us bright and early on Thursday morning for a panel with Kirk Knestis from Hezel Associates, Jeni Corn from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University, and Rita O’Sullivan from EvAP, University of North Carolina. We’ll be discussing “Adding ‘Value’ to Evaluation in Educational Settings: Opportunities for Evolving Roles of Evaluators in an Education Research and Development Paradigm”. Dr. Jarosewich will be discussing how evaluators can support dissemination of project materials and instructional. You can download a copy of her presentation slides here: AEA_2014_Jarosewich_Dissemination presentation. We’ll be tweeting about the conference using hashtag...
Learn MoreThe Ohio Program Evaluators’ Group (OPEG) hosted a fabulous fall conference in the Cleveland, Ohio area on November 8th, 2013. Typically the meetings are held in Columbus and it was a treat to have the opportunity to network and talk evaluation with staff, evaluators, and funders from Northeast Ohio. The title of the program was Program Evaluation: The Road to Better Programs and Increased Funding! The sessions were intended to help staff members of nonprofit organizations learn how to take on the role of evaluator in their organization; conduct a needs assessment, create a logic model, collect data, and manage an evaluation process; and quantify and report evaluation results. My contribution to the day’s agenda was a session on presenting evaluation findings. In preparing the presentation, I dove into evaluation journals and literature and also into literature from the business world. The guidelines offered by business writers – to keep the purpose of your writing in mind before you begin and to write clearly and succinctly – is also good advice for evaluators. I also relied on the work of our evaluation rock star friends, Stephanie Evergreen, Ann Emery, and Kylie Hutchinson, to provide the group with references and resources. And thank you, Johanna Morariu of the Innovation Network,...
Learn More