Compass Consulting Group collaborates with diverse clientele to evaluate a wide variety of early childhood, educational, and social service programs. A few of our current projects are highlighted below.
Compass is working with Westat to conduct the Data Quality Initiative for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education (ED). Westat and Compass are providing technical assistance (TA) services to smaller ED programs aimed at ensuring high quality information on program outcomes and impacts. Services available to selected grant programs include assistance with grant competitions, evaluation TA to grantees and local evaluators, assistance with data collection and analysis for annual performance reports, and assistance with collecting and analyzing aggregated grantee data. In addition, DQI staff are developing a series of evaluation briefs on specific topics aimed at improving data quality.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org
Since August 2003 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made almost $43 million in investments in the state of North Carolina related to promoting the goal of having all students graduate from high school ready for college, work, and life. These investments were made to 1) promote new and improved schools and districts, 2) develop and implement state and district accountability policies, 3) build public and political support for a college-ready agenda, 4) advance the state’s adoption and implementation of college-ready policies, and 5) advance data systems at the state, district, and school levels. As part of these efforts Gates is supporting the redesign of the school assistance model and office within the NC Department of Public Instruction, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Data Initiative for the Achievement Zone, the creation of 42 Early College High Schools and 34 Redesigned High Schools, and the development of model lab high schools. Compass has developed extensive logic models for use with each initiative and has identified appropriate evaluation and data collection methodologies for capturing outcomes associated with these efforts that speak to high school students’ college readiness.
The NYSED is participating in the No Child Left Behind Title II MSP program. The intent of the grant program is to fund partnerships between high-need school districts and the science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) departments in institutions of higher education in order to improve K-12 math and science education and student achievement. Compass is working with the NYSED to conduct a statewide evaluation of the program and provide technical assistance to MSP projects to help ensure their evaluations are technically sound. The outcome data collected through the MSP evaluations as well as additional data collected by Compass related to project implementation and unintended outcomes will be compiled to evaluate the overall progress of the MSP program.
http://www.currinstprgms.ccs.k12.nc.us/Magnet_Schools/Magnet_Schools_Page.htm
The Cumberland County School system received federal funding to establish mathematics and science magnet schools in one high school and its feeder middle school (one school) and elementary schools (four schools). Compass Consulting Group is working with CCS to conduct an external evaluation of the program. The evaluation includes administering an annual teacher and principal survey, conducting classroom observations for a sample of mathematics and science teachers at each school, and summarizing district and school data related to student applications and enrollment at magnet schools, student achievement, student enrollment and completion of advanced placement courses, and a career survey (seniors only).
http://www.dbhs.ccs.k12.nc.us/PDF_%20Files/TIFNewsletter.pdf
Compass has begun the first year of a five-year study examining the implementation of a USED Teacher Incentive Fund project designed to increase teacher and administrator 1) involvement in professional learning communities, 2) implementation of new programs and classroom practices, and 3) communication among educators in order to improve student achievement. Compass is working with stakeholders to identify benchmarks for administrator, teacher, and student performance and instruments designed to assess performance against such benchmarks. One component of this study will be a cost-benefit analysis of school performance against a similar district not using any incentive plans. In addition we will be comparing student and teacher outcomes (e.g., student engagement and performance, teacher sense of efficacy, changes in pedagogical practices, and retention rates) to a similar set of non-participating feeder schools.
Partnership for Educational Success (PES)
Compass conducted an evaluation of this program, which is a collaborative effort between the school district and Wake County Human Services. PES provides academic and family support services for students performing below grade level in 48 schools in the district, using family-centered practices and empowerment principles to increase family involvement to improve educational success. PES involves a multi-disciplinary team of Title I coordinators, school nurses, social workers, counselors, Parent Liaisons, teachers, and others at each school. From this team, a family advocate is assigned to work with individual students and their families and assist them in accessing student and family support services.
TeachUP
Compass is collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on both project and federal GPRA indicators for this 5-year federal Transition to Teaching grant. The purpose of the program is to develop and expand alternative routes to full state teacher certification and to recruit and retain highly qualified paraprofessionals, already employed in district high need and Title I schools, as certified teachers in these schools.
Parent Liaisons
Compass is collaborating with the district's Office of Prevention Services to create an evaluation toolkit for the Parent Liaison program. The purpose of the toolkit will be to provide the materials and guidelines necessary for the program to conduct its own evaluation in the future. The process involves developing an evaluation logic model, formative and summative evaluation plans, data collection methods and instruments, data collection timeline, and a data analysis plan.
TechXcite is an engineering after-school program funded by the National Science Foundation as part of its Informal Science Education program. TechXcite is a partnership between the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, the National 4-H Council/4-H Afterschool, North Carolina 4-H, and the National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP). The program targets middle school boys and girls attending 4-H supported after-school programs in North Carolina, West Virginia, California, Michigan, Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma as well as 4-H Professionals who are instructed in delivery of the Discover Engineering! Curriculum. TechXcite is provided across a variety of geographic regions (i.e. rural vs. urban) and the curriculum is designed to interest and encourage youth in pursuing careers in engineering and technology. Compass is currently evaluating this program to assess its impact on the students as it relates to increasing interest in technology, computing, and engineering, career interests, and school engagement. The evaluation of the program includes surveys of the 4-H after-school providers and technology mentors, embedded assessments, and focus groups with youth participating in the program.
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