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Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP): Replication of Evidence-Based Programs-OAH/HHS
DIR is partnering with Abt Associates on the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE ) and Office of Adolescent Health (within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) federal evaluation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP): Replication of Evidence-Based Programs. The goal of the multi-component, longitudinal evaluation is to conduct a series of rigorous experimental design evaluations of three distinct teen pregnancy prevention interventions that are being replicated by grantees under Tier 1 of the TPP initiative. DIR will manage the survey data collection effort at baseline, short and long term follow up, and will hire, train, and manage local data collection liaisons across approximately 9 replication sites, as identified by HHS. DIR will work with its subcontractor, the Innovative Clinical Research Solutions (ICRS), to translate, program, test, and implement the survey instruments using web-based, audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) technologies.
Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)- ACF/HHS
DIR is partnering as Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.’s subcontractor to evaluate the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) at the federal level. Launched by the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this seven-year, multi-component evaluation includes three interconnected components: 1) a broad descriptive analysis of how states (grantees) designed and implemented PREP programs (aimed at reducing teen pregnancy); 2) the collection and analysis of performance management data; and 3) impact and in-depth implementation evaluations of specific PREP-funded sites. DIR is collaborating on the in-depth implementation evaluation, which will include multiple subawardees (sites) across various states, over a three year period. DIR will manage and conduct classroom-style observations of the implementation of three teen pregnancy prevention interventions and will conduct focus group with program participants.
Urban Institute – Housing Opportunity and Services Together (HOST)
The Urban Institute (UI.) entered into agreement with DIR to conduct a baseline survey using Field/CATI methodology for the Housing Opportunity and Services Together (HOST) demonstration evaluation launched in December 2010 with the support of the Open Society Foundation’s Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation. The demonstration also involves a 2- to 3-year follow up survey that is dependent on additional funding.
The HOST program is a multi-site demonstration that will test innovative wrap-around services—including housing upgrades and employment assistance—for low income families living in a range of public and mixed income housing communities. The overall goal of the demonstration is to develop comprehensive, coordinated service models that can help vulnerable low income families address traditional barriers to self-sufficiency, including poor physical and mental health and a history of weak connection to the labor force.
The demonstration is piloted in four sites in two cities: New Columbia and Humboldt Gardens (Portland, OR); and Altgeld Gardens and Oakwood Shores (Chicago, IL). DIR will survey approximately 1,222 adult and youth—in adult-youth household pairs—with a targeted 80% response rate. DIR will conduct 60-minute adult surveys and 30-minute youth survey in English, Spanish, Somali, and Swahili.
Urban Institute Choice Neighborhoods Demonstration Studies
The Urban Institute entered into an agreement with DIR to conduct baseline Field/CATI surveys and baseline windshield surveys for the Choice Neighborhoods Demonstration Studies.
Choice Neighborhoods is an initiative sponsored by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that builds on the experiences of HOPE VI. The study attempts to address concentrated poverty with the aim of transforming candidate neighborhoods into sustainable mixed income neighborhoods. DIR will provide survey data collection services for the Choice study. DIR will survey 250 study participants in each of three sites for baseline data collection. DIR will conduct general inspections of the participants’ homes to document living conditions. DIR will also conduct windshield surveys of the neighborhoods to document the general condition of each neighborhood, including land use, building condition, and social activities.
DIR partnering on evaluation of national Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) Program
DIR is partnering with MDRC on a large scale federal research project: the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED), launched by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The study will include random assignment evaluation of up to seven promising programs serving parents who are directly or indirectly connected to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the main cash welfare program. DIR is conducting in-depth interviews with state TANF directors and local subsidized employment program directors regarding implementation of ARRA-funded subsidized employment initiatives. DIR will conduct all baseline and follow-up survey data collection including phone and field follow-up interviewing of participants for the random assignment evaluation.
DIR participating in two major studies of school improvement initiatives.
DIR is a subcontractor to the American Institutes of Research (AIR) for a study to Identify Potentially Successful Approaches to Turning around Chronically Low Performing Schools Study. The purpose of the study is to identify policies, programs, and practices used by chronically low-performing schools that have successfully turned around and raised the achievement of their students. This study seeks to identify schools that have achieved rapid improvements in student outcomes in a short period of time; illuminate the complex range of policies, programs, and practices used by these turnaround schools; and compare them to strategies employed by not improving chronically low-performing (CLP) schools. DIR is conducting a survey of current principals in elementary and middle CLP schools to assess their knowledge of the chronology of their school's policies, programs and practices used to achieve rapid improvement in student outcomes, including accountability and external policies. DIR is also conducting case studies of a sample of schools, including interviews with school administrators and teachers.
DIR is also partnering with AIR on the Study of Schools Targeted for Improvement Using Title 1 Section 1003(g) School Improvement Grant (SIG) Funds Provided Under ARRA. DIR will be conducting web-based surveys of teachers in SIG elementary and high schools to capture their changing perspectives over three years (2011-2014) on their school climate and culture and school improvement efforts.
DIR to Conduct Feasibility and Evaluation Study of TRIO
On Monday, August 23, 2010, DIR signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) National Center for Education Evaluation (NCEE) of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to “design and conduct a study of TRIO Program implementation and outcomes.”
The eight federal TRIO Programs (TRIO) are designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds; the programs serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs.
The project has a feasibility phase and potentially an evaluation phase. The feasibility phase will last through May 2012, and, if awarded, the evaluation phase will last through August 2015.
DIR and its partners, Abt Associates and MPR Associates, will examine (1) several possible design options for a quasi-experimental evaluation of program implementation strategies in Upward Bound and (2) the feasibility, level of effort, and timeframes for conducting each of the proposed evaluation designs. Dr. Russell Jackson will serve as the project director. DIR has been been involved with prior evaluations and studies of other TRIO programs besides Upward Bound, including Talent Search and the McNair Postbaccalaureate Program. Methods developed to evaluate the Upward Bound program through this project will be assessed for their possible application for evaluating other TRIO programs in the future.
IES Releases Final Report on Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers
On Thursday, July 29, 2010, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education, announced the release of its National Evaluation of the Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers: Final Report. Executive Summary (NCEE 2010-4034). Russell Jackson, DIR president, is co-principal investigator for the evaluation. Carol Pistorino, DIR vice president, was one of the report authors.
Branch Associates, Inc., and its partners DIR and Policy Studies Associates (PSA), are conducting the evaluation of 16 Regional Comprehensive Centers (RCCs) and 5 Content Centers (CCs). The centers were established to help low-performing schools and districts close achievement gaps and meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The evaluation assesses the extent to which the 21 Comprehensive Centers have expanded states’ capacity to address the educational needs of local education agencies and schools.
To assess the impact of the NCLB Act, the evaluation team is conducting a series of panel reviews and is also collecting data through client ratings of Center products and services and through surveys of State Education Agency (SEA) officials and Regional Center staff.
The evaluation is assessing three program performance measures: the percentage of products and services that are deemed to be of high quality; the percentage of products and services that are deemed to be of high relevance to educational policy or practice; and the percentage of products and services that are deemed to be of high usefulness to educational policy or practice.
This interim report addresses the first of the evaluation’s three rounds of data collection pertaining to the Comprehensive Centers’ work from July 2006 through June 2007.
To access the NCEE announcement, go to NCEE announcement. To access the Executive Summary, go to Executive Summary of report; to access the complete report, go to Complete Final report.
Report Released on New York Poverty-Reduction Initiative
On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and MDRC President Gordon Berlin released early findings from MDRC’s evaluation of Opportunity NYC (ONYC)-Family Rewards, the city’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) initiative for low-income families. The ONYC program was designed to boost the income of program participants in the short term while building their capacity to avoid longer-term and second-generation poverty by encouraging good behavior and self-sufficiency. Most of the data for the evaluation is being collected by DIR under contract with MDRC.
DIR is conducting the longitudinal follow-up surveys of 3,750 parents for the evaluation at 18, 36, and 60 months after they applied to the program. For the 18-month surveys reported in the recently-released report, DIR achieved overall response rates of 82 percent. DIR designed data-collection methods, refined the survey instrument, developed a tracking system, hired and trained skilled interviewers and field locators, conducted interviews, and prepared data files for MDRC analysts.
The New York Times (see NYT/2010/03/31/MDRC-ONYC) said that the program “has so far had only modest effects on [the participants’] lives and economic situation.” However, a news item on the MDRC website said that “In its first two years, Opportunity NYC–Family Rewards substantially reduced poverty and material hardship and had a range of positive results in improving some education, health-related, and work-related outcomes” (see MDRC-announcement). For a fuller summary of the evaluation results, see “Key Findings” in the overview of MDRC’s published report at Publication-overview. You can access the full report at Publication-complete.
McNair Report
The U.S. Department of Education (Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development; Policy and Program Studies Service) has printed DIR's evaluation report of the McNair Program, dated 2008. For a copy of Education and Employment Outcomes of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program Alumni, go to http://edpubs.ed.gov/. In the search box, type Education and Employment Outcomes, and click Go.
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