Education Commons^™

The Overcoming Disadvantage In Early Childhood Study: Evaluation Of The Australian Literacy And Numeracy Foundation’S Early Language And Literacy Program. Summary Report, Dan Cloney, Kellie Picker, David Jeffries, Prue Anderson

Early Childhood Education

This report provides a summary of the completed Overcoming Disadvantage in Early Childhood (ODEC) longitudinal research study. The study was designed to evaluate the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation’s (ALNF) Early Language and Literacy (EL&L) program by answering the research question: What is the effect of the EL&L program on the development of language and literacy skills in preschool aged children? An integral component of this study was the development of the Early Language and Literacy Developmental Index (ELLDI), a new tool to measure oral language and literacy learning. The development of the ELLDI was based on the recognised need …

Developmental Assets And Community-Based Youth Programs In Colombia, Guatemala, And Honduras, Claire M. De Mezerville-López

Journal of Youth Development

This paper explores the external developmental assets and how they manifest in specific youth programs from Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras. An evaluation process was created through a qualitative phenomenological with the youth programs' leadership. To triangulate the data, a survey was developed and piloted with a small sample from three youth programs, one from Honduras, one from Guatemala and one from Colombia, exploring how the staff evaluate items related with the external developmental assets. This survey was created in a way that the results display in the form of a Spiderweb and in a circular way that evokes and relates …

Preparing Youth For Civic Life And Leadership: Evaluating The Washington County 4-H Youth Officer Program, Paul A. Hill, Katarina J. Aikens

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The Washington County 4-H Youth Officer Program was designed to address youth preparedness for civic life in a democratic society. This program is targeted to students in grades 6-8th, who are at a critical stage in their development as citizens. The program emphasizes experiential learning, which allows youth to learn by doing as they deliver public speeches, visit with elected officials, and facilitate business meetings using Roberts Rules of Order. A total of 24 youth participants completed the program over two years. Evaluation results showed the program was successful in achieving student learning outcomes, with significant improvements in citizenship knowledge …

Smiling Mind Evaluation 2021-2022: Effectiveness Of The Smiling Mind Primary School Program, Katherine Dix, Tamara Van Der Zant, Toby Carslake, Rachel Felgate, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed

Wellbeing

In Australia, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of mental wellbeing and emotional resilience in students’ overall development. In response, the Smiling Mind Primary School Program was designed as a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning program for primary students in Years 1 to 6. This report presents a large-scale evaluation conducted independently by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) of the Smiling Mind Primary School Program.

The program was delivered in 461 primary schools in regional, rural, and disadvantaged communities across Australia. The evaluation covers the period from program launch in Term 1 2021, and finishes …

Journey Mapping: A New Approach To Extension Program Design And Evaluation, Jennifer Hawkins, Neil Linscheid, Somongkol Teng

The Journal of Extension

With origins in service and human-centered design and customer experience, journey mapping is a research and evaluation method that allows users to visualize the journey a person or group takes while engaging in a service, program, or system. Using this method, individuals provide feedback on their experience, highlighting successes and challenges along the way.

Minnesota Extension educators have utilized journey mapping in program design and evaluation contexts and have found great value in both. This article highlights three use cases which provide insight into lessons learned during the process and how Extension staff may use the tool in the future.

When Data Matter: Evaluating Data Prioritization For Department-Level Decision-Making In Higher Education, Cindy Cragg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this program evaluation was to better understand the department-level leadership’s decision-making process and, within that process, when data are used to inform decisions related to the school’s mission to deliver an exceptional student experience. The evaluation took place at a school of professional and continuing education at a private institution in the Mountain West region. This evaluation’s central focus was to learn what the assumptions were that informed how the leadership prioritized data related to the student experience in their decision-making process. Secondarily, the evaluation explored what organizational conditions would be necessary for unused student-generated qualitative data …

Incorporating Complexity Theory In Collaborative Educational Programs, Ximeng Chen

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

The field of education has witnessed an increasing trend of inter-organizational and inter-departmental collaborations and forming of networks. Collaborative educational programs have been implemented in a variety of ways. This paper proposes to understand and study collaborative educational programs through the lens of complexity theory and to utilize nonlinear research methods. This paper also proposes to connect the dots in the literature among complexity theory, collaborative educational programs, program evaluation, and alternative nonlinear research methods.

The Condensed Stem Survey As A Tool For Extension Educators, Jafeth E. Sanchez

The Journal of Extension

One Extension Specialist implemented a STEM pilot robotics program across three middle school settings. A program evaluation to provide guidance and recommendations for future development, implementation, and continued evaluation was conducted as part of a larger study. This process led to the development of a condensed STEM survey that can be used by Extension professionals on STEM dispositions among middle school youth.

Investigating The Most Valued Components Of The South Carolina Teaching Fellows Program By Graduates Who Have Remained In The Education Profession, Amanda Jane Darden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vision of every elementary, middle, and high school in the United States is to deliver an excellent educational setting to each and every student who enters their school building. Educational research overwhelmingly demonstrates that a primary factor contributing to an “excellent educational setting” is having highly qualified and effective teachers (Rice, 2003). However, the teacher supply and demand issues currently facing our nation is significantly compromising the ideal of providing excellent educational settings in our schools. Teacher attrition is a problem that faces schools throughout the United States. The number of teachers leaving their positions to pursue other careers …

Mid-Term Evaluation Report (Final): Global Education Monitoring (Gem) Centre Phase 3, Valerie Haugen

Monitoring Learning

This report provides findings and recommendations from the external mid-term evaluation of Phase 3 of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM Centre) - a long-term partnership between the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The goal of the GEM Centre is to improve learning, by ensuring that education policies, practices and investments are influenced by high-quality evidence. The aim of the mid-term evaluation was to enable reflection on the long-term partnership through the GEM Centre. The findings highlight the successes and achievements of the GEM Centre over the past decade, …

Evaluation Of An Educational Program For People With Dementia And Their Caregivers, Beverly O'Connell, Manonita Ghosh, Melissa Dunham, Aisling Smyth

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objectives: This study evaluated the impact of a 5-week educational and supportive program for people newly diagnosed with dementia and their caregivers. Methods: The study involved a pretest–posttest survey followed by interviews. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted to determine postprogram changes. Kruskal–Wallis tests measured variation in responses between the people with dementia and their caregivers. Interviews were analysed using the NVivo software identifying themes against the program objectives of improving knowledge on dementia, coping strategies, communication and support services for people with dementia and their caregivers. Results: Fifty-three dyads (n = 106) completed the survey. There were significant improvements in …