Session Title: Measuring Scale-Up Strategies - Archives
Session Overview: Overview of the approaches EIR evaluators use to measure the different types of scaling strategies implemented in EIR Mid-phase and Expansion grantees. Grantees adopt a range of strategies to support and sustain implementation in more sites and/ or with more diverse groups and to enhance district or school capacity. Evaluators must align their measures to the varied scaling strategies to determine whether they were implemented as intended. As part of this panel, evaluators shared approaches to measuring scale-up.
Presentation: Learning about Scaling from EIR Evaluations and Imagining What’s Next
Presenters: Beth Boulay and Geoffrey Borman, Abt Associates
Session Title: Emerging Measurement Issues in the WWC 5.0 Standards
Session Overview: The session focused on the implications of emerging issues for outcomes in EIR evaluations that will be reviewed by the WWC. Several measurement issues have emerged with the release of the WWC Standards and Procedures Handbook, version 5.0 (December 2022). These issues include the concept of independent measures for literacy and mathematics outcome domains, along with changes to some outcome domains in the WWC Study Review Protocol v5.0 (March 2023). For example, there are new outcome domains—such as “access to educational opportunities.” In addition, updates to existing outcome domains—such as definitions of college readiness and course performance—can change how the WWC classifies measures.
Presentation: Emerging Measurement Issues in the WWC 5.0 Standards
Presenters: Allan Porowski, Carter Epstein, and Ginger Stoker, Abt Associates
Session Title: Got Results? Moving Up EIR Funding Tiers Lessons from Current Grantees
Session Overview: Gain insight into the strategies of EIR grantees who have experienced success in scaling up and have moved from one EIR funding tier to another with the exploration of a soon-to-be published EIR cross-project paper. Building on a prior Investing in Innovation (i3) white paper, explore how grantees have leveraged the EIR funding structure to implement and scale their innovations using four key strategies.
Presentation: Moving Up EIR Funding Tiers Lessons From Current Grantees
Presenter: Tom DeWire, EdScale, LLC
Session Title: INFACT: Including Neurodiversity in Foundational and Applied Computational Thinking
Session Overview: Overview of the early-phase EIR project called INFACT: Including Neurodiversity in Foundational and Applied Computational Thinking (CT). INFACT takes an asset-based approach to neurodiversity, focusing on differentiation to reveal strengths of neurodivergent learners while embedding supports for executive function (EF). The session reviewed a WWC study that showed significant improvement in CT for students in INFACT classes grades 3-5, with the most dramatic results for students with low EF (high-needs audience).
Presentation: Including Neurodiversity in Foundational and Applied Computational Thinking
Presenter: Dr. Jodi Asbell-Clarke, Technical Education Research Centers, Inc.
Session Title: Understanding How the WWC Prioritizes Study Findings: Implications for Designing EIR Evaluations
Session Overview: This session focused on how the WWC determines what findings to report from an evaluation (that is, the study’s main findings). The session shared scenarios when the WWC focuses on findings other than those in an EIR evaluation’s registered confirmatory analysis plan. The WWC does not always consider findings from the pre-specified confirmatory analyses to be the study’s main findings and sometimes considers exploratory analyses to be main findings. By understanding how the WWC determines a study’s main findings, evaluators can anticipate the analyses that will contribute to the WWC’s effectiveness rating for the intervention.
Presentation: Implications for Designing EIR Evaluations
Presenters: Anne Wolf, Bruce Randel, & Rebecca McGill-Wilkinson, Abt Associates
Session Title: Updated Guidance on Implementation Studies: Implications for Logic Models in EIR Evaluations
Session Overview: This session will focus on conducting implementation research as part of EIR impact evaluations. IES released a new guide for researchers on this topic in June 2023. In light of this new guidance, this session will offer updated and aligned guidance for EIR grantees and evaluators on the development of logic models and fidelity measures. In addition, participants are encouraged to bring a copy of their current or in-progress logic model to meet in small groups with an Abt TA liaison to discuss what it would mean to align their models with the new guidance.
Presentation: Implications for Logic Models in EIR Evaluations
Presenters: Kerry Hofer and Barbara Goodson, Abt Associates
Session Title: Indirect Costs: Obtaining Them and Applying Them to Your Grant
Session Overview: Learn from the Department’s indirect cost rate group about requirements for obtaining and applying indirect costs to your grant.
Presentation: Understanding Indirect Costs
Presenter: Andre Hylton
Session Title: Innovative Solutions for Effective Teacher Professional Development
Session Overview: The Young Academic Music and Computational Thinking (YAM) Team has developed an innovative kindergarten supplemental curriculum, Young Academic Music, and Computational Thinking, to improve mathematics, music, and computational thinking outcomes in kindergarten students. The YAM team designed and refined, through iterative cycles of pilot testing, the Teacher Professional Development (PD) to train teachers to implement the YAM supplemental curriculum with fidelity by offering PD on-site (synchronous), online (asynchronous), and as a hybrid format (both asynchronous and synchronous). When comparing teachers’ reception pre-pandemic versus post pandemic, we have found that teachers are more receptive to in-person professional development in a post-pandemic world. In turn, preliminary evidence suggests the in-person PD is more effective. A robust discussion of innovative and effective teacher professional development could be supported through a panel discussion or workshop.
Presentation: Innovative Solutions for Effective Teacher Professional Development
Presenters: Susan Courey, Ph.D., and Sarah Gerard, M.P.P., SRI International
Session Title: Train-the Trainer for Theater Integration Designing a Hybrid Model for Scalable Creativity in School
Session Overview: This presentation explores the major design questions we faced in Years 1–2 of our early phase EIR project. These design considerations were multifaceted, interconnected, and consequential for the success of implementing at scale, including How do we develop and leverage the leadership capacity of both administrators and teachers to take ownership of the initiative and contextualize it within their pre-existing school culture and vision? How do we adapt our hybrid synchronous and asynchronous online and face-to-face training approach to a train-the-trainer model for school-level capacity-building? What are key materials and experiences that ensure successful teacher recruitment and sustained engagement and differentiate to unique school needs?
Presentation: Designing a Hybrid Model for Scalable Creativity in School
Presenters: Ross C. Anderson and Cindy Farlino
Session Title: Protecting Human Subjects in your ED Grants
Session Overview: Grantees received an overview of the expectations for the U.S. Department of Education’s Human Subjects Office to clear their Institutional Review Board certification, confirm that the Federal Wide Assurance is in place, and/or clarify the expectations for the annual IRB renewal.
Presentation: Protecting Human Subjects in your ED Grants
Presenter: Adam Graham, U.S. Department of Education Grants Policy & Training Division
Session Title: A Network Approach to Providing Early College to Rural Students
Session Overview: The Rural Early College Network (RECN) includes 20 rural Indiana high schools (HSs). Five HSs are endorsed Early Colleges (ECHS), and they serve as mentors to the 15 partner schools. Each mentor worked with three partner schools to coach and guide in becoming endorsed ECHSs. RECN was launched four months before the pandemic shut down schools. However, we continued by adapting our meeting structures and collaborating more deeply. Place-based education, an EC Summit, and new tools for HSs now benefit schools outside of RECN. Now in its final year, RECN has performed well on all of the metrics established at the outset and also inspired the launch of two other networks, an urban version of RECN and a PTECH application. Many lessons have been learned that impacted our organization’s other EC initiatives and would benefit other projects.
Presentation: A Network Approach to Providing Early College to Rural Students
Presenters: Janet Boyle, Ph. D, Jeremy Eltz, Ph. D, and Nina Arshavsky, Ph. D
Session Title: Operationalizing STEM priorities
Session Overview: Staff from across the Department discuss the work is happening related to COVID, Equity, and STEM/CS.
Presentation: Operationalizing & Sustaining STEM Priorities
Presenters: Patti Curtis, and Ashley Huders, Office of the Deputy Secretary