MIT Terrascope Youth Radio, Cambridge, MA
GRG is in the third year of a four-year process and outcome evaluation of Terrascope Youth Radio, an NSF-funded project in which urban teens develop, report, write, produce, and host a regularly broadcast radio program on environmental and Earth-system science. Participating teens report on science topics that are engaging and relevant to their lives at the same time as they learn radio production skills. In addition to providing interactive learning experiences for local teens, the initiative aims to serve as an impetus to increase coverage of environmental science, and other STEM topics, in youth radio programming nationally. Finally, the program proposes to establish a model for university researchers and students to engage and work with youth in their communities.                                                      

Ohio State University, Lima, OH

It’s About Discovery is a STEM curriculum for students in grades 8–10 developed by OSU Lima and funded by NSF’s ITEST program. The program, founded on new science modules from the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (PAS) curriculum, aims to extend student readiness to engage in STEM careers and equip teachers to use a challenging curriculum that brings STEM careers and content to life; technology is integrated throughout the program. GRG’s external summative evaluation is focusing on changes in student knowledge of and attitudes about STEM subjects, skills, and careers and teacher knowledge of how to educate students on these topics; we also examine student and teacher attitudes toward technology.

                                                                                     

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
GRG's evaluation of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program in Indiana is in its third year of a five-year grant. The LSAMP Indiana program was established in 2003, uniting Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue Calumet, IUPUI, Ball State, and Indiana University Bloomington in their goals to increase the number of underrepresented minority students earning baccalaureate degrees in STEM. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the program recently entered Phase II of its implementation. The current Phase II goal is to triple the number of baccalaureate degrees earned by program participants within the next five years. GRG’s evaluation is gathering process and feedback data to assess the successes of the program.                                                                                      

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

In September 2011, GRG began a study focused on the Midwest Crossroads Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), a consortium of three universities in the Midwest region. This short-term study collected data from graduate students, faculty mentors, program staff, and administrators. Collecting data through interviews, focus groups, and a web-based survey, we will attempt to uncover institutional practices and policies at the university, school, and/or department level that students and faculty report that encourage or deter underrepresented minority persistence in graduate education in the STEM fields.

                                

The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, Boston, MA
After completing an evaluation of their signature Schwartz Center Rounds® program in 2008, GRG is conducting process and outcomes evaluation of a new Schwartz Center pilot project. Funded by the patient safety and medical malpractice company CRICO/RMF, the Schwartz Center Connections pilot program is designed to build communication across healthcare professionals to mitigate adverse outcomes and malpractice risk. GRG’s outcomes evaluation is a pre-post study of program participants with a comparison group of providers who do not attend the program.                                                                                                                                                   

Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education, Arlington, VA

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program, administered by the Triangle Coalition and the Department of Energy–Office of Science, offers outstanding K–12 mathematics, technology, and science teachers the opportunity to serve in the public policy arena. Fellows bring their expertise to Congress and appropriate branches of federal government and gain insights into national educational issues that can then be brought back to the classroom. GRG’s evaluation is examining the impact of the program not only on the Einstein Fellows themselves, but on the federal branches in which the Fellows serve and the schools to which the Fellows return. These outcomes include the Fellows’ familiarity with national STEM policy, legislation, and funding opportunities; the value added to the host branch of having a Fellow; and the benefits to the school and district to which the Fellow returns.                          

        

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

As a follow up to the Systems Response to Improving Education on Aging in California (SAGE) project, we are starting up an evaluation of a new FIPSE-funded project, the Evidence-based Health Promotion (EBHP) Educator Certificate Program. Our evaluation questions are focused on the job market preparation and outcomes for community college students who complete the Career Technical Education (CTE) and the professional development outcomes for faculty who complete the faculty development program and teach the new certificate courses.

University of California, Biobridge, San Diego, CA
The BioBridge professional development model, developed by educators and scientists at the University of California, San Diego, consists of a four-phase training model for high school science teachers. The four-phase model was developed over three years by using an iterative process. In 2008 the BioBridge team and GRG were awarded a research grant form the United States Department of Education to conduct a study of the BioBridge model. The purpose of the study is to gather data that can be used to systematize and strengthen the existing BioBridge training. Evaluation activities include surveys, observations, and a secondary analysis of student test scores. The final deliverable for the project is an Implementation Manual that can be used to replicate the BioBridge model and GRG’s evaluation in other sites.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

University of California, National Science Festival Network, San Diego, CA
GRG is conducting a multi-method process and summative evaluation to demonstrate the success of the National Science Festival Network project. Science Festivals are currently held annually at San Diego, CA and Cambridge, MA. Two new sites will be added to this network in the upcoming year – Bay area, CA and Philadelphia, PA. GRG will contribute to all of the coalition conference meetings planned for the project, as well as the NSFN Web site. GRG’s process evaluation will focus on Planning and Implementation Variables, Festival and Year-Round Event Variables, Audience Variables (by Festival site), and Network variables. During the three years of the evaluation, GRG will carry out summative evaluation activities that explore the success of the four Festivals and hands-on science experiences that participating K-12 children have with local scientists. In addition, GRG will conduct online focus groups each year with key staff, key partners, and key collaborators from each Festival site. During the third year, GRG will carry out the evaluation of the Networking/Collaboration Support Services offered by the NSFN.                                                        

WGBH-TV, Boston, MA                                                                                                                                                                                  

Since 1992, GRG has conducted numerous evaluations of public TV programs, web sites, educational print materials, and outreach initiatives developed by WGBH. Most recently, GRG evaluated NOVA ScienceNOW season 5 (having previously evaluated the first four seasons), and the fourth season of the children's series PEEP and the Big Wide World.  Following is a partial list of current and past projects that GRG evaluated for various WGBH departments (e.g., Educational Print and Outreach, Children’s Programming): Africans in America, Arthur, Between the Lions, Building Big, Design Squad, Einstein’s Big Idea, Fetch, Lives in Science, NOVA: Making Stuff Mini-series, Oliver Twist, Peep and the Big Wide World, Saved by the Sun, and ZOOM.