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We have completed national studies in the private sector for IBM, Motorola, and the National Association of Realtors, and internationally have conducted a major management reorganization study for the management training function of Telstra in Australia. We also have had major statewide contracts in Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, and Connecticut, and have completed projects of a similar nature and duration to the proposed work effort. ESDI was the contracted evaluator for the Florida Evaluation of the Impact of Legislation Affecting Young Children, the Florida Schoolyear 2000 project, and conducted the national four-year evaluation of the IBM product Writing to Write.
Consulting areas in which ESDI is prepared to provide prompt and effective services are:
Large-scale program
and evaluation plan development and implementation;
Short-course and training
development;
Individual consultation/technical
assistance;
Strategic planning systems.
ESDI has worked for a variety of clients, both governmental and private. The following are examples of the specific services we have provided.
Statewide Evaluation of the FLaRE Grant, 1st year, 1999-2000
Statewide Evaluation on the Florida Area Centers for Educational
Enhancement
Florida School Recognition Program
Statewide Comprehensive Evaluation of South Carolina’s
CSRD Effort
Evaluation of the Writing to Write Program
Development of Teacher Guide and Complementary Products
for Writing to Read 2000
An Evaluation of Components of Legislation Affecting the
Welfare of Young Children in Florida
Evaluation of the Illinois Gifted Education Program
Evaluation of the Illinois Reading Improvement Program
Statewide Evaluation of
the FLaRE Grant, 1st year, 1999-2000
Agency: Florida Department of Education
Dates: December 1990 – August, 2000
This study of the Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence (FLaRE) Grant was the first of a three-year evaluation of the $26 million grant to Florida from the Federal Reading Excellence Act. Products generated by ESDI for the FLaRE Evaluation during the 1999-2000 contract year included:
Through this statewide evaluation, ESDI gained an indepth, current knowledge
of reading programs across the state and the national Reading Excellence
Act purposes and planned evaluation.
Statewide Evaluation on
the Florida Area Centers for Educational Enhancement
Agency: Florida Department of Education
Dates: August 1998 – February 1999
The major purpose of the study was to determine the nature, extent, and effectiveness of the Area Centers in providing leadership for the improvement of education in Florida. The methodology for the Statewide Evaluation of the Florida Area Centers for Educational Enhancement incorporated multiple data collection activities at the state, district, and school levels. Major activities for the study included:
The 100 page report contained summaries of findings and conclusions as well as recommendations for improvements of the Area Centers. An Executive Summary was generated to provide wider distribution of the results of the study.
Florida School Recognition
Program
Agency: Florida Department of Education
Dates: September 1998 – March 1999 / September 1999 – March 2000
The purpose of this contract was to document the Department’s implementation of the Florida School Recognition Program that received $6 million in state appropriates in 1998-99 and $30 million in 1999-2000. ESDI generated for two successive years the Executive Summary, Cross-School Analyses, and 1-2 page individual school reports displaying demographic characteristics and major efforts in school improvements in schools identified for the Florida School Recognition Program. Major activities for the study included:
Statewide Comprehensive Evaluation of South Carolina’s CSRD Efforts
Agency: South Carolina Department of Education
Dates: March 2000 – Current
The purpose of this evaluation is to conduct a statewide comprehensive evaluation of the South Carolina implementation of the federal grant for Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD). To date, ESDI has conducted the following activities:
We are in the process of generating the final report for the 1999-2000 school year that will include quantitative and qualitative data analyses and presentations.
Evaluation of the Writing
to Write Program
Agency: EduQuest/IBM Software Development
Dates: August 1989 – July 1992
The Writing to Write program is an integrated learning system using a combination of teacher managed instruction and computer-based instruction to teach elementary students the process of writing. ESDI designed and implemented the formative evaluation of Forms I – IV of the program and implemented the summative evaluation of Form I in the 1991-92 school year. Summative testing of the program was conducted in 27 paired experimental and comparison classrooms located at 19 geographically dispersed sites. ESDI administered a battery of outcome measures to students and also surveyed teachers, principals, parents, and students about their attitudes toward the program. For the formative evaluation, ESDI designed and coordinated the completion of more than 2,000 questionnaires completed by teachers over the three years of the filed testing of the program. ESDI analyzed all results and generated more than 2,000 pages of reports documenting the formative and summative evaluation of the program.
Development of Teacher
Guide and Complementary Products for Writing to Read 2000
Agency: EduQuest/IBM Software Development
Dates: January 1993 – October 1993
Writing to Read 2000, a computer-based instructional program, was created and marketed in the early eighties by IBM. ESDI worked closely with EduQuest in generating the revised program entitled Writing to Read 2000. ESDI helped in determining the changes to make in the program, wrote the Teacher Guide and the Program Guide for using Writing to Read 2000, assisted in the selection of the books for the Tape Library and the games for the Starter Kit, redesigned and generated the Work Journals, and generated the audio tapes for the Work Journals and the Tape Library. ESDI also interfaced with EduQuest staff and the software developers to ensure consistency among all of the components of the program.
An Evaluation of Components
of Legislation Affecting the Welfare of Young Children in Florida
Agency: Florida Department of Education, Statewide Assessment and Evaluation Office
Dates: May 1989 – December 1990
This project was contracted in response to legislative requirements to develop and implement a uniform evaluation system for programs serving young children in Florida. The work effort of the project included developing a uniform evaluation system for six programs serving young children in Florida including:
Also included as part of the work effort was the formative evaluation of each of the programs listed with more intensive investigations of the Pre-kindergarten Early Intervention Program. The evaluation strategies which were used in the evaluation of the Pre-kindergarten Early Intervention Program included interviews with key legislative and program staff, onsite visits and interviews with local education agency staff, and a statewide survey of district program contacts and program site directors. Also included in the contract was preliminary work on developing longitudinal studies of the impact of the pre-kindergarten program.
Evaluation of the Illinois
Gifted Education Program
Agency: Illinois State Board of Education, Research and Evaluation Section
Dates: November 1992 – May 1993
The evaluation of the Illinois Gifted Program was an evaluation of an educational program in the State of Illinois. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the success of the gifted grant program in providing appropriate educational programs to gifted students in Illinois. The study was conducted to evaluate and recommend revisions where appropriate in this program. The methodology employed for this study utilized a variety of qualitative and quantitative data collection strategies. Data sources included a review of documents and reports, analyses of quantitative data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education, face-to-face interviews of state, district, and school personnel, telephone interviews, focus group interviews with teachers and school staff, forty days of onsite visits to school districts, and a statewide census survey of school district superintendents. In total, over 1,000 people from the state of Illinois were involved by ESDI in the evaluation of the Illinois Gifted Program.
Evaluation of the Illinois
Reading Improvement Program
Agency: Illinois State Board of Education, Office of Planning, Research, & Evaluation
Dates: January 1990 – May 1990
The evaluation of the Illinois Reading Improvement Program was an evaluation of an educational initiative of the State Legislature in Illinois. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the success of these funds in improving reading in Illinois. The study was conducted to evaluate and recommend revisions where appropriate in this reform program initiated under the 1985 Illinois Education Reform Act. The methodology employed for this study utilized a variety of qualitative and quantitative data collection strategies. Data sources included reviews of documents and reports, analyses of quantitative data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education, face-to-face interviews of state and district personnel, telephone interviews, focus group interviews with teachers and school staff, two weeks of on-site visits to 2 school districts, and a statewide census surveys of school district superintendents and 15% of the school principals. In total, over 1,100 people from the state of Illinois were involved by ESDI in the evaluation of the Illinois Reading Improvement Program. The results and findings of the evaluation were summarized in a final report which included a description of the evaluation design and the results and findings related to each evaluation question posed by the Illinois State Board of Education.