Examining Nonpublic Schools and ESSA Program Engagement

非公立学校是否充分利用了《趣赢平台》的资金，以保证低收入学生得到公平的服务，从而为就业或上大学做好准备? 以及可能存在哪些阻碍教师利用第二章专业发展机会的障碍? 这些都是韦斯特大学通过评估《趣赢平台》(ESSA)资助项目所回答的一些问题, led by Holly Bozeman, 地中海, a 趣赢平台 Principal Research Associate.

Bozeman, 凭借她在哥伦比亚特区和最近在纽约市的非公立学校评估这些项目的丰富经验, 解释这些研究如何协助地方教育机构(LEAs)在这些学校促进第一/第二章的服务.

Q. 除了学生的学习成绩，这些研究还提供了什么样的信息?

A. 评估结果显示了联邦计划的有效性和结果，以及LEAs在非公立学校实施IA计划的方法. 他们回答有关学生对该项目的看法和满意度的问题, parents, and teachers, and detail the long-term effects of putting in this effort for students. 这些研究还检查了指定用于专业发展的Title 花絮基金是否帮助教师保持参与并对他们的工作感到满意, and if there are obstacles to their participation in these opportunities. 评估还提供了有关学生行为结果的见解，并确定了有助于将目标与联邦和地区标准保持一致的因素.

Q. Why are these studies important?

A. ESSA要求LEAs为符合条件的非公立学校学生提供公平的服务, their families, and educators. Title II, Part A services have similar requirements, and students at nonpublic schools who qualify for federal support should get it, and their schools should be provided support for facilitating these services. Some LEAs need help monitoring this process and the eventual outcomes.

Q. Why do these schools need outside analytic support to conduct these studies?

A. While they are flush with data, 一些LEAs根本没有时间或能力以更简洁和可用的方式分析其数据，因此正在寻求一个强大的合作伙伴来帮助他们进行清理, organize, analyze, and make meaning of their existing data sources, in addition to finding new ways to gain insight about their programming. However, I wouldn’t say that these LEAs are solely looking for analytic support. 他们也在寻找与一个可以帮助他们使用数据来支持他们为学生创造积极成果的组织建立信任关系.

Q. How does 趣赢平台 strive to be that trusted partner to LEAs in performing these studies?

A.  We have worked with districts of varying sizes—both large and small.  虽然每个地区的背景和文化都是独特的，但有些挑战是相同的. For instance, there are many key players involved, such as the LEA administrators, nonpublic school administrators and teachers, and both types of districts hire vendors to provide Title IA and Title 花絮 services. 供应商的数量取决于LEA的大小和他们开发的服务模型. 趣赢平台可能需要一段时间才能与所有这些关键参与者建立合作伙伴关系. 但这种伙伴关系很重要，因为它控制着我们可以获得的数据的质量.

Q. What capabilities does 趣赢平台 bring to these evaluations?

A. 趣赢平台拥有深厚的技术和内容专业知识，以支持非公立学校人口的独特使命和特点. As a third-party evaluator, 我们带来了独特的客观视角，以及从与我们合作的各个学区吸取的经验教训. But most importantly, we bring ourselves. Many similar organizations have the skills to do this work, 但我真的相信，我的团队和同事们帮助执行了这些评估，这一切都不一样. This team has truly developed trusting relationships with these LEAs, and this is evidenced by the many years of collaboration we’ve sustained.

Q. 趣赢平台如何直观地显示与项目或政策变革理论相关的预期产出和结果?

A. We use logic models to illustrate how a combination of inputs, strategies and activities, 环境因素，如父母的参与和家庭对互联网的访问可以影响预期结果的实现程度，以及评估这些结果进展所需的数据范围.

Q. What kinds of outcomes are you seeing as a result of these evaluations?

A. Although we can’t attribute all growth to any one program, 在过去的5年里，华盛顿特区非公立学校的学生在阅读和数学方面都有持续的增长. In New York City, we are also seeing similar student growth in these subjects.

Q. What recommendations would you give to LEAs related to this issue?

A. 许多LEAs认识到这些联邦计划的相似之处和重叠之处——我指的是《趣赢平台》, 花絮, iii a, 因此，对他们来说，找到映射这些重叠部分的方法来提高实施效率是很重要的, monitoring, and evaluation. A comprehensive, nimble, 现代数据库系统可以帮助内部和外部的努力来监测和评估这四个程序. 一个结构良好的行动理论和每年修订的逻辑模型可以确保他们收集足够的数据和正确的数据来指导决策.