This article explores issues that had to be confronted over a three-year period in terms of two New York State funded grants for which I was the evaluator. Major, critical challenges are presented, described, and discussed. Specifically, the paper addresses issues related to lack of planning at the grant design stage that resulted in challenges…

The Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) was awarded an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Early Phase grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2017 to develop, implement, and test a promising program to improve student achievement and educational progress for high-need students: Reenergizing Leadership to Achieve…

The Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project was designed to develop principal leaders and leadership teams who create high-performing middle-grades schools. Designed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded from 2013 to 2017 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3)…

In order to best prepare the U.S. workforce, schools need to focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. However, given the current educational climate of reduced school funding, high teacher turnover, and increasing student diversity, the public school system simply cannot do this alone. This is where businesses…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

California's education system--the largest in the United States--is an essential resource for ensuring strong economic growth in the state. The Career Technical Education Pathways Initiative (the Initiative) became law in 2005 with Senate Bills 70 and 1133 and provided more than $380 million over eight years to improve career technical education…

The "Report to the Legislature on School Redesign: Expanding Learning Time to Support Student Success" is submitted to the Legislature pursuant to Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2007, Section 2, line item 7061-9412. The School Redesign: Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative began in FY 06 when planning grants were first included in the…

The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office funded the School-Based Partnerships (SBP) grant program for the purpose of partnering law enforcement agencies with schools to address crime and disorder problems in and around middle and high schools. In Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999, the COPS Office awarded 275 law enforcement agencies more…

Findings are presented from our case study evaluating the implementation of the IBHE's federally funded grant, "A Common Vision: Teacher Quality Enhancement in the Middle Grades in Illinois." Four sites were examined in terms of how they organized to attain the grant goals, and what aspects of organizational culture and leadership…