Education

SPR has over 20 years of experience conducting mixed-methods education evaluations ranging from early childhood to early college for nonprofit and public sector clients. We pride ourselves in our long-standing commitment to equity in education, and bring an equity lens to every stage of our work. In addition to traditional evaluation services, we act as critical thought partners for our clients to help them utilize evaluation in order to advance their own continuous improvement and effectiveness.

Project Spotlight: Impact Evaluation of Solution Tree’s PLC at Work® in Washoe County School District

Impact Evaluation of Solution Tree’s PLC at Work® in Washoe County School District

The Solution Tree PLC at Work® intervention aims to bolster student achievement through shifts in adult mindsets, increased collaboration, and student data use to adapt teaching practices to student needs. In school years 2017-18 and 2018-19, a subset of Washoe County School District schools worked with Solution Tree trainers to implement this model in an effort to improve student outcomes. SPR analyzed student administrative data to describe the impact of the PLC at Work® model to date.

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Full Report

SPR has partnered with WCSD again in 2020 to conduct a larger formative and summative evaluation of supports to strengthen instruction from both Solution Tree and The New Teacher Project.

Focus Areas

Strategic grantmaking in education

SPR’s Education Division partners with funders to assess emerging and established grantmaking and programmatic strategies as initiatives unfold. As learning and thought partners, we bring an analytic and culturally-responsive lens to initiatives grounded in education equity, whole child supports, social emotional learning, and the cradle to career systems changes. We leverage our expertise in developmental and formative evaluation to provide rapid-cycle feedback and engage funders in meaning making of real-time data to inform continuous learning and iterative strategy improvements.

Featured projects:

Theory of Change Development for the Sobrato Family Foundation’s English Learner Policy Portfolio
Technical Assistance for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s P-16 Initiative
Formative Evaluation of the Bush Foundation’s Individualized Learning Intermediary Investments

K-12 school improvement

We work with local, regional, and state education agencies, as well as the Federal Department of Education, to evaluate new school models and turnaround efforts in K-12 schools. We frequently employ mixed-methods approaches—including randomized control and quasi-experimental designs—to understand whether, how, and for whom these initiatives improve learning experiences and outcomes. These evaluations have enabled us to understand the intricate nature of school systems that serve students representing a variety of backgrounds and the decision-making structures that shape their policies.

Featured projects:

Evaluation of Promise Neighborhoods and Full-Service Community Schools
Evaluation of Solution Tree’s PLC at Work in Washoe County Public Schools
Impact Evaluation of Departmentalized Instruction
Impact Study of Magnet Schools
Technical Assistance for Minnesota’s “World’s Best Workforce” Education Initiative
Impact Evaluation of Race to the Top (RTT) and School Improvement Grants (SIG)

Student-Centered Learning

The Education Division partners with funders and national non-profit organizations to evaluate initiatives and programs that promote student-centered learning, an umbrella term for approaches to teaching and learning that engage students as agents of their own learning and tailor learning opportunities to each student’s unique identities, culture, strengths, needs, and interests. Our work in this area ranges from formative, developmental evaluations to summative outcomes studies.

Featured projects:

Baseline Evaluation of Individualized Learning for the Bush Foundation
Council of Chief State School Officers’ Student-Centered Learning Case Studies
Evaluation of the Assessment for Learning Project (ALP)
Study of Student-Centered Instruction and Assessment

School and community networks

We bring specialized expertise in network improvement science and experience evaluating networks and cross-sector collaborations to achieve impact in education, health, and economic security for students and their families. Our work in this area leverages social network analysis to assess network strength and development, as well as progress toward long-term, local and systems change outcomes.

Featured projects:

Evaluation of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Local Proof Points & Enabling Environments Initiatives
Evaluation of Our Children, Our Families Council in San Francisco

Whole child development

SPR’s education team works with our clients to evaluate strategies that embrace the whole learner in and out of school. We bring experience evaluating multi-sector models that support the basic needs of children and their families, as well as integrated social, emotional, and academic learning approaches that leverage trauma-informed practices and emphasize holistic child development.

Featured projects:

Evaluation of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Local Proof Points & Enabling Environments Initiatives
Evaluation of the Resilience, Education, Adventure, and Community (REACH) Program

College and career readiness

SPR is a nationally recognized expert on career pathways, leveraging the combined expertise of its Education and Workforce and Human Services Divisions to evaluate and provide technical assistance on career pathway development in high schools and community colleges. Through experimental and implementation studies, the Education Division supports initiatives focused on college preparation, persistence, and completion, particularly for least-well served populations.

Featured projects:

Evaluation of Youth Career Connect
Impact Evaluation of Pell Grant Experiments
A Study of the Cultural Factors Affecting Underrepresented Minority STEM Doctoral Students and Academic Pathway and Transition Programs
Evaluation of the California Career Pathways Trust Program (CCPT) of the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE)

Early learning and extended learning opportunities

SPR helps clients understand critical data to inform how early learning and extended learning programs can better meet the needs of children and their families across learning environments and across cultures. In collaboration with SPR’s Philanthropy, Equity & Youth Division, we provide evaluation and technical assistance services to both public and private clients that inform quality improvement and strengthen service delivery systems.

Featured projects:

Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY) Evaluation
San Francisco’s Department for Children, Youth, and their Families: Specialized Teen Programming and Youth Workforce Program Evaluations
San José Learns Evaluation and Learning Project
First 5 Ventura County Evaluations

For more information, or to discuss potential projects, please contact:

Sengsouvanh (Sukey) Leshnick

Principal and Director of the Education Division

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Our education division aims to work in thought partnership with funders, policy makers, and education leaders to lift up learnings through rigorous research methods tailored to local and state contexts.

Project Spotlight: Impact Evaluation of Solution Tree’s PLC at Work® in Washoe County School District

Impact Evaluation of Solution Tree’s PLC at Work® in Washoe County School District

Focus Areas

Strategic grantmaking in education

K-12 school improvement

Student-Centered Learning

School and community networks

Whole child development

College and career readiness

Early learning and extended learning opportunities

Sengsouvanh (Sukey) Leshnick

Principal and Director of the Education Division

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