Oregon GEAR UP External Evaluation Plan

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Oregon GEAR UPExternal Evaluation Plan

• NWREL Team
• Dr. Eve McDermott
• Dr. Changhua Wang
• and Judith Devine

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What is NWRELs Role?

• To provide an independent assessment of the
  effectiveness of GEAR UP Program implementations
  in Oregon.
• To assist GEAR UP sites with their data
  collection, evaluation, and reporting.
• To ensure that state and local plans are aligned
  with performance indicators established by the
  U.S. Department of Education

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Key Questions in NWRELs Evaluation of GEAR UP
Sites Implementations

• To what extent (if any) and why have local
  projects deviated from original plans and
  budgets?
• To what extent do local implementations align
  with federal goals and objectives for GEAR UP?
• To what extent do local implementations result in
  desired impacts?

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Federal Indicators of GEAR UP Meeting its
Objectives

• 1. Increasing percentages of students passing
  academically challenging college preparatory
  courses such as
• algebra
• geometry
• chemistry
• physics

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Federal Indicators of GEAR UP Meeting its
Objectives cont.

• 2. Higher rates of student attendance,school
  completion, and postsecondary enrollment.
• Improved attendance rates
• Improved promotion rates
• Improved graduation rates
• Higher college enrollment rates.

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Federal Indicators of GEAR UP Meeting its
Objectives cont.

• 3.1 Improved student and parent knowledge about
  what it takes to go to college and to succeed in
  college.
• Improved knowledge of the academic preparation
  needed for college
• Improved knowledge of college costs
• Improved knowledge of financial aid available for
  college attendance.

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Federal Indicators of GEAR UP Meeting its
Objectives cont.

• 3.2 Each of the following participating groups
  will have high educational expectations for
  students throughout the life of the program.
• Students
• Students Parents or Guardians
• Teachers

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In Summary, NWRELs Evaluation Focuses on
Identifying GEAR UPs Impacts upon Three Groups

• Students, Parents, School Staff

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Evaluation Focuses on Identifying GEAR UPs
Impacts upon Three Groups

• To what extent do students knowledge,
  expectations, and achievement improve?
• To what extent do parents knowledge,
  expectations, and involvement improve?
• To what extent do the skills of schools staffs
  and their expectations for students improve?

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GEAR UPs Impacts upon Three Groups

• Survey of Students, Parents and Educators.
• Determine need for visits to some or all sites to
  provide technical assistance or on-site
  information/data collection.
• Schedule and conduct visits.
• Based on findings from all preceding steps,
  adjust the internal and external evaluation
  processes (as needed) to ensure complete,
  accurate and credible evaluative data

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How You Can Help Us To Properly Evaluate GEAR UP
in Oregon

• Coordinators role

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Coordinators role in this evaluation effort

• Communicate your needs and concerns regarding
  evaluation data collection, analyses, and
  reporting.
• Meet deadlines for data and information requests.
  
• Ensure that quarterly and annual reports are
  complete and accurate.