As higher education quality assurance in many countries in Europe has become a mature activity, some agencies carrying out external quality assurance are developing beyond their core tasks and missions. The current study identifies new tasks taken up within quality assurance agencies and analyses the drivers behind such development. Based on an…

This report is one in a series of case studies RAND researchers are conducting as part of an independent evaluation of the BHP Foundation's Education Equity program. This case study traces the development of two efforts by UN Women's Second Chance Education Programme (SCE) in India to support policy changes that improve women's access to education…

e-Learning is a new educational paradigm in the age of information technology. These days, most universities worldwide consider e-learning as a strategic asset to make education accessible to everyone. The current paper evaluates the e-learning programs at the University of Tehran from an organizational point of view, and seeks to realize how it…

HIV continues to significantly impact the health of communities, particularly affecting racially and ethnically diverse men who have sex with men and transgender women. In response, health departments often fund a number of community organizations to provide each of these subgroups with comprehensive and culturally responsive services. To this…

This report serves as a legacy document for the Ford Foundation's More and Better Learning Time (MBLT) initiative. It summarizes the approaches to and outcomes and challenges of successful MBLT strategies around the country. The report includes data from a survey for Ford Foundation MBLT grantees across the country and from case studies in Denver,…

This qualitative case study focused on the impact of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity member-development program enabling socially responsible leadership in its members. The aim of this study was to analyze the current SAE member-development program to provide recommendations for enhancement that instill and reinforce socially responsible…

Evaluation of an international, grant-funded program must communicate the program's value to a variety of stakeholders: the funder, the agency operating the program and its community, and the citizens of the country where the program is implemented. An intercultural research team can achieve that goal only through a thought-out strategy. This…

Open educational resources and open educational practices are being increasingly used around the globe to train and support professionals in areas where funding and resources are scarce. This paper evaluates the open educational practices (OEP) of three global health projects operating outside academia--the International Association for Child and…

We explore how four evidence-producing organisations in the US go ahead when they rate the evidence base for psychosocial interventions, using the Incredible Years programme as our case study. The findings demonstrate variation in the procedures and resulting evidence claims across the organisations, with some organisations being strict and some…

Nonprofit organizations are under great pressure to use evaluations to show that their programs "work" and that they are "effective." However, empirical evidence indicates that nonprofits struggle to perform useful evaluations, especially when conducted under accountability pressures. An increasing body of evidence highlights…

In developing countries, an increasing number of civil society organizations (CSOs) engage in independent monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of government programs and policies. Most CSOs rely on a range of M&E tools in combination with advocacy strategies to hold government accountable and improve the implementation of programs and policies.…

In May 2008 nearly 90,000 people died in the most powerful earthquake in modern Chinese history. Many were students killed in substandard schools, creating a sensitive disaster zone inside a nation whose civil society organizations are beginning to flourish. This paper examines the education earthquake relief program of an international NGO, and…

This article introduces the concept of "co-impact" to characterise the complex and dynamic process of social and economic change generated by participatory action research (PAR). It argues that dominant models of research impact tend to see it as a linear process, based on a donor-recipient model, occurring at the end of a project…

Purpose: Program efficacy and outcomes can often be determined through an examination of collaborative activities between and among inner city school districts with high dropout rates and private, public, and nonprofit organizations. Kettl (2004) adeptly describes additional collaborative practice trends that not only transform governance…

With an eye to the theory that radicalization is a function of social and political marginalization more than of economic poverty, this report examines a cross-section of peace education initiatives in Pakistan. It relies on data collected through interviews with program teachers and students when possible. Funded by the United States Institute of…