Despite growing evidence about the significance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs, public investment has been relatively low, resulting in slower expansion of evidence-based ECD programs. This dissertation consists of three essays on conducting and using economic evaluation methods to scale up early childhood education and development…

This study, a process evaluation, examined the inaugural, year-long leadership development program, Developing Collective Change Agents (DCCA), in a rural district in the southeastern United States. The evaluation described the program's organizational design within the context of a review of related literature for education leadership…

(1) Background: Programmatic assessment optimizes the coaching, learning, and decision-making functions of assessment. It utilizes multiple data points, fit for purpose, which on their own guide learning, but taken together form the basis of holistic decision making. While they are agreed on principles, implementation varies according to context.…

Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is an outgrowth of Response to Intervention (RtI). The various systems of support for students and school communities provided through these programs are integral to modern education and embedded in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004. While there are many benefits to…

Food retailers are key stakeholders in the development, implementation, and effectiveness of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) nutrition pilot programs. Qualitative interviews were conducted to gather insight from food retailers regarding the feasibility of proposed strategies to improve food choices among SNAP participants. Two…

This qualitative case study identified whether corporate managers can implement mobile technology as an employee-training tool. Little research exists regarding mobile technology bused as a training tool for employees in corporations. The lack of research led to exploratory research questions to examine how mobile technology is used as an…

With a decade of experience in creating and running teacher residencies--numbering seven as of 2024--California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) and its partners have developed strong residency structures that allow for the variations that different communities need. This report explores how successful residencies do their work and presents…

Chinese local undergraduate universities are in a process of transition into universities of applied sciences. Important aspects of this include strengthening cooperation between universities and industry, cultivating applied talent needed in industry, improving students' employment rates, and promoting economic development. Internships are an…

This mixed methods study was designed for two purposes: (1) to provide district and campus leaders data about the effectiveness of how the studied district's READ 180 and System 44 literacy intervention programs were implemented, and (2) to assess the programs' impact on student outcomes to determine whether the district was meeting literacy goals…

Despite marked growth in evaluation use and capacity in the U.S. Federal Government over the last 50 years, the levers that have driven institutional change have not previously been identified. This ethnographic study mapped the process and factors that have led to the diffusion of value in evaluation in the U.S. Federal Government. Analyses of…

The increasing shift for higher education institutions to recognize career readiness as an institutional priority (Cruzvergara et al., 2018) is leading the need to identify ways to scale student engagement in at least one high-impact practice (HIP), such as experiential learning opportunities, prior to graduation (Huang et al., 2018).…

In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each of its twelve schools in order to bolster district capacity to support student mental health and wellbeing. Stanford's John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (Gardner Center) conducted a Year 1…

This problem of practice explores disproportionality and its relationships with K-12 student social emotional learning experiences, out-of-school suspensions, and academic outcomes at Choice Public Schools (a pseudonym) a Charter Management Organization (CMO). It examines properly implemented culturally responsive multi-tiered systems of support…

States and districts share an obligation to provide Multilingual Learners (MLLs) with access to high quality language programs that are proven to be effective in minimizing opportunity gaps between MLLs and non-MLLs. This article reviews how local education agencies (LEAs) allocated their state-issued funding to improve MLL language programs and…

The federal government helps veterans pursue skills needed in the civilian workforce. Veterans Affairs (VA) created Veterans Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) to support veterans who enroll in high-technology education programs through VA-approved training providers. The act includes a provision for the US Government…