We evaluate how the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research (U-Links), a nonprofit organization that brokers research for community-based organizations with postsecondary institutions in Haliburton County, Ontario, has impacted this rural region of Ontario. Our approach uses contribution analysis and realist evaluation as layered tactics…

Funders, policymakers, and program leaders recognize the value of high-quality evidence. To make good use of a program evaluation, initiatives must contend with a set of fundamental questions first. Some of these are about the initiative itself: What outcomes does it seek to affect? Are daily activities in line with long-term goals? Others are…

These appendices describe the matching process used to identify an appropriate set of comparison schools for use in the report evaluating Year 2 of the Expanded Success Initiative, "Changing How High Schools Serve Black and Latino Young Men." As described in Chapter 2 of the report, selecting schools similar to ESI schools to serve as a…

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,…

The evaluation literature reflects a long-standing interest in ways to provide practical hands-on training experience in evaluation courses. Concomitantly, some funders have shown rising expectations for increased accountability on the part of Community-Based organizations (CBOs), even though agencies often lack the associated funding and…

A community school is a place and a set of partnerships connecting a school, the families of students, and the surrounding community. A community school is distinguished by an integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. The community school strategy is central to efforts…

This paper reports on a comprehensive evaluation of the Advance programme by Victoria University in 2007/08. Advance is a flexible school-based programme for young people to volunteer or implement a project of benefit to their communities in the state of Victoria, in Australia. It is a partnership between the Office for Youth, Victorian government…

Conversations continue as to whether and how community-based learning and research (CBLR) can be most effectively integrated into the mission and practice of institutions of higher education (IHEs). In 2005, eight District of Columbia- (DC-) area universities affiliated with the Community Research and Learning (CoRAL) Network engaged in a planning…

Community organizing for school reform is a growing national phenomenon, as young people, parents, neighborhood residents, and faith-based institutions struggle to improve the quality and equity of public schooling, particularly in urban school districts. Now a decade old, community organizing projects are influencing local public schools in…

A CIVIC GROUP'S EFFORTS TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN ARE DESCRIBED AND THE RESULTS OF THE PROGRAM ARE EVALUATED. THE POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL NEGRO CHILDREN IN A STATE-WIDE TESTING PROGRAM STIMULATED ACTION AND RESULTED IN A GROUP COMPOSED OF PROFESSIONALS AND SEMIPROFESSIONALS FROM LOCAL, STATE, AND…

AEL's contract with the U.S. Department of Education includes work partnering with faith-based organizations in Kanawha County, West Virginia, to (1) build their capacity to better serve at-risk youth and (2) document what best helps such organizations to successfully impact youth and their families. One of the first faith-based organizations with…

Many afterschool programs operated by neighborhood or community-based organizations (CBOs) take place in students' school buildings. Navigating relationships between afterschool programs and their host public schools can be challenging for both parties. At times, tension in such relationships can throw unnecessary roadblocks on the path to…

The results of the evaluation of the community education program of the Nashville-Davidson County (Tennessee) Metropolitan Public Schools are contained in this volume. Evaluation questionnaires were sent to participants in all seven Nashville-Davidson County community schools, as well as to school administrators and to community organizations…

One of a series of sixteen knowledge transformation papers, this paper presents an educational planning model which incorporates citizen involvement at the local level and provides a more responsive and efficient vocational education system. In the first section techniques are discussed for encouraging community participation, such as general…

The Learn and Serve Grant Program was designed to support schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) that engage children and adolescents in service activities linked to the school curriculum that address real community needs. An evaluation covered 93 Pennsylvania schools and CBOs that received funding to design and implement programs.…