Terri Anderson on Using Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in Evaluation

Blog post to AEA365, a blog sponsored by the American Evaluation Association (AEA) dedicated to highlighting Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources, and Lessons Learned for evaluators. The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness

Terri Anderson on Using Collaboration Theory for Formative Assessment

Blog post to AEA365, a blog sponsored by the American Evaluation Association (AEA) dedicated to highlighting Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources, and Lessons Learned for evaluators. The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness

Baseline data of bird populations in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico: a citizen science approach

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017This project tested the viability of converting a local environmental education group, "Eco Chavos" into a team of citizen scientists. In rural biosphere reserves in Mexico, with few resources and large resident populations, community-based biological inventory and monitoring has the potential to increase the impact of Mexican biosphere reserves by generating scientific information and engaging local residents in hands-on environmental education. To test this, I formed a citizen science birding group and trained them in bird identification, survey techniques, data collection, and data management. The project began in January 2016 and in December 2016 I stopped mentoring the program and let it continue under its own leadership. Our team was composed of an Eco Chavos group and a resident ornithologist who conducted land and water-based surveys multiple times a month. As of August 2017, 160 bird species have been registered, including three species endemic to Mexico; the Crimson-collared Grosbeak (Rhodothraupis celaeno), Blue Mockingbird (Melanotis caerulescens), and Spotted Wren (Campylorhynchus gularis). The survey provided an inventory of bird diversity in the reservoir, and could serve as a starting point to measure occurrence and abundance over time. The data were published in the updated management plan of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve as well as in a new bird book, Guía de Aves de la Presa Jalpan. A new community group, "Aves de la Presa Jalpan" was formed and contributed information via an online public database. The database may be used by the international network of bird monitors to analyze population trends in both local Mexican bird populations and in international bird migrations. In addition, participants showed increased bird identification skills, leadership, increased interest in birds, and engagement in project tasks and planning. Infrastructure was built to encourage birdwatching tourism in the Biosphere Reserve and the foundation was set to continue this research in the future

Christine Johnson and Terri Anderson on the Quality Improvement – Evaluation Connection

Blog post to AEA365, a blog sponsored by the American Evaluation Association (AEA) dedicated to highlighting Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources, and Lessons Learned for evaluators. The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness

Judy Savageau and Terri Anderson on Strategies for Strategic Planning to Improve Evaluation

Blog post to AEA365, a blog sponsored by the American Evaluation Association (AEA) dedicated to highlighting Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources, and Lessons Learned for evaluators. The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness

MassHealth Hospice Program: Overview and Analysis Final Report

The MassHealth Hospice Program: Overview and Analysis study employed mixed methods to conduct a descriptive analysis of primary and secondary data, using document review, key informant interviews, and MassHealth claims and enrollment data. This report explains the structure and implementation of the hospice benefit, examines the increase in hospice benefit utilization and expenditures, assesses member and family satisfaction with the benefit, and describes end of life services provided by Medicaid programs in five states. Client/Partner: MassHealt

Mary Pettenger Interview 2020

Dr. Mary Pettenger discusses what her day looks like as a Division Chair and professor at Western Oregon university. She talks about her daily routine, her favorite memories at Western, and her goals for the future

Regulation of Neurod1 Contributes to the Lineage Potential of Neurogenin3+ Endocrine Precursor Cells in the Pancreas

During pancreatic development, transcription factor cascades gradually commit precursor populations to the different endocrine cell fate pathways. Although mutational analyses have defined the functions of many individual pancreatic transcription factors, the integrative transcription factor networks required to regulate lineage specification, as well as their sites of action, are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated where and how the transcription factors Nkx2.2 and Neurod1 genetically interact to differentially regulate endocrine cell specification. In an Nkx2.2 null background, we conditionally deleted Neurod1 in the Pdx1+ pancreatic progenitor cells, the Neurog3+ endocrine progenitor cells, or the glucagon+ alpha cells. These studies determined that, in the absence of Nkx2.2 activity, removal of Neurod1 from the Pdx1+ or Neurog3+ progenitor populations is sufficient to reestablish the specification of the PP and epsilon cell lineages. Alternatively, in the absence of Nkx2.2, removal of Neurod1 from the Pdx1+ pancreatic progenitor population, but not the Neurog3+ endocrine progenitor cells, restores alpha cell specification. Subsequent in vitro reporter assays demonstrated that Nkx2.2 represses Neurod1 in alpha cells. Based on these findings, we conclude that, although Nkx2.2 and Neurod1 are both necessary to promote beta cell differentiation, Nkx2.2 must repress Neurod1 in a Pdx1+ pancreatic progenitor population to appropriately commit a subset of Neurog3+ endocrine progenitor cells to the alpha cell lineage. These results are consistent with the proposed idea that Neurog3+ endocrine progenitor cells represent a heterogeneous population of unipotent cells, each restricted to a particular endocrine lineage

PITFALLS AND POTENTIAL OF SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF EDUCATION, CANADA, NATIONAL ASSESSMENT

Large‐scale scale testing agencies, which are generally located within provincial ministries of education and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, have called for secondary data analysis of test and survey data that link contextual and educational factors to student performance. First, the potential of secondary analyses is outlined, followed by discussion of seven pitfalls that need to be addressed to realize this potential in Canada. Greater collaboration between testing agencies and teams of qualified secondary analysis researchers needs to take place to ensure that policy issues relevant to education are addressed in meaningful ways. Key words: large‐scale testing, policy analysis, missing data Les organismes responsables des épreuves communes, qui relèvent généralement des ministères provinciaux de l’Éducation et du Conseil des ministres de lʹÉducation (Canada), ont demandé une analyse de deuxième ordre des données d’épreuves et d’enquêtes reliant des facteurs contextuels et pédagogiques au rendement des élèves. Le potentiel des analyses de deuxième ordre est d’abord présenté ; suit une discussion des sept écueils à éviter pour en tirer profit au Canada. Une meilleure collaboration entre les organismes responsables des tests et les équipes de chercheurs spécialisés dans les analyses de deuxième ordre doit être mise en place afin d’assurer que les questions de politiques en matière d’éducation sont abordées de manière pertinente. Mots clés : épreuves communs, analyse de politiques, données manquantes