Evaluation Studies
RFA has a strong local, state and national reputation for sensitive and thorough data collection, insightful interpretation, and analytic rigor in our evaluation studies. We have conducted evaluation studies for schools and school districts, for local community organizations and national foundations, and for programs ranging across all of our core research areas and beyond. We have evaluated individual projects and project clusters, including multi-site evaluations reaching across the country. We believe in the importance of understanding the context in which our evaluations are conducted, and work hard to build strong relationships with all relevant parties in order to ensure that our research is thorough and our conclusions are relevant and practical.
Selected Projects
The Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) is overseeing 11 Student Success Centers, which are located in the city’s comprehensive high schools and designed to assist students to get and stay on track to college. RFA is conducting a mixed-methods evaluation focused on examining the scope and depth of services offered, as well as tracking key educational outcomes.
RFA was selected in 2011 to conduct a four-year evaluation of New Profit, Inc.'s philanthropic grantmaking. New Profit's mission is to help innovative social entrepreneurs and their organizations dramatically improve opportunities for children, families, and communities. Specifically, RFA will be evaluating New Profit's engaged investor model with grantee organizations throughout the country.
This grant program from the U.S. Department of Education supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. Research for Action has been selected to evaluate this grant for six local organizations, including Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Pan American Charter School, Education Works, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, Catholic Social Services, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center.
RFA was contracted by City Year Miami and the Knight Foundation to conduct a two-year mixed-method evaluation study of City Year's Whole School Whole Child (WSWC) model. The program components of the WSWC model focus on providing students with academic support from caring young adults, strengthening peer relationships for students through in-school and after-school programming, and promoting a positive school climate. The goal of the evaluation is to provide formative feedback on the implementation of WSWC and to contribute to future City Year evaluation efforts by developing a research design, instrumentation, and data collection techniques that can be used in Miami and elsewhere.
SYTE is a tuition guarantee program that provides students and families from low-income neighborhoods with college or other post-secondary training. RFA is collaborating with the SYTE staff to conduct a multi-year implementation and outcomes evaluation of the program serving the most recent Philadelphia cohort which involves 50 families and their school-aged children.
MetroMath is a partnership among Rutgers, University of Pennsylvania, and City University of New York, funded by the National Science Foundation, with the goal of developing a new generation of leaders in mathematics education for urban schools. An RFA team evaluated the center, which crosses the disciplinary boundaries of mathematics, mathematics education, urban studies, cognitive science, and brings university scholars together with public school educators.
RFA conducted a comprehensive, mixed methods evaluation study designed to inform, support, and assess the Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative, a partnership of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Penn Literacy Network and Foundations, Inc. The initiative aimed directly at increasing the rigor of educational programs in high-need secondary schools through the integration of key program components including: 1) creation of a classroom based coaching model in participating high schools; 2) establishment of district and school infrastructure to support the coaching model; and 3) intensive professional development for intermediate unit, district, and school leaders and teachers.
RFA is conducting a mixed-methods evaluation of the American Reading Company's ACTION 100 initiative in more than 20 elementary schools in Camden. The study will focus on ACTION 100's impact on student achievement.
