ACET, Inc.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Phone: 952-922-1811
Email: info@acetinc.com

All ACET newsletters are in PDF form.  You will need Adobe Reader to view an issue. 

Issue 23 - Fall 2008   New!

In this issue meet ACET’s newest staff member, Angie Easterling, read about Heather’s upcoming wedding, and read about ACET’s recent work in Continuous Quality Improvement. On the back page read about using non-linear logic models to enhance the description, understanding, and evaluation of cultural and holistic programs.

Issue 22 - Summer 2008  

See pictures from ACET's 10th year anniversary celebration. Also, read about the newest addition to the ACET team, Heather L. Wolfgram. We thank Kristy Swanson for completing a semester-long internship this spring. Key elements of a quality evaluation plan are listed on the back page.

Issue 21 - Spring 2008 

Meet Walter Novillo, our new Research Specialist and read about recent ACET developments, including an Open House to celebrate our new space and our 10th anniversary. The back page article explains the meaning of the phrase “statistically significant.”

Issue 20- Winter 2007-2008  

Find a map to ACET’s new office location and learn about recent ACET developments, including Kirsten Rewey’s Evaluation fellowship at the University of Minnesota’s Youth Work Institute. The back page features tips for developing a winning grant proposal.

Issue 19 - Fall 2007   

Catch the opinions and suggestions of our newsletter readers by examining the results of our newsletter survey. Read about three conferences ACET staff members attended over the summer. The back page article addresses the tough question of deciding how many focus groups to conduct when using this type of method in an evaluation.

Issue 18 - Summer 2007

Meet our newest intern, Nicole Cueno, and catch up with a colleague who completed an internship last year with ACET. Also learn about our inaugural workshop on hierarchical linear modeling. The back page features an article on the problems and solutions associated with missing data.

Issue 17 - Spring 2007 

Learn about our new brown bag lunch series entitled the “Hour of Evaluation Power.” Also featured in this edition is an article about using incidence and prevalence rates in health research and evaluation.  You may also learn some interesting facts about Minnesota!

Issue 16 - Winter 2006-2007 

Meet Lindsey M. Diers, MPH, ACET’s newest evaluator, and catch up with a long-time ACET consultant and a former intern.  Also in this issue, find part II of an article on quasi-experimental research designs, and try your hand at an evaluation-themed crossword puzzle (answers to the puzzle can be found here). 

Issue 15 - Fall 2006 

We have much news to share this fall with Kirsten married on September 2, Cathy engaged for a summer wedding in New York, and Elo Oju who joined our team as a research intern.  This issue also features assessment results from a charter school in Saint Paul and a two part article on quasi-experimental designs. 

Issue 14 - Summer 2006

This issue features many new developments for ACET and its consultants.  We have added two new additions to our team: A new full-time Research and Evaluation Associate and an intern from the University of Minnesota.  Also read an interview with a client on program and evaluation sustainability.

Issue 13 - Spring 2006

Join us to help celebrate our new office location on April 21, 2006 from 3-6 pm.  Play our trivia and test your knowledge about ACET!  Also read “Qualitative Research on Hmong Philanthropic Practices,” an article by our intern, May Shoua Moua.

Issue 12 - Winter 2005-2006

The Winter 2005-2006 edition of our newsletter includes a an article on the benefits of organizational development written by Nancy Weiss.  Also, read up on a recent Harvard University bibliography project tracking youth program evaluation work in the U.S. and ACET's entry in that bibliography.

Issue 11 - Fall 2005 

The Fall 2005 issue features a profile of Prairie Creek Community School located in Northfield, Minnesota.  Also featured in this issue is an article on sample size and demographic differences written by Michael C. Rodriguez and Stella SiWan Cheung.  Please be sure to check out the dear friends and colleagues update.

Issue 10 - Summer 2005

The Summer 2005 issue features an article on Metaevaluation and its implications for program improvement written by Jason Butler.  Also featured in this issue is a friends and colleagues update, descriptions of three exciting new publications, and a brief on Value-Added models to improve educational assessment.

Issue 9 - Spring 2005

The Spring 2005 issue features an article on evaluating literacy home visitor programs written by Amanda White.  Also featured in this issue is a brief piece detailing ethical principles for evaluators and the evaluation field.

Issue 8 - Winter 2004-2005  

The Winter 2005 issue provides an update on the ACET team including a summary of the results of a recently concluded evaluation of a local literacy initiative.  Read about another trip to Washington, D.C. by Stella SiWan Cheung, Chia Youyee Vang, and Mary Ellen Murphy.  Summaries of the 2004 newsletters are provided and Amanda White, the Spring 2005 ACET intern, is briefly introduced.

Issue 7 - Fall 2004

This issue features survey administration, record keeping, and data management.  Also read about a visit to Capitol Hill by Chia Youyee Vang, Stella SiWan Cheung, Mary Ellen Murphy, and Vanessa McKendall-Stephens to present findings on Hmong children’s literacy development as part of a congressional briefing.  In addition, a new “Client Highlight” feature introduces Friendship Academy of Fine Arts, a Minneapolis charter public school.

Issue 6 - Summer 2004  

Read about Michael Rodriguez’s article exploring the role of classroom assessment in student performance, which was published in the Spring 2004 volume of Applied Measurement in Education.  This newsletter issue also includes a tip sheet of considerations for survey design as well as a helpful checklist for organizations or individuals designing their own surveys.

Issue 5 - Spring 2004  

Find answers to two common questions related to the No Child Left Behind Act in ACET’s Spring 2004 issue.  Be sure to check out “Fundamental Elements to Consider when Evaluating Technology Education Programs."

Issue 4 - Winter 2003-2004

The newsletter’s Winter 2003-04 edition celebrates ACET’s fifth year of business with an overview of services and clients.  Also read “Moving from Descriptive to Inferential Evaluation: Strategic Thinking for Educational and Non-profit Institutions” for an insightful discussion aimed at helping organizations choose the evaluation type that best meets their needs.

Issue 3 - Fall 2003 

ACET’s third quarterly newsletter coincided with the launch of the company’s website.  Also in this issue, read “Timing of Survey Administration.”  This article compares two popular survey models – pre-and-post, and post-and-follow-up – discussing best-use situations, strengths, and weaknesses of each.

Issue 2 - Summer 2003

Meet Marcel Montañez, who joined ACET as Director of Research and Evaluation in the summer of 2003.  Also in this issue read “A Description of Scores from Standardized Tests,”  which explores the differences between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced test scores.

Issue 1 - Spring 2003

Do you know the difference between ESL, ELL, and LEP? In ACET's debut issue, read "Structuring Education to Meet the Needs of Bilingual Students" for helpful definitions of these commonly used terms, as well as a discussion of various methods used by schools to meet the needs of bilingual students.