ACET, Inc. Blog

This past Monday, I was invited to participate in a program advisory committee meeting for the Master of Science in Applied Psychology program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. This committee is made up of current students, professors, and professionals working in evaluation who provide feedback on the program’s goals and future. This meeting was not only important for the program, but also for the field of evaluation. The advisory group’s input was needed for a variety of topics, such as: the current program status, internship requirements, alignment with other similar programs, new applicants, etc. As the Master of Science in Applied Psychology program prepares future evaluators, alignment to future workforce needs and skillsets is key to program success and why input was sought from multiple perspectives. I greatly appreciated being asked to serve as a committee member and having the option provide program input.

To learn more about the Master of Science in Applied Psychology program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, please visit: http://www.uwstout.edu/programs/msap/.

Dan

Minnesota joins eight other states – California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Washington – in receiving funding from the federal Race to the Top grant. The goal of the Race to the Top program is to transform early learning programs and services within a state so that all children are well prepared for elementary school. Minnesota received $45 million, $20 million of which has been set aside for high poverty areas in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Itasca County, and the White Earth Reservation. Specifically, MDE’s press release states that the Race to the Top money will be used by Minnesota for:

• Improving governance structure and expanding assessment and data systems, which will improve accountability and decision making;
• Enhancing professional development among early childhood professionals; and
• Using the Parent Aware Quality Rating and Improvement System to improve program accountability.

Although Minnesota has one of the largest achievement gaps in the United States, research has shown that intervention at an early age can have lasting effects that can help close the gap. ACET has been involved in evaluating a number of early learning projects and has published the results of one study on the long lasting results of quality early childhood education.* We are very glad to see Minnesota taking the lead on such an important educational period of children’s lives.

Joseph

* Zimmerman, S. S., Rodriguez, M. C., Rewey, K. L., & Heidemann, S. L. (2008). The impact of an early literacy initiative on the long term academic success of diverse students. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 13, 452-481. doi: 10.1080/10824660802427744

Did you know that the Chinese New Year is next Monday, January 23, 2012, marking the year of the Dragon? Growing up in Hong Kong, my family spent a week preparing dishes for the New Year – all sorts of wonton and lotus leaf-wrapped items – and then spent another week celebrating. I remember getting red envelopes with small sums of money from my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Traditionally, only kids got the red envelopes with small sums of money. As kids, we were encouraged to save the money for a better future. The predictions made each year were a big deal to Chinese families because they predicted good fortune in the coming year.

Wishing you and your family a healthy and prosperous new year!

Stella

The Early Childhood Personnel Preparation (ECPP) project is a statewide study assessing the capacity and effectiveness of Minnesota’s 2- and 4-year institutes of higher education to prepare early childhood educators and care providers. Minnesota is one of the first states to seek to define effectiveness of early childhood higher education programs and to identify gaps in data that is currently collected. In addition, data collected throughout the ECPP project will inform further investigation of the capacity and effectiveness of Minnesota’s institutes of higher education and will likely be a model for other states. ACET is managing the ECPP project in collaboration with multiple state agencies (Minnesota’s Departments of Education, Human Services, and Health) and ten advisory group members.

Further information on the ECPP project can be found on ACET’s website: (http://www.acetinc.com/ECPP/AG.htm), and includes:

• ECPP advisory group and state agency members;
• Advisory group meeting agendas and notes;
• Evaluation framework;
• Online resources (databases and directories); and
• Proposed uses for the study findings.

Coming in June 2012 you will find the technical reports outlining our findings!

If you have any questions about the project, feel free to contact Dan or Joseph at 952.922.1811.

Dan

The Bush Foundation has recently announced deadlines for the 2012-2013 Bush Fellowship Program. The goal of the Bush Fellowship program “is to foster courageous leadership to mobilize communities” and provides individuals an opportunity to improve and enhance their leadership skills while solving problems in their communities. The Bush Foundation serves communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 23 Native Nations in the upper Midwest.

If you would like to learn more about the Bush Fellowship Program or obtain application materials, please visit: http://www.bushfoundation.org/solutions/building-leadership-capacity/bush_fellowship

Good luck!

Kirsten

Lately I’ve become preoccupied with a wonderful resource on visual information – vizthink. Vizthink’s focus is on effective visual communication in a variety of forms. The most obvious form of visual communication is presentations, but vizthink also has information and resources on sketching, infographics, facilitating conversations, videos, and interface designs. Vizthink offers articles/blogs, webinars, podcasts, and a list of resources for those who are passionate about finding new, interesting, or more effective ways to present data visually.

For instance, the link below shows a 2010 video by Alex Lundry, the VP and Director of Research at TargetPoint. This was part of a presentation to Ignite DC entitled “Chart Wars: The Political Power of Data Visualization.” In the video Alex talks about data visualization ‘sins’ that can be used to skew data so it is less accurate.

Chart Wars: The Political Power of Data Visualization

There are also vizthink groups on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook through which you can have conversations with others who are interested in visual communication. I hope you find vizthink interesting and provocative!

Kirsten

We are pleased to announce that Joseph Curiel has been promoted to Evaluation Associate at ACET. When we interviewed Joseph in 2008, we knew that he would be an excellent fit for our company so Joseph was recruited to join ACET as an Evaluation Specialist. We were delighted that he agreed to move from Texas to Minnesota and join our firm. We were impressed with his passion for quantitative data and experience doing multi-level statistical modeling as part of his master’s thesis. Our positive reaction to Joseph’s work has also been shared by our clients. They appreciate the thorough approach Joseph takes when analyzing their data and his ability to succinctly communicate technical findings and patterns in the results to a wide range of audiences. We would like to take this opportunity to share one of many compliments received on Joseph’s work: “[he] does an excellent job” and “this is a strong statement of thanks.”

So we will end this blog with thanks to Joseph for all his hard work!

In the Opinion section of today’s (12/23/11) Star Tribune, Joe Nathan of the Center for School Change at Macalester College described the positive impact of the LEAD for Charters project on student achievement: www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/136111683.html. LEAD for Charters is funded by the Cargill Foundation and consists of a collaboration between the Center for School Change, LarsonAllen, and eight area charter schools (LEAD has also added three new schools for the 2011-2012 school year). LEAD focuses support for schools in the areas of academic achievement, organizational management, family involvement, and financial performance. ACET has been the principal evaluator of the project since its inception.

Congratulations to all involved in achieving the project’s goals!

The Minneapolis-based General Mills Foundation recently announced they will be accepting applications for their Celebrating Communities of Color grants program. Non-profits in the seven-county metropolitan Twin Cities area can apply to receive a one-time, $10,000 grant. Schools and school districts, theaters, nonprofits, health departments, government agencies, and Native American Tribes are eligible to apply for the grant.

Please be aware that the Celebrating Communities of Color program is a one-time award only. If your agency has received a Celebrating Communities of Color grant in the past, you are not eligible to apply in this cycle.

The deadline for applications is February 1, 2012. To learn more about the Celebrating Communities of Color grant program and the application packet please visit: http://generalmills.com/en/Responsibility/community_engagement/Grants/Minneapolis_area/Communities_of_color.aspx

Good luck!

Kirsten

Do you remember your first interview? How about your last interview? Although almost everyone in the workforce has had to complete an interview to gain their position, employers have many different interviewing formats and styles. Last month, I had the opportunity to perform mock interviews with graduate students at my alma mater. The mock interviewing experience gave students the opportunity to practice their interviewing skills and provided an opportunity to gain feedback on their performance without the consequences of a ‘real’ interview. Reflecting upon my own experiences as a student completing the mock interview process last year, I can truly say that the experience was beneficial for students – they received feedback in order to be more successful during their next interview. From the viewpoint of the interviewer, I gained insight into elements that lead to a good interview. Throughout the process, I observed three behaviors that I felt made the difference between a successful and not-so-successful interview. Here are the behaviors that I feel contributed to the success of the interviews.

Take a few seconds to think through your answer before you respond

After a question was asked, interviewees who were successful took a few seconds to think about their response. After a few seconds to think, they were also able to provide greater detail about specific events and were able to better articulate their discussion points. It was more apparent when an interviewee did not think through their response because they often stumbled through their words and their response did not make as much logical sense.

Provide specific examples that demonstrate your experience related to the position

For many of the interview questions, providing specific examples was beneficial by adding evidence to interviewee’s claims. Interviewees who provided specific examples demonstrated their experience and, in some cases, were able to connect their experience to a future work environment. In contrast, interviewees who did not provide examples were less successful because they were unable to back up their claim with evidence.

Be aware of your nonverbal actions that you may not normally notice

During the interviews, some interviewees provided great eye contact, were attentive, and did not fidget; their attentiveness and poise contributed to a successful interview. However, other interviewees performed distracting behaviors like pencil clicking or foot tapping. For these interviewees their distracting nonverbal behaviors led to a less successful interview.

Do you have any strategies for successful interviewing? If so, please share!

Dan