PRE worked with MHCRC in the evaluation of their TechSmart Initiative. As part of this initiative, MHCRC has awarded one strategic 3-5 year grant to each of the six partner school districts in Multnomah County. With the assistance of the grant funding, districts gained and leveraged critical technology resources in order to identify and implement effective instructional strategies and practices that use technology to foster improvement in academic outcomes for all students. PRE designed the overarching evaluation for the entire initiative, which included a logic model, as well as project specific evaluation plans to strategically evaluate project outcomes for all six districts in Multnomah County. This evaluation included teacher surveys in all six school districts and student surveys in districts implementing in middle and high schools. Teacher and leadership interviews were conducted annually in each district to supplement the surveys. Finally, a quasi-experimental student outcome study was used for each district, which involved creating a concurrent or historical comparison group for each TechSmart cohort and examining differences in growth over time for each group. We also conducted subgroup analyses in order to understand if the rate of growth was greater for at-risk student subgroups (e.g., English Language Learners, minority students, and Special Education students). PRE had an IRB through Portland State University for this project, which included the creation of data sharing agreements with each of the six Multnomah County school districts and an MOU with the Oregon Department of Education to access historical and longitudinal student achievement data. District level reports were delivered annually along with an executive report designed to identify best practice models and guide future grant investments.
“Pacific Research and Evaluation is an excellent research partner. PRE staff collaboratively designed and implemented an evaluation program for an eight-year grant-making initiative between the Commission and multiple school districts county-wide. PRE worked directly with staff and our grantees to gather data and present information in an easily accessible format. The prepared annual reports led to program improvements and to guiding future grant investments during the initiative. The final impact report was professional, informative, and incredibly useful in telling the story and impact of the grant program, as well as highlighting the ongoing need for support. We enjoyed working with PRE so much, we hired them again to complete another evaluation for us!”
