UTeachEngineering, University of Texas at Austin
Comprehensive Program Evaluation
Request: UTeachEngineering sought a comprehensive evaluation of multiple project activities that would be in situ, ongoing, and collaborative.
Answer: Burd's Eye View developed and carried out a plan replete with evaluation questions, indicators, and data sources focus areas that corresponded to project goals. Burd also participated in meetings tracking day-to-day workings of the project and providing timely feedback from an evaluation perspective.
Upshot: UTeachEngineering integrated evaluator findings into project reflection and decisions about refinements.
Mathematically Connected Communities, New Mexico State University
Assessment of Instructional Quality
Request: MC2 needed a baseline measurement of the quality of mathematics instruction middle school and high school classrooms across southeastern New Mexico on short order.
Answer: Burd's Eye View swiftly got up to speed on NMSU's newly adapted measure for assessing instruction. Burd evaluators traveled from one small, diverse community to another to observe, evaluate, and report on classroom instruction.
Upshot: MC2 gained clarity and direction for helping teachers improve the quality of mathematics instruction.
Praise: "Burd's Eye View contributed thoughtful, relevant, and insightful feedback to improve our projects' goals. The timely and consistent feedback, along with probing questions from an objective perspective, helped advance the learning of the group. As a result, we aligned our actions to respond to any changing conditions, and we saw change."
Janice Bradley, PhD, Program Coordinator, NMSU
Shore Research
Measurement of Student Outcomes
Request: Shore Research sought an evaluator experienced with measuring the impact of curricula on student learning. Burd's Eye View collaborated with Shore to investigate changes in the students critical thinking skills due to teachers participating in professional development and teaching a new science supplement on environmental education.
Answer: Together with Shore, Burd adapted an established measure and implemented a quasi-experimental design. Additionally, professional development observations and interviews with teachers documented program implementation.
Upshot: Shore's client gained clarity about impact of curriculum supplement on students and about program implementation.
Praise: "We so appreciated the Burd's Eye View approach! They are easy to work with and so insightful. Burd contributed thoughtful, relevant insights that improved the quality of our collaboration and the final product our client desired. We would love to work with them again."
Karin Samii-Shore, Owner/PI, Shore Research, Inc.
EMJ Associates
Literature Review
Request: EMJ Associates needed help reviewing literature about the effectiveness of using theater to engage students in a "No Touch" curriculum to prevent child abuse.
Answer: Burd's Eye View distilled literature so that EMJ could make recommendations forward the best way to implement and test the fit of the curriculum adopted for middle school students.
Praise: "You distilled just what I needed from the literature. Thank you for your quick response and insightful analysis of the literature."
Beth Johnson, PhD, Owner/Principal, EMJ Associates.
Other Projects:
St. Edwards University, Department of Education
Assessment of Teacher Mathematics Content Knowledge and Instruction
Healthy Living Happy Living, Dell Children's Medical Center of Central TX
Develop Survey for Distribution of Local Farm Food to Low-Income Families
Communities for Recovery
Development of Outcome Measure