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Session Title: Evaluating Federal and Philanthropic Research and Development Programs and Their Impacts on Public Understanding
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Panel Session 259 to be held in Pacific D on Thursday, Nov 3, 10:45 AM to 11:30 AM
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Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Sarah McDonald, University of Chicago, mcdonald-sarah@norc.uchicago.edu
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| Discussant(s):
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| Michael Feuer, George Washington University, mjfeuer@gwu.edu
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| Abstract:
Philanthropic organizations and governmental agencies play a critical role in supporting research and development activities designed to generate evidence to inform public policy, decision-making, and understanding of social and scientific issues. Frequently this occurs through sustained programmatic initiatives that fund coherent yet diverse lines of inquiry. Portfolios of funded projects often span the R&D cycle; foster innovation and generate evidence on intervention impacts; target multiple audiences; and are themselves dynamic as new projects are funded over time. This panel explores the challenges for program evaluation in these settings. Panelists will describe new program and portfolio evaluative activities within a federal agency, and present empirical results from a recently-completed evaluation of a major philanthropic initiative. The session will foster discussion of methodological innovations that would further enhance evaluations of R&D programs in both federal and non-profit organizations.
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Establishing Impacts of Philanthropic Grant-making Programs: Insights from the Evaluation of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Workplace, Work Force and Working Families Program
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| Kathleen Christensen, Alfred P Sloan Foundation, christensen@sloan.org
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The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Workplace, Work Force and Working Families program was established in 1994 to spur the development of the field of work-family scholarship. The resulting research revealed a workplace/workforce mismatch, a social and economic issue with profound impacts which the Foundation addressed in part by providing financial support for 324 separate projects. Together these projects were designed to build an academic research base, advance changes in policy or practice, and disseminate research findings to the general public. In 2010 the Sloan Foundation funded a team of researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago to assess the impact and influence of the programs' intellectual and applied contributions. This presentation presents results from the evaluation, highlighting important methodological issues in efforts to document the value-added of such programmatic initiatives.
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Forging New Directions in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Evaluation: The Case of the National Science Foundation
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| Janice Earle, National Science Foundation, jearle@nsf.gov
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NSF's Directorate for Education and Human Resources is intensifying its focus on program, portfolio and project evaluation across the Directorate. A cross-directorate team has been created, chaired by this paper's author. Initial activities underway include: (1) Aligning EHR priorities with new requirements from the Office of Management and Budget. Activities include developing metrics for each program and exploring new areas such as how to develop measures for R & D activities. (2) Creating an R & D program to advance innovations in STEM education evaluation (PRIME); and (3) reshaping contractual activities so that new approaches such as evaluating themes that cut across programs, are explored.
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