Projects

Project Overview

The Region 5 Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center is 1 of 19 centers making up the Comprehensive Center Network funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Program and Grantee Support Services. The purpose of the center is to provide state, regional, and local education agencies and schools with intensive technical assistance (TA) to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, and improve the quality of instruction.

Insight is conducting an evaluation of the TA services provided to stakeholders in state educational agencies, local education agencies, and schools in states within the Appalachian region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) according to the state priorities and needs. These evaluation services are designed to document TA processes and impacts, inform continuous improvement, and meet federal reporting requirements. The evaluation’s goals include the following:

• Measure the quality and effectiveness of Region 5 Comprehensive Center TA services against the stated GPRA measures, objectives, and milestones in fulfillment of federal reporting requirements.
• Assist the center with continuous improvement of its TA services.

Insight collects information from stakeholders periodically throughout each year to measure progress toward milestones and intended outcomes. We use a mixed-methods approach to address research questions aligned with the four GPRA performance measures. Specifically, Insight collects and analyzes data from the following activities each year:

• A document review of extant data and TA activity reports
• Semistructured interviews with TA providers and stakeholders from each state to learn how TA services were administered and how the TA activities addressed states’ priorities and needs
• Ad hoc technical assistance surveys distributed to TA recipients after every qualifying TA activity
• A web-based satisfaction survey assessing future needs and asking stakeholders for feedback about TA services received throughout the previous year

Products

Annual evaluation report, post-TA activity reports