Our Approach

Our team has a passion for learning, a robust research methods skillset, and a conviction that changing systems is the way to create more meaningful and equitable outcomes for students and workers.

As a small team, we prioritize building authentic relationships with our partners and providing thoughtful and actionable feedback to help them achieve their goals.

Our Services

  • As programs and initiatives progress, we use data to improve implementation.

    In designing evaluation frameworks and plans, we are mindful to engage the communities most impacted by a project. We work to center their perspectives and experiences to guide our activities, deliverables, and recommendations.

  • We conduct impact analyses that meet the standards defined by the What Works Clearinghouse (U.S. Department of Education) and the Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (U.S. Department of Labor).

    We utilize student and worker data from administrative records and surveys. We use disaggregated data to identify and understand differences in outcomes.

    We contextualize quantitative data with interview and focus group data collected with diverse groups of organizational leaders, students, and community partners.

  • We are strategic thinkers and experienced facilitators who listen closely and ask thoughtful questions to understand the assumptions and experiences that inform partners’ work.

Our Methods

    • Landscape Assessment

    • In depth site visits

    • Structured and semi-structured protocol development

    • Virtual and in-person focus groups and interviews

    • Open-ended survey development and analysis

    • Thematic and structural coding

    • Participatory community review

    • Strategy development

    • Theory of change and logic models

    • Program review

    • Metric development

    • Quasi-experimental and experimental design

    • Developing standardized data collection procedures

    • Randomized control trials (multi-site and single-site)

    • Propensity score modeling

    • Regression discontinuity

    • Generalized mixed effects regression models

    • Longitudinal analysis of large-scale administrative data

    • Descriptive and inferential statistics

    • Close-ended survey analysis

“We personalize each evaluation by attuning to our client’s needs, understanding each client’s organizational environment, and identifying creative solutions.”

 – Derek V. Price, Principal and Founder

Our Clients

EDUCATION AND TRAINING ORGANIZATIONS

We Understand College and Workforce Systems

We help leaders implement strategic initiatives. We have worked with two- and four-year colleges and universities, student success and workforce development centers, system offices, and other workforce and training partners. We have experience measuring program implementation and effectiveness, providing feedback to guide organizational redesign, and helping to develop and improve national initiatives.

NATIONAL NON-PROFITS

We Partner with National Intermediaries

We know that in order to make positive change at scale, you need to think big. Our team has extensive experience working with regional, state, and national non-profits that drive change among networks of postsecondary and workforce partners. We deliver real-time, actionable feedback that helps intermediaries and their partners develop, refine, and understand the effectiveness of their initiatives.

FOUNDATIONS

We Support Foundation Investments

Philanthropic foundations sit in a powerful position: funding innovative initiatives and evaluations that can inform public policy, expand learning and knowledge, and transform practice. We support our foundation partners in strategic planning, initiative design, continuous improvement, as well as documenting implementation, outcomes, and impact.

Past & Present Clients

  • • Arkansas Community Colleges (AR)

    • Ball State University (IN)

    • Central Carolina Community College (NC)

    • Chippewa Valley Technical College (WI)

    • City Colleges of Chicago (IL)

    • Community College Research Center, Columbia University (NY)

    • Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IN)

    • Indiana University School of Medicine (IN)

    • Kingsborough Community College (NY)

    • Lake Michigan College (MI)

    • Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (WI)

    • North Carolina Community College System (NC)

    • Passaic County Community College (NJ)

    • Queensborough Community College (NY)

    • Rio Hondo College (CA)

    • The Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at North Carolina State University (NC)

    • University of Texas-Austin, Community College Leadership Program (TX)

  • • Achieving the Dream

    • American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)

    • Brookings Institution

    • Center for American Progress

    • Center for Law and Social Policy

    • Education Commission of the States

    • Education Northwest

    • Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice

    • Institute for Higher Education Policy

    • MDRC

    • National Association of College and University Business Officers

    • National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

    • National Center for Inquiry and Improvement (NCII)

    • National League of Cities

    • Pell Institute for the Study of Higher Education Opportunity

    • Pew Charitable Trusts

  • • Annie E. Casey Foundation

    • Ascendium Education Group

    • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

    • College Access Foundation

    • James Irvine Foundation

    • Joyce Foundation

    • KnowledgeWorks Foundation

    • Kresge Foundation

    • Lumina Foundation for Education

    • Stuart Foundation

    • Walter S. Johnson Foundation

    • William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

    • William T. Grant Foundation

    • W.K. Kellogg Foundation

View Our Current Projects

We invite you to explore our ongoing work on a variety of projects in which we provide a comprehensive range of evaluative services, strategic facilitation, technical assistance, training, and support to postsecondary education and workforce systems in their efforts to inform implementation and measure impact.