Explains the process and benefits of conducting different program evaluations, and the Heldrich Center's work in evaluating over 30 education and workforce programs.

1. The Val ue of Eval uat i on
John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development
April 8, 2011
Presentation to the New Jersey County Colleges’
Institutional Advancement Affinity Group
William Mabe, PhD, Director of Research and Evaluation

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About the Heldrich Center
 The Heldrich Center is a research and policy institute
at Rutgers dedicated to raising the effectiveness of
the American workplace by strengthening workforce
education and training programs
 Founded in 1997, the center employs 18 full-time
professional staff and faculty representing an array of
disciplines, from economics and human services to
business and public policy

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Heldrich Center Research and Evaluation
 Have evaluated over 30 education and workforce
programs
 Selected evaluation projects include:
– A profile of performance outcomes of New Jersey’s community
colleges
– Evaluation of Kessler Foundation funded grantees
– Evaluation of US Department of Education financed Parent
Information and Resource Centers

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Workforce Development
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Benefits of Evaluation
• Learn what works and what does not work so
resources can be directed to most effective programs
• Identify barriers to success and program weaknesses
• Provide evidence for program sustainability
• Document best practices for replication

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What Evaluation is NOT

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Evaluation Is Not
• Auditing
• A gotcha
• Needs assessment
• Just about the numbers
• Customer satisfaction

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Evaluation Is
• Systematic and objective process by which a
researcher assesses the quality, effectiveness, or
value of a program
 Systematic--follows established rules of scientific inquiry
 Objective--any neutral observer would arrive at the same
conclusions about the program if she were to use the
same methods
 Assess program quality by studying how the program
operates
 Effectiveness--whether the program achieves its intended
goal
 Value assessment places the effectiveness of the program
in the context of its costs

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Types of Evaluations
• Process Evaluations:
 Identify barriers to successful implementation
 Identify which program components are effective and which are
ineffective at helping program achieve its goals
 Recommend strategies for modifying program to strengthen it
 Tend to use more qualitative data
• Outcome Evaluations:
 How well is the program achieving it goals? Is it effective?
 Tend to use more quantitative data

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When Programs Should Be Evaluated
• Before the program begins. In the early stages of
developing any program, staff should plan the
program to accommodate evaluation
• Data collection should be ongoing
• Program should be evaluated at regular intervals

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Life-Cycle Model of Program Evaluation
• Like products, programs have life cycles:
• conceptualization
• piloting
• widespread implementation
• maturity
• (possibly) phase-out
• Type of evaluation to be conducted is a function of
where a program is in the life-cycle

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How to Approach Evaluation
• At what stage is the program in its life-cycle?
• What evidence would be needed to convince a
neutral observer that the program is effective?
That it’s being implemented well?
• If this program were successful what would I
expect to observe?
 Look for the observable implications of program success
 Observable implications can be measured, either qualitatively or
quantitatively
• Focus on both process and outcomes

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How to Evaluate
• Identify stakeholders
• Types of data: qualitative and quantitative
• Methodologies of data collection
• Individual interviews
• Focus groups
• Surveys
• Observation of program activities
• Collection of programmatic and administrative data
• Some methodologies can be used to collect
qualitative and quantitative data, e.g., surveys
• When to collect data
• Design program so that needed data can be collected from day
one

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Data Heldrich Center Has Used for
Program Evaluations
• New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Wage Record Data
• Quarterly census of earnings of over nearly all workers in NJ
• Heldrich Center has access to UI wage records through data sharing
agreement with NJ Dept of Labor and Workforce Development
• Permitted to use for approved research purposes
• Employment Service OSOS Data
• Records of people who received training through public workforce
system
• Heldrich has data sharing agreement with NJLWD
• Valuable for creating comparison groups
• New Jersey Student Unit Record Data System
• Centralized database of student enrollment and graduation records
that CHE collects from you and all public and some independent
institutions in the state
• Heldrich has data sharing agreement with NJCHE to use for approved
research purposes

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Case Study #1: Essex County College Math
Initiative

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Workforce Development
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Program Overview
Semester Key Program Elements
Summer I Pilot
Semester
•Linked developmentalpre-algebracourse and scientific
reasoningcourse
•STEM specific tutors
•Financialsupport
Fall2009 Semester &
Spring 2010 Semester
•Collegelevel Math course with a supported recitation
•STEMspecific tutors
•Financialsupport
•Access to a dedicatedcomputer lab
•Feedbackoriented homework structure.

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Key Differences: STEM Algebra Course
versus College’s Regular Algebra Course
• Revised curriculum:
– Focus on concepts
– New textbook
– Coverage of more difficult topics
• Mandatory recitation
• Teaching Assistant
• Financial support for students
• Mandatory homework
• Different grading structure

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Evaluation Design
• Process and outcome evaluations
• Use qualitative and quantitative data collection methods
• Interdisciplinary evaluation team
• Submitted interim reports to provide actionable information
in a timely manner
• Focused on understanding the culture and politics of the
school as part of the evaluation process
• Considered the views of all stakeholders

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Qualitative Data Collection
Method Time Frame Number of Participants
Course Observations Three times per
course per
semester
Eighteen observations
Instructor Interviews Pre-Post Semester Twelve interviews with five different
instructors
Student Focus Groups Post Semester Five groups consisting of 5-8
students
Tutor Focus Groups Post Semester Four groups consisting of 5-10 tutors
Meetings, phone calls
and e-mails with
administrative
staff
Regularly throughout
the semester –
(Approx. two to three
times per month)
Two

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Quantitative Data Collection
• Administrative Data
– Program level data is collected from the program administrator
– Includes program participant information
• Preliminary College level data is collected from the
college data administrator
– Includes grade information for ALL students enrolled in College
Algebra
– Retention information, and follow up grade information is
forthcoming

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Notable Findings from Process Evaluation
• Increased social integration helped students establish a
sense of community.
• The STEM Program promoted small group interactivity and
encouraged students to prioritize self study.
• Students sought opportunities to interact with peers and
more advanced students as a learning strategy.
• Students began to see themselves and their peers as
resources and active participants in a dynamic learning
process
• Poor faculty collaboration and planning led to an ineffective
implementation of the interdisciplinary component of the
learning community.

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Outcomes Comparison
• 76 percent of students in STEM Algebra course passed
in Spring 2010
• Compared with 54 percent of all non-STEM majors
• Compared with 56 percent of STEM majors

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Study Limitations
• Results may be an indicator of the redesigned course’s
effectiveness, but it may also be a product of:
– Students self-selected into the STEM program
– Financial incentives may have impacted student behavior in
the STEM class
– The grading structure for the STEM section consisted of more
elements than the grading structure of the other MTH-100
courses
– The curriculum in the STEM section was more difficult than the
curriculum of the other MTH-100 courses

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Case Study #2: Newark Pre-Apprenticeship
Program

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Program Overview
• Program for low-income women and minorities in
Newark that prepares them for a union apprenticeship
in the construction industry
• Mostly basic skills preparation but also addresses
other barriers to employment, such as suspended
driver’s licenses
• Participants’ earnings low. Demographics:
predominantly (89 percent) black, some Latinos
• Research Question: Does this program increase
participants’ earnings?

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How to Answer the Research Question?
 What we really want to know: what would have
happened to participants had they not participated
• Just look at what participants earn after the program?
– No way to know if that’s a “lot”
• See if they make more after the program than before?
– Many entered the program because they were unemployed
• See if they’re doing better than similar people who did
not participate in the program?
– Promising but potentially problematic: applicants more
motivated than non-applicants
– Need a way to compare to similarly motivated individuals
– Need a way to identify similar people

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Creating a Valid Comparison Group
• Taking motivation into account:
– Comparison pool: individuals who graduated from training
programs through the One Stop in Newark at the same time
as program graduates
• Thousands of people completed training in Newark at
this time, which ones are most similar?
– Similar age
– Same race
– Same sex
– Similar employment and earnings history
• Use statistical software to match program graduates
to most similar completers of training programs in
Newark

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Workforce Development
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Study Design
• Data
– New Jersey Unemployment Wage Record data
– Americas One-Stop Operating System
• Methodology
– Matched program participants by social security number with
their records in the NJ UI Wage Record and OSOS data
– Probabilistic matching to generate a comparison group
– Parametric statistical models to estimate the program’s effect
• Sample
– Treatment: 129 individuals who completed the program and
who were 22 years old or older at enrollment
– Comparison: Matched individuals from ASOS data

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Work Histories of Program Graduates
• Program graduates tend to have:
– Limited employment histories
– Low average earnings
– Limited academic skills (as measured by TABE)
• Twelve percent of graduates had formerly
been incarcerated

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Workforce Development
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• Program graduates earn more than similar
individuals who receive One-Stop training.
• Program graduates experience greater wage
growth after training than this comparison group.
• Subgroup analysis: Youth participants in program do
no better than comparison group
Program Graduates Out Earn Comparison
Group Members

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Workforce Development
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Earnings Progression (Post-Matching)

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• Study looked at graduates from 2004/2005 and
earnings through mid-2006, during real estate
boom
• Graduates versus participants
• Selective nature of program means cannot rule
out some differences, though pre-training
earnings help control for ability and motivation
Study Limitations

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Questions and Discussion

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Heldrich Center Contact Information
William Mabe, PhD, John J. Heldrich Center for
Workforce Development, Rutgers University
– billmabe@rutgers.edu or 732-932-4100, ext. 6210
Heldrich Center Website: www.heldrich.rutgers.edu