Analyze This: SOE helps community groups understand their work and its impact

The School of Education's Consulting Office for Research and Evaluation (CORE), assists both university researchers and community groups in developing solid research and evaluating the results of their projects.

"Many community groups need help with the evaluation of new initiatives,", says Cindy Walker, professor of educational psychology and CORE's director. "By working with the community we are also able to help support the infrastructure of the School of Education by bringing in external dollars."

The services the office provides include helping with the design of research projects and evaluations; assisting with the statistical analysis of data: helping researchers develop surveys and other assessment tools; assisting with data processing and database design; and training researchers to use statistical and analytical software. Six doctoral students in the SOE provide the services, consulting with faculty members Walker, Razia Azen, Barbara Daley, Wen Lu and Bo Zhang. The office also includes one undergraduate staff member.

CORE works with researchers in the SOE, with other schools and colleges at UWM and with community agencies, according to Walker. CORE worked on the internal evaluation of the Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership, demonstrating the impact of this National Science Foundation-funded project on increased student achievement in Milwaukee Public Schools. The office has also collaborated with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) at UWM to explore the impact of instructional interventions on improving the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students in CEAS. In addition, CORE has worked with the Peck School of the Arts.

Outside of UWM, CORE has also worked with the Center for Self-Sufficiency, a nonprofit organization based in nearby Shorewood, on its external evaluation of projects designed to improve relationship skills in teens and adults and reducing teen pregnancy. Most recently, CORE has collaborated with West Allis and West Milwaukee school districts by writing the evaluation component of a DOE grant designed to help fund their initiative to develop a performance-based compensation framework for teachers in the district. Such compensation models are a "political hot potato," right now says Walker, but this project offers an opportunity to evaluate the validity of using a well conceived framework that is grounded in theory.

Fees for CORE's services are determined by the scope and complexity of the project after an initial free consultation.

For more information, visit: www4.uwm.edu/soe/centers/core/

Article published online October 19, 2011