University of California Educational Evaluation Center
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: This MRPI, housed at UC Santa Barbara, will be dedicated to harnessing the content and methodological expertise of the UC system for the purpose of improving the evaluation of educational practices in California, within the UC, and nationally. Seven UC campuses are working together in this effort (Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, UCLA, Merced, and San Diego). Key faculty at each of these campuses provide the unit the breadth necessary to address the broad scope of evaluation needs and opportunities present throughout the state and the UC. The academic disciplines of the collaborating investigators include research and evaluation methodology, survey design, economics, education, psychometrics, psychology, and sociology. The strategic locations of each of the campuses give the MRPI a presence in all the major regions of the state, maximizing the MRPI's capacity to perform statewide evaluation studies. The selection of UCSB as the host campus takes advantage of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education's technical expertise with distance communications as well as UCSB's Social Science Survey Center, both critical infrastructure components of the proposed UCEC. The basic tenet of this MRPI is that absent sound information about the effect of various educational innovations we are relegated to “leaps of faith” when it comes to how to best educate students and design interventions or programs. The current state of evaluation in education is at best ad hoc, with myriad innovations being implemented every day with very little systematic examination of their ultimate effects. This MRPI will contribute to the knowledge base about effective practices at all levels of education, drive innovation in the practice of rigorous evaluations, and serve as an important training program for students interested in both the methodological design and substantive outcomes of these evaluations. Research projects undertaken by the unit will be generated by the MRPI's leadership team and determined by the timing and topics of evaluation-based RFPs from state and federal agencies. This Center will provide infrastructure to reduce the reporting burdens that come with state and federally funded evaluation contracts. This MRPI will also function as a resource for UC faculty who need support evaluating educational components of their own projects. This Center will be distinct from other evaluation units since the studies will be generated by faculty and will focus on the many factors that matter both within and beyond the classroom. In addition, unlike many of the contract shops that respond to state RFPs and depend on them for their existence, the UCEC will be a truly independent player, applying a more unbiased eye to the impact of these programs. We propose a start date of January 1, 2010 for the UCEC with continued support through June 30, 2014, after which the MRPI will become self-sustaining, funding itself through federal, state, and foundation grants and contracts.