YES - YOUNGER EVALUATION SERVICE

Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development Request for Proposal

Evaluation Determining Instructional Purposes

Bruce Younger 10/18/2013

This response to the Request for Proposal is being delivered to Far West Laboratory for Educational and Research Development (FWL). It is at their request that we offer this proposal to to have their DIP program evaluated. This response is being delivered by Bruce Younger M.E.T. for YES Younger Evaluation Services. YES provides evaluation of educational programs and is an organization that is committed to providing evaluations with the highest level of credibility and integrity. It is our believe at YES that evaluation is the best tool we have to determine whether your programs are meeting your goals and whether or not you are making the best decision for your organization. It is our desire to assist your organization in determining if your choices are based on data and not opinion.

FAR WEST LABORATORY FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Introduction In September of 2013 FWL issued an RFP to YES to evaluate the DIP program. The primary function of this evaluation is to be centered on information and recommendations that will assist, in making decisions regarding marketing and sale of the units. Additionally since the program has not actually been deployed into a live classroom environment, we will meet the secondary goal which is to provide information that is useful to school administrators in making decisions about the purchase and use of the units. Description of Program Being Evaluated The Determining Instructional Purposes (DIP) is broken down into three instructional units that cover Goal Setting, Analyzing Problems, and Deriving Objectives. Each unit has four to six individual modules that require varying times to complete from 10 to 18 hours. All modules include individual or group activities that are typically organized into planning teams, the planning teams will work to resolve issues for a hypothetical school district. These activities will include feedback for the participant. The modules also have reading material for participants that can be purchased a la carte or as a bundle. Finally these modules are available in single unit courses or any combination of the three modules so that district administration can apply focus to any one of the three areas of study. Evaluation Method * The purpose of this evaluation is to provide a summative evaluation for the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development and the training program they have developed which is called, Determining Instructional Purposes (DIP). This evaluation which is twofold will provide information regarding this programs purpose: The first and primary purpose of this evaluation is to provide FWL with information and recommendation regarding the feasibility of committing more resources toward the development and marketing of the product. Second FWL would like to use the evaluation to provide school administrators with a better tool to use in making decisions regarding the purchase of DIP and its subsequent use in their training programs. This evaluation will be designed to reach two audiences. The first audience being the leadership in Marketing and Development who are interested in knowing what the programs market viability is and how it can continue to be developed to meet market needs, and whether or not to continue to fund the development. Additionally FWL is interested in whether or not the DIP will either hit market price points for sale of this package. The second audience FWL would like to use the evaluation for is school administrators who need to know more about how this program fits into their schools.

FAR WEST LABORATORY FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL As stated previously we will focus the evaluation on being able to provide information regarding market ability and price points as well as the feasibility of continuing to fund this project. A caveat in this evaluation will be to produce marketing information that will allow school administrators the ability to make sound decisions regarding the purchase and implementation of the DIP product. Beta test groups YES will collaborate with program developers from FWL in creating a beta test group of school administrators who will undergo the proposed training program. YES will conduct a pre-assessment to determine where the test group is in regard to each of the program modules: Setting Goals, Analyzing Problems, and Deriving Objectives. At the end of the program we will also conduct a post-assessment to find out how effective the DIP training met its proposed goals. Market Surveys YES will partner with NADS - National Association of Data an organization that will produce and exercise market surveys that will assist in developing an overview of the market needs for such a program as DIP, and if there is a demand what similar programs are offered and at what price point. Furthermore our staff will create addition assessments and data gathering to produce a market survey to deliver the information required for this evaluation. Key Stakeholders YES will collaborate with individual stakeholders such as Marketing and Development personnel as well as school administrators. Meetings will be scheduled to have dialog with these stakeholders so as to determine what the goals are for the program, and to discover need and application, as well as what kinds of data will needed to be collected to produce such data. YES will work with a professional data collection and survey company in an effort to gather data. Additionally YES will create focus groups consisting of key stakeholders. These focus groups will work jointly in assessing the results of beta test groups as well as provide insight into the market surveys that will be performed. Task Schedule The task schedule for this project covers an estimated 6-8 months for the evaluation. Dates and length of evaluation is subject to change and may extend past the projected 6-8 month period. Anticipated start date is November 18th, 2013 Task 1. Meet with FWL Staff to discuss corporate goals and gain understanding of company philosophy. This is information to be used to create EPD 2. Gather stakeholders both Marketing and Agency Responsible YES Deadline Date November 18, 2013

YES

December 1, 2013

FAR WEST LABORATORY FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL development to get information to perform a needs assessment 3. Provide DIP Materials for assessment 4. Build pre-posts assessment and begin assembling beta test groups for DIP 5. Beta testing DIP training begins a. Pre-assessment b. Course work c. Post-assessment 6. Conduct discovery interviews with School Administrators to find out if needs align with DIP objectives 7. Analyze Beta test group findings 8. Analyze marketing strategy including price points for DIP 9. Analyze School Administrators discovery findings for Marketing 10. Finalize Beta and Focus group report 11. Finalize Market Strategy Evaluation 12. Create final report with recommendations and submit to FWL

FWL YES/FWL

December 1, 2013 December 11, 2013 December 29, 2013

YES/FWL

YES/FWL

January 13, 2013

YES FWL

January 16, 2013 February 6, 2014

YES

February 20, 2014

YES YES YES

April 10, 2014 April 14, 2014 May 1, 2014

YES Qualifications With a focus on the instructional integration of technology in K-12, YES provides program evaluation through external reviews, meta-evaluations, online surveys, qualitative/quantitative analysis, focus groups, interviews, and formative/summative feedback. Additionally YES conducts experimental and quasi-experimental process/product, goal-based, outcome-based, merit-based, goal-free, return-on-investment (ROI) and exportability program evaluations. Project Personnel Bob Hanson Test and Focus Group Lead - Has a Bachelors degree in education research and evaluation from the University of Michigan. Bob specializes in research design, qualitative analysis, facilitating interviews and focus groups and program observation. Bob also has 6 years of experience in assisting development staff in report

FAR WEST LABORATORY FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL writing, and ongoing communication with program directors. Diane Thomas Marketing Evaluator - Has a Bachelors Degree in Business Analysis from Syracuse University and a Masters degree in Instructional Performance from Harvard University. Diane specializes in the design and implementation of effective evaluation and needs assessment activities for several human services training and professional development programs delivered statewide. Diane also as experience in working with training related data, and developing training assessment. Dr. Gerald Davidson Project Lead and Evaluation Coordinator - Has a Bachelors degree in Adult Education from the University of Michigan, a Masters degree in Instructional Design from the University of Maryland and completed his Doctoral work at Harvard University where he published work in Mixed Methods for Evaluation and featured formative and summative evaluation theories. He completed his Doctoral thesis which had emphasis on learning and applicability. Gerald is an expert in designing, managing, and conducting evaluations for multiple firms whether they have been philanthropic, nonprofit, and corporate clients.

Budget and Fees (The budget and fees in this Request for Proposal is all inclusive and is based on standard government rates for travel and per diem rates for your local area) As with any project there are fees for services rendered. Those fees are based on the skill level of those we intend to include in the evaluation of your project. Each individual is highly qualified in their respective areas and their compensation package reflects their level of expertise. Each person involved in the evaluation of the DIP project are to be allotted a specific number of days to work on the project and each of those day is accounted for in a more detail Task Schedule that will be made available to you should you accept this RFP. A schedule of fees is attached below, if there is additional requests made of any individuals time it will be billed at the rate detailed in this RFP. Additionally we have included fees related to on-site visits which include airfare, mileage for driving expenses off-site as well as a per diem which is intended to cover lodging and meals. Personnel Professional salaries: Dr. Gerald Davidson: 30 days at $500/day Diane Thomas: 30 days at $300/day $15,000 $9,000

FAR WEST LABORATORY FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Bob Hanson: 45 days at $200/day Project Secretary: 30 days at $120/day TOTAL PERSONNEL Travel and per Diem 2-day round trip: Boise to Nashville GSA per diem rate for Nashville TN. http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120

$9,000 $ 3,600 $36,600 $36,600

$840 $188

$3,360 $1,504

Rental car estimate per day: Estimated miscellaneous mileage: 500 miles at $.30 per mile For site visits at estimated average of travel and per diem per visit per day excluding misc. mileage estimates Marketing Survey/Analysis NADS TOTAL TRAVEL COSTS TOTAL BUDGET FOR EVALUATION

$40

$320

$150

$1,068 $6,500 $6,500 $5,334 $48,434