ACET, Inc. Blog

The Kresge and Lumina Foundations have announced “Credit When It’s Due: Recognizing the Value of Quality Associate Degrees,” a program intended to address the issue of students who transfer from community colleges to 4-year institutions prior to receiving associate degrees, but with the goal of earning 4-year baccalaureate degrees. Citing a lack of systems for community colleges to log credits earned after transfer, the program is meant to encourage the implementation of methods that will award associate degrees to transfer students who have earned the credit, which are commonly known as “reverse transfer” or “reverse back” degrees.

Per the announcement, which can be read here, the grant is available to state higher-education executive offices, state systems of higher education representing 2 and 4-year institutions, 4-year institutions, or community colleges, and partnerships of 2 and/or 4-year institutions with a designated lead public postsecondary institution or nonprofit organization as the grant manager. It is expected that 8 to 10 grants will be awarded in amounts between $200,000 and $600,000 with 2-year durations, based on the number of community college/university partnerships needed to scale the project. Only one award will be made per state, and each project will be required to contribute to cost-sharing at the state level. For the full RFP, visit the Lumina Foundation’s website.

Hello!

My name is Elizabeth Pihlaja and I recently started at ACET as a part-time Evaluation Specialist. In my spare time, I am writing a thesis to fulfill my Master of Public Health degree in Maternal and Child Health at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities School of Public Health. My master’s thesis involves an evaluation of a community-based doula program in Wisconsin, in which I am measuring satisfaction of program participants and staff, determining indicators of maternal-infant attachment, and measuring epidural use in labor amongst program participants. My goal is to defend late summer and then begin working full-time at ACET.

Prior to joining ACET, I assisted faculty members and program staff in planning and implementing a variety of evaluation and research projects, including data collection, survey design, and analysis for the March of Dimes Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Human Services. I have also designed surveys to measure parent satisfaction with preschool curricula in an urban child care center. My primary interests are perinatal health and early childhood special education. My passion for the field of special education stems from also serving as a special education assistant and preschool teacher at a large urban school district and child care center. When I’m not at ACET or working on my thesis, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, and taking my dog for walks.

I’m very excited to join the ACET team!

Elizabeth

Recently, John Gargani shared a list of 5 words that evaluators use that can be misleading in reports. John’s blog inspired us to identify “pet peeves” we have found in evaluation work. Here’s our own list:

“Problem”

The use of the word “problem” in itself can elicit negative responses and put people on the defensive. When people are defensive, it can be difficult to engage in open dialogue and creative problem solving. Instead of using the word “problem,” Stella recommends using creative solutions to frame the issue to facilitate discussion. For example, Stella suggests using the word “challenge,” as in, “Participants identified some challenges in receiving quality health care…”

“Larger Population”

Joseph highlighted the overuse of questions about a “larger population,” as in, “how do our results compare to the larger population?” In general, evaluation results are obtained from a specific population within a specific context. Even results from “larger populations” are obtained from specific, albeit larger, populations within a specific context (e.g., Minnesotan 3rd through 8th grade students), and not from some generic “larger population.” In order to make valid comparisons, it’s important that evaluators always classify both their population of interest (e.g., South Minneapolis teens, between the ages of 13 and 17, from households with incomes of $25K or less) and the comparison group (e.g., a sample of Minneapolis teens from households with a variety of income levels). As often as possible, evaluators should not use generic “larger populations,” but should be as specific as possible about their comparison groups to enhance the validity and accuracy of their comparisons.

Describing the “Other” Category

Dan pointed out that, when analyzing qualitative data, there might be 5 common themes, but also an “other” theme for comments from a small number of people. When summarizing the results of the qualitative analysis it is important to talk about all of the themes, including describing what “other” indicates. Without describing what “other” indicates, the reader may have no idea as to what the writer is referring and may have to guess what “other” indicates. It is important that evaluators be as clear as possible when writing to ensure that the reader has a clear understanding of the data.

Pronouns

Kirsten’s pet peeve is overuse or abuse of pronouns. Pronoun overuse can detract from the clarity of writing and the overall readability of the document. From a grammatical standpoint, a pronoun always refers to the last used noun; if the last used noun isn’t what the writer intends to refer to, then a pronoun is inappropriate and the writing will not be as clear as the writer intended.

As a rule of thumb, Kirsten alternates noun-pronoun-noun-pronoun. She acknowledges that her method doesn’t always produce highly engaging prose, but it is clear!

Do you have any writing “pet peeves”? If so, please share in the comments below!

ACET Staff

Although there are multiple ways to summarize evaluation findings, I wanted to share three valuable pointers that ACET has found to write good evaluation summaries.

1. Don’t start a sentence with an actual number (e.g., “50 respondents said…”). Instead, restate this as “A total of 50 respondents…” or at a minimum spell out 50 if starting a sentence with a number is critical. This is the correct method per APA style and it helps to reduce confusion for readers.

2. Avoid the use of the word “it” to describe an action or a finding (e.g., “It was described as…”). Be as specific as possible so that the “it” being discussed at any given point is clearly delineated (e.g., “Participants described the program as…”).

3. Reserve the use of “I” or “we” to describe the process used in analyzing data (e.g., “I reviewed all the quotes and highlighted the corresponding themes…”). Instead, restructure the sentence as “All quotes were reviewed and corresponding themes highlighted,” for example. This makes for a more professional tone, and keeps the focus of the evaluation summary where it belongs, on what is being evaluated.

Stella

As another school semester comes to an end, the staff at ACET wanted to review some tips for combating public speaking nervousness. Compiled from multiple sources, here are five of our favorites:

Know your audience. In your preparations, make sure that you understand what your audience requires of your speech structurally (for example, 15 minutes plus a question and answer period, or a self-introduction followed by 10 minutes) and their knowledge level (that is, how much of your topic needs explanation). Before you are to give your remarks, take the time to meet with some of the people who will be in your audience. This will strengthen their bond to you, increasing their interest in what you have to say.

Work from an outline, rather than writing down or memorizing an entire speech. Sure, people can and do give speeches that involve reading or speaking directly from a pre-written statement but, at best, this approach can feel unnatural and, at worse, it can distance or cut you off from the people with whom you are trying to communicate. Note your key points and use them as signposts to expand from naturally. This will in turn make your delivery more natural. If you happen to miss or skip a point along the way, that’s okay.

Give your speech a personal touch. You’ve likely heard the saying, “it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” Just as it’s good to be cognizant of the structure of your presentation, it’s also important to choose the best tone or mood for your audience. Sharing a related story can help to establish a connection with your audience, helping them to become more engaged, and help you make an easy segue between introducing yourself and your data.

Practice, Practice, Practice. Whether you record your voice, speak in front of a video camera, or rehearse for family, friends, or coworkers, you can gain a lot of strength and confidence from just practicing your remarks and then sitting down with the recording or your audience to review. No matter the format you choose, practicing can help you to refine your abilities.

Relax. Know that it is very natural and human to be nervous when addressing a large group of people, but you can use the jitters that you feel to propel yourself to excellence. Remember to breathe as you speak, and allow yourself to be comfortable with brief silences as you do so, as it can help you combat the use of fillers (“um”, “ah”, “you know”, etc.). Cold liquids are said to constrict the vocal chords, so consider sipping on lukewarm water or hot tea before you speak, and save the caffeine for later.

With these tips and some careful preparation, public speaking does not have to be a daunting experience.

Information was sourced from Forbes, Psychology Today, Monster, Entrenpreneur, timesunion.com, and the University of Leicester for this article.

Mary