Our Services

Lighthouse Evaluation provides a continuum of service beginning with developing the funding proposal’s evaluation design, through program start-up, early feedback of formative results on benchmark progress, and reporting of results to funding agencies and project governance. Our services are responsive to the evaluation requirements of external funding agencies and the special needs and data constraints of each project. At each stage of the process we closely communicate with the project director, school or local officials who are part of the project governance, and data management staff.

Consultation on Proposal Development

Our consultation on proposal development carefully attends to the evaluation designs suggested or required by the funding agency and focuses on the following elements:
-- Logic models suggested by project goals and objectives,
-- Goal, objective and indicator development,

-- Sustainability plan development,
-- Measurement strategy and instrument identification linked to the logic model,

-- Instrument development when needed.

Development of Responsive Evaluation Plans

Our study designs, responsive to project needs, include the following singly or in combination:
-- randomized-control trials,
-- quasi-experimental and matched intervention/control studies,
-- case studies,
-- survey driven evaluation,
-- pilot studies,
-- implementation fidelity studies (such as the Concern’s Based Adoption),

-- Context evaluation.

Data Analysis Linked to Project Outcomes

Quantitative analysis options includes descriptive, correlational, t-tests, analysis of variance and regression, effect sizes, and reliability analysis of instrumentation. Qualitative analysis options include content analysis of observational and interview data, thematic analysis of project documents and communications, and participant observation and mapping.

Measurement of Outcomes for Both Students and Teachers

Formative measures of student outcomes include student enrollment, attendance, yearly retention, work readiness indicators, internship completion, college credit obtained, analysis of student achievement on standard assessments, self-reported measures of opportunity to learn.
Formative measures of teacher outcomes include enrollment in program activities and teacher persistence, work samples and portfolios, performance in professional development courses (pre and post measures that are assessed for validity and reliability), and teacher performance in classrooms using standard observation protocols.
Summative measures, reporting, and dissemination include consolidated formative reports on bench-marked objectives, summative reports to the funding agency (eg. Annual Progress Reports (APRs) and state level Mathematics and Science Program (MSP) project reporting), presentations on project outcomes for district, state and federal level meetings, and

journal publications and peer reviewed papers.