Events and Conferences (2019)
Location: Online
Date: May 16, 2019 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Webinar: Preparing Leaders to Make a Difference for Students and Schools
Recognizing that school leaders play a critical role in school performance, states and districts are rethinking how they prepare principals. But this retooling of preparation programs raises a number of important questions: What skills do new principals need? How can we identify aspiring principals with the potential to develop those competencies? And how can we use these insights to improve the training of leaders at all levels of the system, from teacher leaders to principal supervisors?
Location: Toronto, Canada
Date: May 16, 2019 - May 19, 2019
American Association for Public Opinion Research Annual Conference
Survey experts from Mathematica will attend the annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) in Toronto, Canada to present findings on a range of survey and data collection topics.
Full agenda of sessions are available here.
Location: Online
Date: May 13, 2019 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
REL Webinar: Using Teacher Feedback in School Leader Evaluations
The goal of the webinar is to expand local and state leaders’ knowledge of teacher survey instruments to enhance the evaluation of school leaders.
The webinar will increase participants’ knowledge of teacher survey instruments already used by other districts and states as an input for school leader evaluations as well as notable research on the characteristics, use, and effects of those instruments. It will describe the experience of one district that is considering incorporating a teacher survey instrument in its system for evaluating school leaders. Connections established between webinar participants and presenters might also help them exchange ideas and best practices after the webinar. Finally, the webinar recording, which will be posted on the REL Mid-Atlantic website, will serve as a valuable resource for schools, districts, and states across the country considering teacher surveys as an added measure in school leader evaluations.
This webinar is designed for superintendents and assistant superintendents, state and local education agency staff, principals, and others interested in school leader evaluations. Submit your questions for the presenters in advance by emailing RELmidatlantic@mathematica-mpr.com. You will also have an opportunity to ask the presenters questions during the webinar’s Q&A session.
Speakers:
Brian Gill, Director, REL Mid-Atlantic
Brittney Gionfriddo, Analyst, REL Mid-Atlantic
Alyssa Ford-Heywood, Director of Performance Management, Pittsburgh Public Schools
Location: Online
Date: Apr 24, 2019 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Webinar: Strengthening Principal Preparation Through On-the-Job Training
A key challenge for policymakers is creating a pipeline of principals who are prepared to serve as instructional leaders. Districts often use the assistant principal position as a training ground for new principals. Yet little is known about how to design and implement on-the-job training opportunities that prepare assistant principals to serve as principals.
Location: Online
Date: Apr 17, 2019 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Learn about the work of six Children’s Bureau grantees who seek to prevent homelessness among youth and young adults with child welfare histories – the Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) grantees.
Featured speakers included:
• Catherine Heath from the Children’s Bureau
• Cay Bradley from Mathematica
• Andrew Burwick from Mathematica
Location: San Francisco, CA
Date: Apr 14, 2019 - Apr 18, 2019
Comparative and International Education Society Annual Conference
Several researchers from Mathematica’s international unit will present and chair sessions at the 63rd annual meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society. The sessions will highlight the insights that we are uncovering with our partners in the areas of literacy, life skills training, workforce development and education in accordance with this year’s theme, “Education for Sustainability.”
Featured speakers from Mathematica include:
Emilie Bagby, Senior Researcher
Amanda Beatty, Senior Researcher
Clemencia Cosentino, Senior Researcher
Swetha Sridharan, Researcher
Full agenda of sessions are available here.
Location: Online
Date: Apr 11, 2019 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
In selected states, youth ages 14 to 16 who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and their families could take advantage of innovative services and improved service coordination through the Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) demonstration. Early findings on the implementation of PROMISE and its impacts on youth and families during the first 18 months after enrollment provide interesting insights for federal and state partners seeking to help youth with disabilities transition successfully to adulthood.
PROMISE is a cross-agency effort led by the U.S. Department of Education that includes the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor. Six PROMISE programs operating in 11 states implemented unique models that included agency-level partnerships, case management, benefits counseling, financial literacy training, career- and work-based learning experiences, and parent training and information. Learn more about the evaluation of PROMISE by visiting the project webpage.
Mathematica’s Center for Studying Disability Policy hosted a webinar on Thursday, April 11, 2019, from noon to 1:30 p.m., to discuss insights from the PROMISE evaluation. Topics included the following:
• The landscape of transition services for youth with disabilities and the challenges that youth and families face in accessing those services
• Different approaches used by the PROMISE programs to address service-system challenges and improve transition outcomes
• Findings from the 18-month PROMISE impact evaluation
• Perspectives on evaluation findings from the U.S. Department of Education and the Social Security Administration
Speakers will include the following:
• Gina Livermore, Mathematica (moderator)
• Todd Honeycutt, Mathematica
• Jackie Kauff, Mathematica
• Arif Mamun, Mathematica
• David Emenheiser, U.S. Department of Education (discussant)
• Joyanne Cobb, Social Security Administration (discussant)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Date: Mar 21, 2019 - Mar 23, 2019
Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting
SRCD is…International, Interdisciplinary, and Relevant
Louisa Tarullo, Discussant: Kindergarten Transition and Context: Factors that Influence the Effects of Pre-k Programs
Lizabeth Malone, Panelist: National Studies of Child Development and Care Including Special Populations: Lessons Learned and Future Directions
Diana McCallum, Presenter: Exploring My Prospects: Journeys Outside of Academia
Location: Online
Date: Mar 14, 2019 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Single parents are required to cooperate with child support enforcement activities to be eligible for some public assistance programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid. But for other assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, states have the flexibility to design policies that best meet the needs of their residents. Given renewed interest in expanding mandatory cooperation requirements, Mathematica and the National Conference of State Legislatures hosted a webinar on March 14, 2019, from 2 to 3 p.m. focused on using research and lessons from the field to better inform policy considerations about this topic.
Throughout this discussion, webinar attendees (1) heard directly from state legislators, (2) gained a better understanding of the key policy features of child support cooperation requirements, (3) learned about existing research and new research called for in the recently passed 2018 farm bill, and (4) reviewed challenges states face in implementing cooperation requirements.
Our expert presenters included the following:
• Lauren Antelo, Office of The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (moderator)
• Meghan McCann, senior policy specialist, NCSL
• Rebekah Selekman, researcher at Mathematica
• Erin Frisch, Title IV-D director for Michigan and director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support
• Representative Peggy Webb, Montana State Legislature
Location: Washington, DC
Date: Mar 06, 2019 - Mar 09, 2019
Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness
"Tensions and Tradeoffs: Responding to Diverse Demands for Evidence"
The conference brought the tensions and tradeoffs among the questions practitioners and researchers study—and the decisions and constraints practitioners and researchers face—to the forefront of conversation.
Mathematica presenters included:
Elias Walsh and Jill Constantine: "Prioritization of Topic Areas and Interventions in Early Childhood to Grade 12 for the What Works Clearinghouse"
Jaime Thomas and others: "Preparing High-Need Children for Standards-Based Math Instruction in Elementary School Through a Two-Year Math Intervention: Evidence from a RCT at a State Level of Scale" (Abstract)
Duncan Chaplin, Dallas Dotter, Nick Ingwersen, and Arif Mamun: "Statistical Power in Studies That Use the Synthetic Control Method" (Abstract)
John Deke and Mariel Finucane: "Statistical Power Calculations for Evaluations That Will Interpret Impact Estimates Using the BASIE (BAyeSian Interpretation of Estimates) Framework" (Abstract)
Peter Schochet: "Analyzing Grouped Administrative Data for RCTs Using Design-Based Methods" (Abstract)
Alina Martinez and others: "Study of Enhanced College Advising in Upward Bound: Impacts on Steps Toward College"
Steven Glazerman, Ira Nichols-Barrer, Alyson Burnett, and others: "Tradeoffs for Policymakers and Parents: How the Design of a School Shopping Website Can Affect School Choices" (Abstract)
Location: Various Locations
Date: Feb 21, 2019
REL Mid-Atlantic Event: Using Teacher Feedback in Principal Evaluation
REL Mid-Atlantic conducted the second session of a two-part, in-person workshop to help district and school leaders better understand prospects for using teacher surveys in school leader evaluations.
Brian Gill and Brittney Gionfriddo, Mathematica
Location: Newark, DE
Date: Feb 07, 2019 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Delaware, like many states, wants to refine its quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for early childhood care and education (ECE) settings (known as Delaware Stars for Early Success, or Delaware Stars) to ensure consistency in quality within each level, distinguish quality between levels, and ensure the validity of the ratings (specifically, that programs that earn higher ratings lead to better outcomes for children). The goal of this workshop is to support a redesign effort through review of research, facilitated discussion, and lessons from other states.
Speakers:
Gretchen Kirby, Mathematica
Kimberly Boller, Mathematica
Becky Mercatoris, Bureau Director, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning
Anna Carter, Director, Division of Child Development and Early Education, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Location: Online
Date: Feb 07, 2019 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 changed several aspects of the law concerning access to health insurance that were particularly salient for people with disabilities. These changes included removing limits on preexisting conditions, extending parent’s health insurance coverage of young adults until the age of 26, expanding Medicaid to more adults with low incomes, and making it easier to obtain affordable coverage outside the traditional employer-sponsored benefit system.
Location: Online
Date: Jan 31, 2019 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
This webinar presented considerations for analyzing administrative data to understand and monitor the provision of pre-employment transition services. Staff from vocational rehabilitation agencies can use their administrative data (such as the RSA-911 Case Service Report) to generate snapshots of service provision. Having information on the types of pre-employment transition services delivered, the characteristics of youth receiving them, and geographic and other differences in their delivery can help staff set goals and monitor services.The webinar included a demonstration analyzing pre-employment transition services contained in the RSA-911 Case Service Report using Microsoft Excel. This webinar, which was held on January 31, from 1-2:00 p.m. EST (12-1:00 p.m. CST), offered 1 CRC credit.
Presenters included: Todd Honeycutt and Purvi Sevak
Location: Washington, DC, and Online
Date: Jan 24, 2019 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Nothing About Us Without Us: How the Need for Cultural Responsiveness is Changing Research
There is increased awareness and urgency within the research community to ensure that evaluation and assessment practices are sensitive to the cultures of people who are most impacted by those practices. Driven by changing demographics and the increasing complexity of problems that researchers and communities seek to address, new efforts are underway to develop research practices that better account for the unique perspectives and needs of the communities being studied. But there is hardly consensus on what culturally responsive research actually means or, more broadly, what implications such approaches could have on evidence-based policies and programs.