Research and Evaluation Resources
Research and Evaluation staff have been busy implementing the Center for Results 1, supporting First 5 California’s Project Legacy, preparing to close out evaluations of existing programs, and providing annual report assistance to county commissions.
The Center for Results is evolving. We plan to award the contract for the new PROOF (Practice, Research, & Outcomes 0 – Five) system in November and begin development early 2010. We recently completed an assessment of California’s Demographic, Social, and Economic Conditions Presentation to support Project Legacy, a process that will result in measurable program goals to direct program development, media, and research efforts. Based on the outcome of Project Legacy, we will develop a strategic research agenda. We will then put the final pieces of the Center for Results in place as we work through the research agenda and support counties in their local research efforts. To access more information about Project Legacy and the presentation mentioned above, go to: http://www.ccfc.ca.gov/press/legacy.asp.
As both the Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards (CARES) and Special Need Project (SNP) programs wind down, we are preparing for the transition of data to county commissions. We will complete all CARES and SNP data transition activities by December 31, 2009. If you have specific questions regarding the transition, please direct them to Evaluation@ccfc.ca.gov.
This is First 5 California’s third year with the Annual Report Guidelines, and our training and assistance efforts are going well. We recently completed five on-line training sessions. We added a new feature this year to the Annual Report Web-based Reporting System Application; you can now validate your data input using the AR1/AR2 Summary Report. This report is a summary of the local data for each county. Please double check your county data for accuracy before submitting.
In the next few months, we look forward to developing our research agenda and developing new programs to maximize the impact of the measurable program goals that will be developed through the Project Legacy process.
Sincerely,
Stacie Sormano, Deputy Director
Research and Evaluation Division
September 2009
1 In July 2005, First 5 California Commission approved a Statewide Evaluation Framework creating the Center for Results, a conceptual construct supporting the development, management, and implementation of a research agenda. The Center for Results has two main objectives: 1) to increase accountability by evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of First 5 California programs, and 2) to increase learning through research that contributes to early childhood development. |
Research and Evaluation
