Education, Learning & Youth Development

We work with federal, state, and local education agencies and foundations to evaluate K–12 school improvement initiatives. Our culturally responsive practice and use of mixed methods ensure a nuanced understanding of how these initiatives impact the outcomes of students from a variety of backgrounds in different institutional and policy contexts.

We provide expertise in network analysis, improvement science, systems change, and evaluation of cross-sector collaborations that impact students, families, and communities in the areas of education, health, and economic security.

We have an extensive portfolio of program evaluations focused on after-school services, youth workforce development, youth leadership, and youth civic activism and organizing. Nearly all of the programs we have evaluated serve low-income youth of color, youth at risk of not completing high school, youth with disabilities, opportunity youth, or other vulnerable young people.

We work with clients to evaluate strategies that embrace the whole learner—in and out of school. We bring experience evaluating multi-sector models that support the basic needs of children and their families, as well as integrated social, emotional, and academic learning approaches, and those that leverage trauma-informed practices and emphasize holistic child development.

We partner with funders and national non-profit organizations to evaluate initiatives and programs that promote student-centered learning. These efforts engage students as agents of their own learning and tailor learning opportunities to each student’s unique identities, culture, strengths, needs, and interests. Our work in this area ranges from formative developmental evaluations to summative outcomes studies.

We are nationally recognized experts on work-based learning, apprenticeship, and career pathways. Leveraging our deep knowledge of K–12 systems, career and technical education, and the public workforce development system, we partner with clients and stakeholders to evaluate and provide technical assistance on career pathway efforts in high schools, community colleges, industry (including apprenticeship and preapprenticeship), and beyond–especially for young people from underserved communities.

We conduct implementation and developmental evaluations for a wide range of community college initiatives aimed at advancing equity and improving student academic and career outcomes. These evaluations include workforce initiatives and trainings offered as part of the community college experience as well as programs designed to support student transfer or transitions to employment.