Leaders in education understand the value of good data for informing important decisions. At Quill Research Associates, we appreciate the importance of making research & evaluation relevant, accessible, and actionable.
Quill’s individualized, customized approach to research & evaluation intends to serve the unique needs and circumstances of our clients. For example, one client may wish to identify needs, and another may want to evaluate a program already underway or to plan for a future evaluation of an initiative yet to be implemented. In some cases a rigorous experimental or quasi-experimental design is warranted, in others an exploratory or descriptive approach is best suited, and in some cases a mixed-approach provides the desired information. Data may already be available, or it may need to be collected anew. We work with our clients through all points of the research & evaluation process from start to finish: From understanding the nature and context of the client’s needs, clearly articulating the questions that research & evaluation will address, designing the research plan, to collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, and finally communicating findings and supporting clients as they apply findings to decision making.
Quill’s staff has worked at top-tier research institutions (e.g., University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University), but we also have experience in all sectors of education: states, districts, and schools. We have published in peer-reviewed research journals with academic readerships, and we have worked alongside leaders in education who are addressing real problems of practice and serving real students. The audiences are different, and the needs also are somewhat different. Quill’s approach to research & evaluation is tailor-made to provide information in a way that best serves each client.
Research & evaluation project types include:
- Needs-sensing and –identification
- Implementation evaluation
- Outcomes evaluations
- Basic research to answer questions about who, what, when, where, and why
Start-to-finish services include:
- Defining and describing the problem, using logic models and theory of action maps
- Research & evaluation design, including experimental, quasi-experimental, descriptive, and exploratory
- Data cataloging to identify available and needed data
- Developing data instruments and tools, including surveys and interview and observation protocols
- Quantitative and qualitative analyses methods and data displays
- Sharing results to various audiences through reports or presentations
Clients include:
- Federal, state and district education agencies (e.g., Regional Education Laboratories, National Science Foundation, Allentown School District)
- Non-profit institutions (e.g., Spencer Foundation)
- Colleges and universities (e.g., University of South Florida, George Washington University)