Browsing by Author "Rickers, Susan"

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    360 Communities: An Evaluation of the Partners for Success Program for the School Year 2010-2011
    (Center for Applied Reseach and Educational Improvement, 2011-09) Kundin, Delia; Wahlstrom, Kyla; Rickers, Susan; Mattheis, Allison
    The Partners for Success® (PFS) Program, serving Dakota and Scott counties, provides basic needs assistance (e.g., food, clothing, school supplies) to students and families. In addition, for over 15 years, Family Support Workers (FSW) have collaborated with teachers, principals and school staff in 39 schools to help boost students’ educational progress. The two main program goals of PFS are: 1) Establish a standard level of services across districts; and 2) Effectively partner with schools to ensure that all students reach proficiency in reading by third grade. During the 2009-2010 school year, CAREI evaluators focused on the formative aspects of the program. In the second evaluation (2010-2011), CAREI evaluators collaborated with PFS program staff to formulate three specific goals for the evaluation: 1) Determine the extent to which FSWs communicate and collaborate with parents/guardians and teachers to build relationships and improve students’ educational performance; 2) Continue to monitor PFS professional development processes and determine how 360 Communities can continue to support and strengthen program activities; and 3) Identify how the program impacts students, families and teachers by focusing on observed changes from the perspectives of teachers, parents/guardians, FSWs, and from analysis of student data. The second year’s evaluation was implemented in 10 elementary schools located in six Minnesota cities: Burnsville, Farmington, Hastings, Lakeville, South St. Paul, and West St. Paul. This report summarizes the evaluation data collected from September 2010 through June 2011.
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    Evaluation of Youth Frontiers, 2009-2010
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2010-07) Sheldon, Timothy; Gordon, Molly; Rickers, Susan
    Youth Frontiers is a nonprofit organization that partners with schools to build positive communities where students thrive socially, emotionally and academically. In September 2008, Youth Frontiers, Incorporated (YF) contracted with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) to conduct an evaluation of YF programming over three years. The purpose of our evaluation is threefold: to determine the extent that participation in YF programming increases students’ social and emotional learning competencies; to determine if participation helps students feel more connected to peers and adults in their school communities; and to determine whether YF retreats have a positive effect on youth participants and the school as a whole.
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    Evaluation of Youth Frontiers, 2010-2011
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2011-07) Sheldon, Timothy; Gordon, Molly; Rickers, Susan
    Youth Frontiers is a nonprofit organization that partners with schools to build positive communities where students thrive socially, emotionally and academically. In September 2008, Youth Frontiers, Incorporated (YF) contracted with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) to conduct an evaluation of YF programming over three years. The purpose of our evaluation is threefold: to determine the extent that participation in YF programming increases students’ social and emotional learning competencies; to determine if participation helps students feel more connected to peers and adults in their school communities; and to determine whether YF retreats have a positive effect on youth participants and the school as a whole.
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    FACETS: Focus on Arts, Culture and Excellence for Teachers and Students
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2011-11) Dretzke, Beverly; Rickers, Susan
    In 2008, a 3-year Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) to support professional development for arts educators. The funded project was titled Focus on Arts, Culture and Excellence for Teachers and Students (FACETS). Project funding provided professional development opportunities for music and visual arts teachers in elementary and middle schools characterized by high poverty, where 50% or more of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. FACETS had two primary purposes. One was to enhance music and visual arts teachers’ knowledge and skills related to providing effective instruction for students of the ethnic/cultural backgrounds present in their classrooms, especially African American, Somali, Hmong, Latino/Hispanic, and American Indian students. The second was to support the creation of on-going professional learning communities (PLC’s). MPS contracted with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota to serve as the external evaluator of the project. This report presents an evaluation of the 3 years of the FACETS project, 2008-2011, including a description of the components, the modifications that were made from year to year, and the results of teacher surveys and teacher interviews.
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    Global Literacy Through Mandarin Immersion and STEM: Minnesota Mandarin Immersion Collaborative Year 1
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2010) Dretzke, Beverly; Rickers, Susan; Wahlstrom, Kyla; Werner, Jessica
    In 2009, a 5-year Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to the Minnesota Mandarin Immersion Collaborative (MMIC) for the project Global Literacy Through Mandarin Immersion and STEM. The grant supports immersion instruction in Mandarin Chinese that begins at the kindergarten level and the development of a curriculum that has a content focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The schools in the MMIC will add a grade level each year, with the intent of creating the capacity to continue Chinese immersion to grades 7-12. The MMIC has contracted with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota to serve as the evaluator of the project. This year 1 evaluation report presents enrollment and retention data as well as the results of a teacher survey, teacher interviews, principal interviews, and a parent survey.
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    Global Literacy Through Mandarin Immersion and STEM: Minnesota Mandarin Immersion Collaborative Year 2
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2011) Dretzke, Beverly; Rickers, Susan; Wahlstrom, Kyla
    In 2009, a 5-year Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to the Minnesota Mandarin Immersion Collaborative (MMIC) for the project Global Literacy Through Mandarin Immersion and STEM. The grant supports immersion instruction in Mandarin Chinese that begins at the kindergarten level and the development of a curriculum that has a content focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The schools in the MMIC will add a grade level each year, with the intent of creating the capacity to continue Chinese immersion to grades 7-12. The MMIC has contracted with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota to serve as the external evaluator of the project. This report presents CAREI’s evaluation of the second year of the grant-funded project. The report includes enrollment and retention data as well as the results of principal interviews, teacher interviews, and a parent survey.
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    The lived experience of self-compassion in social workers.
    (2012-07) Rickers, Susan
    Social workers often face challenging work situations. The result of these situations can be stress, burnout, and secondary trauma. Though social workers are known for having compassion for others, the concept of self-compassion, having compassion for oneself, is relatively new and understudied. The purpose of this study was to develop and advance an understanding of the lived experience of self-compassion among social workers. The study was guided by one research question: What is the lived experience of self-compassion in social workers who have completed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, a program on developing mindfulness? The conceptual framework and methodology are grounded in phenomenology. This dissertation is important as it provides critical knowledge about self-compassion for social workers, other helping professionals, and lay people living in a stressful world. Participants in this study included 10 social workers who have completed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a program on mindfulness that also incorporates learning about self-compassion. The social workers represented a variety of practice experiences including: county human service work, private practice, non-profit work, school social work, hospital social work, nursing home social work, and crisis work. The participants had between five and 30+ years of experience as social workers. During an in-depth interview, each participant responded to the primary interview prompt: Please think about and describe a specific instance or situation in your social work practice when you experienced self-compassion. A thematic analysis of individual interviews was completed and validated by each study participant. Analysis across interviews revealed four distinct themes. First, the participants described the nature of self-compassion, emphasizing five elements. Second, participants described the value of self-compassion in stressful work situations. Third, the participants described self-compassion as a "conduit" of healing for others. Fourth, the participants described self-compassion as a life long journey. In a fifth finding, not shared by all participants, inclusion of self-compassion into the social work education curriculum and continuing education was advocated. This research leads to an understanding of what self-compassion is as well as what it means for practicing social workers. Implications of this study are relevant to social work practice, education, and research.
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    Minneapolis Public Schools North Side Initiative: Year Two External Evaluation Report
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2009-10) Dretzke, Beverly; Rickers, Susan; Alexander, Nicola; Wahlstrom, Kyla; Ingram, Debra
    Minneapolis Public Schools announced in April 2007 that it would close five schools on the North Side of the district to consolidate resources and improve academic programs in the remaining North Side schools. This was the first step in the North Side Initiative (NSI), the district’s multi-year effort with goals to increase achievement for all students, close the achievement gap, improve attendance, increase enrollment, and decrease suspensions in the North Side schools. Two North Side elementary schools, Lucy Laney and Nellie Stone Johnson, were selected for a fresh start, which included appointing two new principals to provide leadership for reform initiatives. The district contracted with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) to evaluate the year one (2007-2008) implementation of the NSI. In response to the year one evaluation findings, the district contracted with CAREI again to carry out a year two (2008-2009) process evaluation of the NSI. The year two evaluation focused on three major areas:  Family liaisons in North Side schools  Parent/guardian satisfaction with North Side schools  Implementation of a fresh start in two North Side Schools
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    Minneapolis Public Schools Small Learning Communities: Final Evaluation Report
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2010-11) Dretzke, Beverly; Rickers, Susan
    Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) was awarded a 5‐year grant by the U.S. Department of Education for a Small Learning Communities (SLC) project that was implemented in its seven comprehensive high schools. The funding period began in July 2005 and ended in July 2010. Two main goals were established for the project. Goal 1 was to close the achievement gap between students of color and White students in reading and mathematics while raising the achievement of all students. Goal 2 was to increase the graduation rate and post‐secondary readiness of all students. This evaluation report describes MPS’s attainment of these two goals in the final year of the 5‐year project and across all 5 years.
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    Minnesota Principals Academy Evaluation Report
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2010-03) Gordon, Molly; Peterson, Kristin; Wahlstrom, Kyla; Berman-Young, Sarah; Diggles, Kim; Klingbeil, Dave; Rickers, Susan; Werner, Jessica
    The purpose of the Minnesota Principals’ Academy (MPA) is to create a statewide network of district and charter school leaders who are motivated and have the skills to create and sustain schools in which all students are on the path to college readiness by the end of high school. Using the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) model, the MPA enables cohorts of practicing principals to implement leadership best practices from education, business, military and other fields to work on behalf of their students and schools. The MPA is designed after the NISL train-the-trainer program, and is delivered in two and three-day segments that span over the course of one year. The program’s curriculum combines face-to-face instruction in workshops, seminars, and study groups using interactive Web-based learning. The CAREI evaluation team collected several forms of data in order to assess the degree to which the Minnesota Principals Academy (MPA) met program goals. Data included: (1) observations of MPA units, (2) an online survey of principals; (3) an online survey of teachers; (4) phone interviews with principals; and (5) phone interviews with training facilitators. In addition, the CAREI team analyzed participant evaluations of MPA units that were administered by program coordinators.