294 - Implementing Statewide Education Evaluations with Diverse Stakeholder Engagement in Texas and California: Two Cases from University-Based Centers

Abstract Information: Institutions of higher education inform the development and implementation of programs that aim to solve statewide issues of inequity within education. Evaluation centers within state-funded universities play an important role throughout a program’s lifespan in providing sources of credible information for program stakeholders, including program leaders, university faculty and staff, school districts, and state government entities, to make data-informed decisions. In this paper presentation, the speakers will share lessons learned about the implementation of inclusive approaches for evaluating two innovative statewide K-12 educational initiatives led by university-based centers in the states of California and Texas. The California case focuses on the evaluation of the UC/CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning, an initiative that aims to reshape how students of all ages in California are taught by sharing evidence-based, whole-child, inclusive teaching practices. The Texas case highlights an evaluation of a statewide initiative for K-12 students led by The University of Texas at Austin to broaden participation in computer science through engaging educational partners and building educator and school district capacity to offer high-quality and inclusive computer science courses. The speakers will share effective strategies and challenges for centering diverse perspectives and issues of equity and accessibility in education, highlighting common and distinct approaches between the two contexts. Through the examination of these two cases, the speakers aim to provide fellow evaluation practitioners that work on statewide education evaluations and evaluations within university-based centers an opportunity to reflect and share about their own experiences evaluating programs that offer solutions to equity and accessibility in education.