FERA has worked with CMF since 1991
evaluating a number of different projects and
initiatives.
FERA provides key
stakeholders with:
1) on-going feedback that links with strategic
planning efforts and program improvement, 2)
information about the outcomes of each program level
initiative, 3) cluster level information about the
impact of all the different initiatives on community
foundations, and 4) lessons learned at the program,
supporting organization (CMF) and cluster levels.
A wide range of methods
are in use including ethnographic case studies of
community foundations, Instrumented Group Interviews
(similar to focus groups), interviewing, surveys, data
interpretation workshops and participatory research
methods. Evaluation
findings are being disseminated internationally
through articles, monographs and reports.
FERA and CMF are also working to develop a
knowledge loom of outcomes and lessons learned across
the initiatives.
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WISH
Options Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan
WISH is a collaborative project
building community partnerships to promote seamless
service delivery to single homeless adults who desire
to address barriers to maintaining self-sufficiency.
The aim is to provide homeless individuals with stable
housing, increased income and greater
self-determination through a case management system
with individualized client plans. WISH is funded by
the federal government. The evaluation assessed the
impact of this innovative model on client outcomes and
developed information for program improvement. It was
conducted over one year.Return to top |
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Lenawee
Intermediate School District
Adrian, Michigan
In the early 1990s FERA was hired
to help design an evaluation system for the district.
The design included the creation of
program models for all district programs and
two levels of evaluation. After the design was
accepted, FERA was retained to provide training and
technical assistance to the district as it implemented
the plan. The relationship is on-going.
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International
Youth Foundation
Baltimore, Maryland
The
International Youth Foundation (IYF) involves partners
from around the world in fostering positive youth
development. Its strategies are multi-dimensional,
prevention-oriented and it supports programs which
have been proven to be successful. FERA was contracted
to design and then implement a five-year global
evaluation. The primary purposes of the evaluation are
to assess accomplishments and provide on-going
feedback useful for planning and improvement. IYF’s
major fundor has been the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, but
it receives money from other private and public
sources.
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Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Birmingham, Michigan
The
Jewish Federation supports the work of many agencies
in an effort to provide varied services to meet the
needs of the Jewish Community. The work of the
Federation is divided into several sectors. FERA was
contracted to work with Federation volunteers, staff
and agency representatives to assess the performance
of the multi-agency sectors and provide
recommendations and advice on evaluation issues. Over
the last two years FERA has worked with four sectors:
1) community outreach, 2) resettlement of new
Americans from the former Soviet Union, 3) services to
the elderly and 4) families in crisis sectors.
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Environmental
Support Center
Washington, D.C.
The Environmental Support Center
(ESC) provides support/capacity-building services on
both a short-term and longer-term basis to grass-roots
organizations attempting to improve the environment.
FERA was awarded a contract to design a comprehensive
evaluation of the ESC and to design a way to establish
best practices for organizational capacity-building
efforts focused on the environment. The project
covered three months.
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Michigan
Public Policy Initiative
(MPPI)
Lansing, Michigan
MPPI is a multi-faceted project
to provide legislators with information about the
non-profit sector and to educate non-profit leaders
about the legislative process.
The Initiative also seeks to facilitate
dialogue between the research and non-profit
communities in the state to develop useful research to
inform both policy and practice. FERA was hired to
assess the results of the Initiative and to provide
feedback for improvement and planning. The project
covers two years.
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Michigan
Coalition for Essential Schools
Jackson, Michigan
Michigan
Coalition for Essential Schools (MCES) created a
Critical Friends Coaches project available to
primarily Michigan middle schools. The purpose of the
project is to improve student learning and facilitate
whole school change. Teachers in the selected schools
choose a peer teacher to be trained as a coach
supported by the school principal. The peer teacher
works with fellow teachers to strengthen classroom
teaching and learning. techniques improvement
projects. MCES hired FERA to conduct a 2-5 year
evaluation depending on funding from the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation. An on-going evaluation was designed to
provide improvement-oriented feedback and to assess
outcomes. Because this is a model project, the
evaluation will collect lessons learned from the
stakeholders as the project progresses.
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