Hillsborough County Public Schools Business
Action Item

DATE: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
TO: School Board Members
FROM: MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent

SUBJECT / RECOMMENDATIONS

Approve the Agreement for Technical Services for Bellwether Consulting for the Evaluation of the Model of Assignment Planning for Students (MAPS) Grant (Information and Technology Division)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The MAPS project is designed to create the tools to improve student assignment planning through the use of a graphical mapping model. The program objectives include development and adoption of a district process for a multi-year re-boundary plan to be implemented over a 3-5 year timeline. This process is designed to engage community stakeholders in a student assignment planning process and increase district capacity to utilize multi-objective modeling and spatial analysis for assignment planning.

The grant requires that an external evaluator be utilized for the evaluation of the project. An Agreement for Technical Services has been developed with Bellwether Consulting LLC. Bethany Bell (Ph.D., MPH) is the president of Bellwether Consulting. Bellwether Consulting has conducted numerous evaluations for Hillsborough County Public Schools, including the Nonpublic Title I Program Review portions of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) evaluation, and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers SAFE-T-NET Program Evaluation. Bellwether Consulting has worked for the Pinellas County Public School District Monitoring Advisory Committee, and as a contract evaluator for the Stavros Center for Economic Education, Polk County Public Schools and Pinellas County Public Schools.

The duties of the provider will be to gather quantitative and qualitative data to assess the project. The provider will communicate regularly with the Department of Assessment and Accountability and project leaders, and provide research-based assistance in suggesting possible programmatic changes as warranted. The provider will document community focus group meetings and conduct stakeholder surveys. The evaluation will provide formative feedback to the Project Manager and the Analytics Team to allow for data-driven changes to occur. The provider will complete designated portions of the Annual Performance Report and will provide quarterly and annual formative evaluation reports to the Project Manager, the Department of Assessment and Accountability, and the district.

All students in every district middle school will participate. The provider will follow the evaluation standards established by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation adopted by the American Evaluation Association (AEA).

ANNUAL DISTRICT GOAL(S) AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S)

* Align financial resources to support the district’s strategic goals, * Construct and maintain facilities that create an environment conducive to teaching and learning

FINANCIAL IMPACT (Budgeted: Yes)

The project total is $250,000. Of this amount, $50,000 is dedicated to an evaluation of the project's success. The provider will be paid in eight bimonthly payments of $5,000 and a final payment of $10,000 upon successful completion of the evaluation project.

EVALUATION

Portions of the Annual Performance Report will be completed, as well as quarterly and annual formative evaluation reports.

SUBMITTED BY: Samuel R. Whitten, Assistant Director, Assessment and Accountability

David J. Steele, Ph.D.
Chief Information and Technology Officer and Project Director, Empowering Effective Teachers Grant
(813) 272-4600
Gretchen Saunders
Chief Business Officer
(813) 272-4270
A 5.08
Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20100420_398 * Section A Item# 5.08