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Ask the
experts.
Then, keep asking. |
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Every year, we write to
a number of experts in the child development and education
fields with a request to review the Network and to offer
candid feedback on how we could provide even higher quality
services to the organizations we work with.
Following is a sample of what we've heard from some of those
experts. |
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John Schacter, Ph.D.
President, SPP Enterprises
Educational Consulting |
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"A more efficient way to
train, manage, coach, and provide resources to [tutors] in
an expeditious manner would be a godsend. [America Learns']
technology meets these needs." |
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Jim Spillane, Ph.D.
Professor in Learning & Organizational
Change, Northwestern University |
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"A scarcity of human
capital is perhaps the greatest challenge facing the
implementation of programs designed to improve the learning
opportunities of America's children, both inside and outside
the school. The America Learns Network tackles the human
capital problem at all levels of the system and does so in
ways that are creative and user friendly." |
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Ronald Gallimore, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, UCLA |
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“What
you’ve developed addresses a crucial problem that all
educational and social programs face: Effective
implementation. Many well-intended programs fail because
the services or activities they intended to implement with
clients never happened. Or at least they did not happen on
a consistent enough basis to secure the intended benefits.
There are many reasons for implementation failure. One of
the most common is failure to provide adequate training and
support to personnel on whom implementation depends.
Unfortunately, when outcomes are less than expected,
programs get terminated which were never fully implemented.
The program concept is discredited and something new is
tried, which again is never properly implemented. What
America Learns offers could help improve the chances of
effective implementation of tutoring programs. I suspect
there are many programs around the nation that could make
good use of your concept and application to enhance
effectiveness.” |
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Beth Manke, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Cal State
University Long Beach |
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"I
wanted you to know how impressed I am with America Learns.
For the past year I have been working with Long Beach BLAST
as their program evaluator and I have seen the wide range of
activities included in the America Learns database. It is
truly amazing! Mentors have easy access to so many
resources that are tailor made to their children’s specific
needs. Mentors feel supported and as a result are better
able to develop productive relationships with the children
they mentor and tutor. I have been so impressed with
America Learns that I have encouraged many of my other
clients that run tutoring/mentoring programs to check out
your website.
"As
the program evaluator for BLAST I am also excited that you
have created tools that allow me to download data specific
to BLAST mentors. For example, I can download data to see
how often mentors use various resources and what types of
activities they are doing with children. Ultimately I can
merge these data with other evaluation data that we
currently collect (e.g., student pre- and post tests,
teachers’ reports, etc.). In short, my ability to track
BLAST mentors through America Learns helps me conduct a more
comprehensive evaluation of BLAST." |
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Ellen Gannett
Co-Director, National Institute on
Out-of-School Time |
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"I was extremely impressed
with [the Network demo] and I am convinced that such a tool
will be useful especially for after school programs which
employ a large cadre of tutors. Your program will help
supervisors and tutors keep track of their progress and the
gains made by individual children. I would imagine that
state departments of education, now in charge of 21st
Century Community Learning Centers, will find your tool
invaluable." |
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Marilyn Kourilsky, Ph.D.
Faculty Chair, UCLA Graduate
School of Education & Information Studies
Director of the Institute for the Study of Educational
Entrepreneurship at UCLA |
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"America Learns is an awesome
organization and is very helpful to both within-school
teachers and outside of school groups." |
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To read interview data
from educators, mentors and youth workers and program
administrators we serve, click
here.
To read
additional, more informal thoughts that organizations we work
with have about
the Network, click
here.
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