We are an independent education evaluation and consulting firm specializing in the design and evaluation of educational initiatives, programs and products. We offer comprehensive evaluations, where Char Associates is the principal evaluator of a program or product, as well as evaluation- and design-related consultative services:
Comprehensive evaluation
We offer evaluation services for single-year and multi-year studies and act as principal evaluator in these efforts. These evaluations include developing and overseeing formative research and process evaluations to help clients maximize the educational value and effectiveness of their products and programs, and outcomes-based and summative evaluations to assess programs’ educational impact and outcomes. Studies encompass a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including pre- and post-program surveys, interviews and focus groups, site visits and observations, examination of project documents, and utilization of standardized test scores and other primary data sources.
Our approach is to work closely with our clients to make sure the results are useful. We do this by listening carefully to the needs of our clients and aligning the evaluations’ goals and design accordingly. We work collaboratively and transparently from the start, helping clients clarify and fully formulate their programmatic vision, set educational objectives and desired outcomes, target audiences, and implement strategies. This foundation, in turn, supports a carefully crafted evaluation that is well-grounded, strategic, and cost-effective -- one that yields results and recommendations that help guide program improvements and future directions.
Consultative Services
Our consultative services have been crafted to support client-specific educational design and evaluation needs where a full evaluation is not necessary or the client has chosen to be the principal evaluator. We offer four targeted consultative services, addressing specific phases or facets of a project :
Proposal review
We provide strategic guidance in grant writing and other funding requests, helping create compelling and realistic proposals that have clear objectives, consistent voice and viable work plans. We ensure that proposals convey how client projects are innovative and advancing the field of knowledge. This service supports clients who seek to:
Product development
We help design educational materials and software. This includes facilitating design-team conversations, interviewing staff and stakeholders to gain internal consensus (through focus groups, one-on-one interviews and presentations), speaking with external experts and advisers, bringing our own knowledge of the field to bear, and establishing feedback loops for continual product improvement. This service supports clients who seek to:
Types of products we have developed include:
Project management support
We offer guidance during program planning and implementation, ensuring that projects stay on track, have program activities that are well-coordinated and progresses effectively and efficiently, and have sufficient opportunities to collect and make sense of evaluative data. This engagement may include site visits or work product review and analysis to provide formative feedback, facilitation of conversations with work teams to make necessary mid-course corrections, and regular one-on-one conversations with project leads to support their work. This service supports clients who seek to:
Evaluation coaching and facilitation
We provide assistance, as senior research advisers, in evaluation projects where the client is the principal evaluator. We help capture and define the core questions the client is seeking to answer, including work on program/logic models, identify indicators and oversee instrument design, train staff in collecting data, including conducting surveys, focus groups and phone interviews, and advise staff in compiling, synthesizing and describing data. We also guide clients looking to make difficult mid-course changes in their studies. This service supports clients who seek to:
Comprehensive evaluation
We offer evaluation services for single-year and multi-year studies and act as principal evaluator in these efforts. These evaluations include developing and overseeing formative research and process evaluations to help clients maximize the educational value and effectiveness of their products and programs, and outcomes-based and summative evaluations to assess programs’ educational impact and outcomes. Studies encompass a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including pre- and post-program surveys, interviews and focus groups, site visits and observations, examination of project documents, and utilization of standardized test scores and other primary data sources.
Our approach is to work closely with our clients to make sure the results are useful. We do this by listening carefully to the needs of our clients and aligning the evaluations’ goals and design accordingly. We work collaboratively and transparently from the start, helping clients clarify and fully formulate their programmatic vision, set educational objectives and desired outcomes, target audiences, and implement strategies. This foundation, in turn, supports a carefully crafted evaluation that is well-grounded, strategic, and cost-effective -- one that yields results and recommendations that help guide program improvements and future directions.
Consultative Services
Our consultative services have been crafted to support client-specific educational design and evaluation needs where a full evaluation is not necessary or the client has chosen to be the principal evaluator. We offer four targeted consultative services, addressing specific phases or facets of a project :
Proposal review
We provide strategic guidance in grant writing and other funding requests, helping create compelling and realistic proposals that have clear objectives, consistent voice and viable work plans. We ensure that proposals convey how client projects are innovative and advancing the field of knowledge. This service supports clients who seek to:
- Stand out in a crowded field of applicants
- Successfully address grantor criteria in a credible manner
- Bring multiple organizations and voices together in a single document
- Keep on schedule to submit the application on time
Product development
We help design educational materials and software. This includes facilitating design-team conversations, interviewing staff and stakeholders to gain internal consensus (through focus groups, one-on-one interviews and presentations), speaking with external experts and advisers, bringing our own knowledge of the field to bear, and establishing feedback loops for continual product improvement. This service supports clients who seek to:
- Develop offerings that achieve specified outcomes
- Embed evaluation into products and programs from the get-go
Types of products we have developed include:
- K-8 educational curricula, digital products and television in mathematics, science, reading, history and the arts
- Early literacy programs
- Museum exhibits
- Children’s magazines and activity kits in science and social studies
Project management support
We offer guidance during program planning and implementation, ensuring that projects stay on track, have program activities that are well-coordinated and progresses effectively and efficiently, and have sufficient opportunities to collect and make sense of evaluative data. This engagement may include site visits or work product review and analysis to provide formative feedback, facilitation of conversations with work teams to make necessary mid-course corrections, and regular one-on-one conversations with project leads to support their work. This service supports clients who seek to:
- Ensure sufficient critical evaluation are being carried out consistently across relevant activities
- Ensure programs are achieving impact and having early success
- Embed data gathering appropriately in programs and activities
Evaluation coaching and facilitation
We provide assistance, as senior research advisers, in evaluation projects where the client is the principal evaluator. We help capture and define the core questions the client is seeking to answer, including work on program/logic models, identify indicators and oversee instrument design, train staff in collecting data, including conducting surveys, focus groups and phone interviews, and advise staff in compiling, synthesizing and describing data. We also guide clients looking to make difficult mid-course changes in their studies. This service supports clients who seek to:
- Play the lead evaluator role, but wish to have an expert external adviser closely reviewing and consulting on the study
- Ensure a strong research base
- Utilize already collected data and take stock of current evaluation instruments
- Understand what types of studies would be most helpful in understanding impact and achieving greater impact
- Prioritize current evaluation initiatives
