NEWPATH: Evaluation Plans

Evaluation of the program to assess the extent to which the intended outcomes are being achieved and using the results of the assessment to identify possible improvement are key components of the NEWPATH program. Evaluation was to be the responsibility of an external evaluator, Dr. Jerome D'Agostino who specializes in program assessment. Unfortunately, Dr. D'Agostino could not continue the evaluation activities; hence he resigned from this role in September '09.

Fortunately, we were able to find a new evaluator, Dr. Kathleen Carr, to replace him. Dr. Carr is president and CEO of Strategic Research Group (SRG), a full service research company providing data collection, analysis and consultative services. Dr. Carr is currently (Winter '10) working on continuing and strengthening the previously started evaluation activities. Both her qualifications and expertise on the one hand, and close working relation with the NEWPATH faculty on the other hand, should be of great value in assessing the extent to which NEWPATH is achieving its outcomes and to arrive at possible changes to address any problems that the assessments may reveal.

A rubric-based approach is expected to be adopted to evaluate some components of NEWPATH and the extent to which it achieves its outcomes, internships being one of these components. Initial versions of the rubrics for evaluating internships (supervisor rubric, student rubric) have been developed and are being piloted. Dr. D'Agostino plans to work closely with NEWPATH faculty in developing and refining the rubrics.