Center for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA)

The Center for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) provides third-party program evaluation, assessment, and other research services to a broad range of clients working in multiple programmatic areas. CEA staff and evaluators collaborate to write program evaluation proposals, design and implement evaluation methodologies, communicate with project staff and stakeholders, and report evaluation results to stakeholders and funding agencies.

In addition, CEA staff write and publish peer-reviewed articles, chapters, books, and other items that disseminate sound program evaluation and assessment practices.

Projects

The CEA has successfully completed more than 150 evaluations for various clients and sponsors and contributed program evaluation designs to teams securing a total of more than $50 million in external funding.

Project funding has come from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, United States Department of Education, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Housing and Urban Development, Iowa Department of Education, Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education, California Department of Education, and other sources.

In addition to recent evaluations of Math Science Partnership programs, Clinical and Translational Science Programs, and engineering and other technical curriculum evaluation, CEA evaluations have addressed quality and use of assessment results in a broad range of areas (e.g., minority recruitment and retention in science fields and teaching careers; professional development; learning communities in health care educational settings; delivery of social and human services; postsecondary curriculum and professional training in engineering, technology, and health care; and the impact of public policy on PK-12 education). The CEA has also developed and implemented professional training related to evaluation design and decision-making as well as the use of assessments in K-12 education.

List of Projects

About Us

The CEA conducts multiple forms of program evaluation in collaboration with colleges, universities, and school systems throughout the United States. Program evaluators do formative and summative work, utilizing a variety of methodologies to meet the needs of project stakeholders. CEA services inform projects and decision-making and advance evaluation work and methodologies, including the measurement and assessment of applied educational initiatives.

Mission

The mission of the CEA is:

to provide high quality program evaluation and research services to support data-driven decision-making,
to train graduate students, and
to advance evaluation theory and practice.

History

Under charter since 1992, the CEA has been a Board of Regents approved center and was founded by Don Yarbrough, who served as Director from 1992 to 2015.