When Kimberly Fleming got in touch with me last summer to discuss a grant, I knew it was important. She said that her colleagues, Drs. Kari Debbink and Eva Garin at Bowie State University are applying for the National Science Foundation's Noyce Program and are looking for an evaluator with experience in Noyce grants. A few days and several emails later, we agreed to collaborate on the grant proposal. Glad to announce that their hard work has paid off and the partnership has come to …
News and Updates
Gentle Tips for (New or Even Seasoned) Evaluators Looking for Jobs
Gentle Tips for (New or Even Seasoned) Evaluators Looking for Jobs Summer is a time when people generally tend to look for new jobs. In the past few months, I have received several inquiries for a position at my company. Although, we are currently not hiring—but this may change soon—I have entertained all queries to know what’s out there. Talent wise. More importantly, I have been in this position several times when I was looking for a job right out of grad school. No one trained me on …
An Idea Becomes An AI Workshop
So, it went like this.... An introductory email--->follow up phone call--->an idea generation--->an email to the NSF PO-->a grant proposal--->an $80,000 award---> a week-long intensive workshop on Artificial Intelligence in July. Glad to be working with Dr. Sambit Bhattacharya and his team at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Fayetteville State University (NC), who will be conducting a summer workshop on AI. The workshop will be via Zoom on July 20-24 …
Grant Evaluation As A Profession — It’s Really About the Journey
Almost three years ago, I wrote a piece on Grant Evaluation As a Career under contract with the Wiley Online Services, the brand managers for the American University, DC. During that time, AU was starting a new program in MS in Measurement and Evaluation. My contact, Dr. Beverly Peters, reached out to me asking if I could do a blog on the topic. I immediately said yes. Honestly, it wasn't a groundbreaking piece on an obscure topic or an area of study, nor was it an over night smashing hit on …
MNA Completes A Large-Scale Evaluation Study In School Health For DC Department of Health
MNA in partnership with DC Action for Children has completed a large-scale evaluation study under contract with DC Department of Health. Using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model as the framework, the team conducted a multi-year, mixed methods study to better understand the pre-and-intra WSCC model planning processes and implementation at DCPS and DC PCS for school years 2015-16 through 2018-19. The WSCC model, developed by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum …
USDE-Funded Teacher Quality Partnership Evaluation Contract with Frostburg State University, MD
As one of the evaluation consulting firms working on issues of teacher preparation, quality, and improvement, we have worked with and helped institutions and organizations across the nation to improve the skills of the educators of today and set up programs to train the teachers of tomorrow. We are very excited to start our new evaluation work with Frostburg State University (Maryland) for their 2019 awarded Teacher Quality and Preparation (TQP) grant from the U.S. Department of Education …
Praying for Hope
I interlocked the last loop late Monday night to complete a crocheted lap “pandemic” blanket. Since fall 2019, I have turned to what some may call "old-fashioned" crafts. More so, now to calm my fears and anxieties; knowing situations that I cannot control or don't even understand too well. To be able to hold a thread, swirl it around my fingers with a simple metal hook and make something tangible and useful calms me. It is repetitive, rhythmic, meditative, and therapeutic. There is a …
April is Community College Awareness Month!
April is community college awareness month. Today, we spend a moment to express our deep gratitude to all the community colleges across the nation. They are doing tireless work during these trying times as they continue to serve their students, families, and the communities they serve. Since 2009, we have been very fortunate to work with several CCs across the country. We have been their grant writers, reviewers, evaluators, education researchers, technical assistance, capacity builders, …
Hunkered Down, Working, and Attempting to Weather the Pandemic
MNA continues to work during these truly unprecedented times. We pray and hope that all of you are staying healthy and sheltered in place. In 2018, the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) contracted with MNA to evaluate their initiative, Artificial Intelligence in Education, funded by the General Motors. MNA conducted surveys of educators who went through the professional learning program that cultivates future AI programmers for educators to support student-driven AI …
Saying Thanks To Our Staff and Contributors on International Women’s Day
This past Sunday was International Women’s Day. At MNA, it's IWD everyday where we celebrate all the women who are STEM and social science researchers, program evaluators, educators, data scientists, data wizards and Moms who are richly contributing to our growing consulting firm. They have made us prouder and stronger every day with their collaboration, realistic ideas, team work, hard work, talent and skills, and more importantly, their passion and compassion. Thank you 🙏🏽 💕💕 We are so …