
Research and Evaluation Team
The Friday Institute Research and Evaluation (FIRE) Team conducts evidence-based studies with a commitment to mixed research methods that employ the most up-to-date tools and techniques. A key component of the FIRE Team’s approach to research and evaluation is its strong network of relationships with local, state, and national education leaders, stakeholders, and policymakers.
Since 2009, the FIRE team has effectively carried out $15,000,000 in research and evaluation grants and contracts, with past funders including local foundations (e.g., Golden LEAF, Walton Family, Belk), state government (e.g., NC Department of Public Instruction), and national agencies (e.g., National Science Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences).
What We Do
Updates
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A Deep Dive Into the Advanced Teaching Roles Program
On Feb. 2, the Friday Institute hosted a webinar featuring leaders from districts piloting the Advanced Teaching Roles program discussing the value of the program and recommendations for those interested in implementing it in their districts.
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The Friday Institute Shares Findings from North Carolina Schools
The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation released a pair of new case studies that highlight school-wide implementation of its Learning Differences program.
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Research Associate Callie Edwards Named 2021 NC State Impact Scholar
Friday Institute for Educational Innovation Research Associate Callie Edwards, Ph.D., has been named a 2021 NC State University Impact Scholar.
Selected Resources
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A Shift in Scientific Identities: How Teacher-Scientist Partnerships Can Impact Middle School Teachers’ Science Teaching and InstructionCase StudyFollowing the push to improve science literacy and implement science education programs in the 1970s, organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have worked fervently to develop programs aimed at reforming science education and increasing science literacy among America’s students. The emergence of teacher-scientist partnerships in K-12 classrooms has proven influential in broadening teachers’ content knowledge, understanding of scientific inquiry, and increasing teachers’ confidence in their abilities to teach science. Unfortunately, research exploring how these partnerships impact teachers’ identities, in general, and teachers’ self-efficacy, pedagogical practices, and identities as scientists, more specifically, has remained limited.
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Arlington Public Schools Digital Learning Device Project: Digital Devices Enhance Learning But Require Adequate Technical Support and Planning Time for TeachersFI Education BriefIn order to better understand the current state of the Arlington Public Schools' 1:1 program transition, the district partnered with the Friday Institute Research and Evaluation (FIRE) team at North Carolina State University to conduct a small-scale study. The purpose of the study was to identify implementation successes and challenges and to signal opportunities for program growth moving forward.
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Building a Regional Plan for Education and the Workforce: Lessons Learned from the Development of the Aligning Educational Efforts InitiativeCase StudyThis report tells the story of the development of the Aligning Educational Efforts initiative, which was created to help Alexander, Burke, and Catawba Counties better connect and coordinate education and workforce goals across their region. The John M. Belk Endowment commissioned this report to capture lessons learned from that experience and to provide guidance for other North Carolina communities that want to develop similar plans for their regions. While some of the strategies and lessons learned highlighted in this report are specific to conditions in the region for which the plan was developed, we believe that many of them will be useful in a wide array of community contexts.
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Equity for Digital-Age Learning: Education Leaders Address New Challenges in North Carolina SchoolsReportDigital inequities—or the divide amongst students who have and do not have access to digital resources —has become a national concern among K-12 educators in recent years. Research has documented the impacts of differential access to technology, however, as many districts and schools across the country move closer to fully transitioning to digital-age learning, digital inequity among K-12 students has become a more salient concern.
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Nine Key Lessons from the Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School Learning Differences ProgramFI Education BriefThis brief highlights nine key lessons from the case study “Becoming Embedded In What We Do” The Implementation and Impact of the Learning Differences Program at Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School in Raleigh, North Carolina. In analyzing the data, the Friday Institute found nine key lessons from CCMMS Learning Differences program implementation that may help future schools and districts as they design their implementation strategies, namely:
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Teacher Compensation Models and Advanced Teaching Roles Pilot ProgramsReportThis evaluation report—the fourth and final one commissioned by the North Carolina State Board of Education—summarizes qualitative results from the third year of the initiative and quantitative analyses from the first two years of implementation. In general, most of the qualitative indicators were again positive, and in the areas for which one-year and two-year quantitative estimations were possible there also were continuing signs of positive outcomes.
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Teaching for the Long Haul: Professionalizing Career Pathways for North Carolina TeachersFI Education BriefBackground and Purpose In 2016, the North Carolina General Assembly provided support for school districts across North Carolina to propose and implement pilot advanced teaching…
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What’s the Value of a Learning Differences MOOC-Ed?Massive Online Open Courses for Educators (MOOC-Eds) provide a new form of professional development for educators that balances research-based practices for high-quality professional development with new types of social learning. In this paper we consider the value that educators find through their participation in a Learning Differences MOOC-Ed and examine the design elements of the MOOC-Ed that supported their growth and impact on practice.
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“A Constant Conversation” The Implementation and Impact of the Learning Differences Program at Manning Elementary School in Roanoke Rapids, North CarolinaCase StudyThis case study details the implementation and impact of the Learning Differences program at Manning Elementary School (MES) in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Section one provides an overview of the Learning Differences program. Section two describes how the Learning Differences program was implemented at MES and how data were collected. Section three draws on qualitative and quantitative data to illustrate the program’s impact on MES teachers and students. Section four discusses the seven key lessons learned from the implementation process. The authors intend for this case study to be a practical resource that schools and districts can reference as they implement their own learning differences initiatives.
Selected Projects
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Developing STEM Identity in Rural Audiences through Community-based Engineering Design (DeSIRE)DeSIRE is a partnership between the College of Engineering and the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University (NCSU), the NC Mathematics and Science Education Network Pre-College Program (MSEN), the Edgecombe County Public Schools (ECPS) district, and local advanced manufacturing industry. The Friday Institute (FI) is pleased to serve as the research partner for the DeSIRE project.
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ESTEEM: Enhancing Statistics Teacher Education with E- ModulesESTEEM will facilitate the infusion of statistics content and pedagogy into undergraduate mathematics teacher preparation by providing faculty with technological and curricular resources, networking experiences and ongoing support.
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Establishing a Baseline Measurement of the Digital Divide in Durham Public SchoolsThis project team will conduct a baseline analysis of the digital divide among Durham Public Schools families prior to the implementation of their 1:1 initiative.
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Evaluation of ASSISTmentsThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the use of ASSISTments to support students' mathematics homework completion, differentiated instruction and ultimately students' understanding of mathematics.
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Evaluation of NCCC Tier FundingThe North Carolina Community Colleges System Office has contracted with the Friday Institute to study costs associated with instruction.
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Evaluation of The Rural Center’s Regional Training and Capacity-Building ProgramThis initiative seeks to build a diverse regional leadership team in the state’s Northeast Prosperity Zone and provide leadership training to cross-county project teams to identify untapped regional opportunities for economic growth and development.
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Examining Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Amidst Unprecedented TimesThe NC State College of Education’s Friday Institute and the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research are partnering together to study the differences between early childhood teacher preparation at one N.C. community college during and after the transition to remote learning environments prompted by COVID-19.
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Game-Changing Research Incentive Program (GRIP): Computer Science for All K-12 StudentsThis project will establish NC State as a national center addressing the critical need to provide pre-college students with foundational knowledge and skills in computational thinking.
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Golden LEAF STEM Evaluation (Archived)Working with partners, our team is evaluating and building evaluation-capacity at the school and district level for the Golden Leaf Foundation’s STEM Initiative.
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Implementation of the Learning Differences ProgramDuring the 2019-20 academic year, the Friday Institute established a modified research-practice partnership with Manning Elementary School (Roanoke Rapids, NC) and Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School (Raleigh, NC).
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Noyce Mathematics Education Teaching Scholars [Noyce METS] (Archived)Noyce METS is designed to increase the number of highly qualified mathematics teachers committed to working with students in high-needs schools.
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ParticipateThe Friday Institute evaluation team is providing technical support to Participate for the evaluation of their Global Gateway Program.
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Professionalizing Career Pathways for North Carolina TeachersThis evaluation of teacher career ladder pilot initiatives will allow us to generate in-depth, multi-year case studies of three pilots.
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STEM Career ClubsThis interdisciplinary study focuses on developing ways to promote and measure interest in and preparation for STEM majors and careers.
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STEM East Network Evaluation (Archived)From August 2016 through February 2019, the Friday Institute Research and Evaluation Team (FIRE Team) partnered with the STEM East leadership to build the evaluation capacity of 7 network districts who received STEM education grants from the Golden LEAF Foundation. Specifically, the FIRE Team worked with districts leadership teams to more strategically plan, execute, evaluate, and maintain their district’s STEM programs.
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Students Discover (Archived)The overarching goal of the Students Discover project is to use the pathway of Citizen Science to improve STEM education in middle school.
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Technology-Rich Units for Future Secondary Teachers: Forging Mathematical Connections Through the Geometry of FunctionsThis project will address the need for undergraduate prospective secondary mathematics teachers to possess strong content knowledge in order to develop in their future students the rich mathematical understandings necessary to pursue STEM careers.
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The Friday Institute Educational Research and Evaluation Internship Program for Undergraduate StudentsThis internship is a paid work-study opportunity for undergraduate students to learn new research, evaluation and leadership skills. Interns will receive training in educational research and evaluation techniques while contributing to FIRE team projects.
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UNC-TV, Public Media North Carolina CPB/Kirby GrantThe initial aim of a research-practice partnership between the Friday Institute and UNC-TV is to define a comprehensive and systemic research approach aligned to the mission of UNC-TV to provide content and services that educate, engage and inspire audiences, communities and partners.
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Understanding the Effect of the North Carolina Read to Achieve Program on Student OutcomesThe proposed study will focus on the summer reading camp component of Read to Achieve.
People
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Dr Shaun KelloggDirector of Research and EvaluationTeam Lead
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Jimmy AlemanWork Study Student
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James BirkettGraduate Research Asst
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Rebekah S. DavisResearch Asst
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Dr Callie Womble EdwardsResearch Associate
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Malinda Musacchia FaberResearch Assoc
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Jamie Gustava GillespieResearch Assoc
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Lindsay HannWork Study Student
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Jennifer HouchinsGraduate Research Asst
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Erin Suzanne HugginsResearch Assoc
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Njogu NdiranguWork Study Student
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Douglas PriceTemp Research Tech'n/Paraprof
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Sara StegemollerGraduate Teaching Asst
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Kevin WinnResearch Asst