Strengthening Educational Programs and Instructional Materials Through Evaluation
Program Evaluation: We conduct program and project evaluations which allow our partners to leverage findings to improve practice, strengthen communities, and inform policy.
From preK to postsecondary institutions, to informal programs, WestEd delivers actionable results to benefit your audiences. Our evaluators use a variety of approaches tailored to the needs of our clients. We have extensive expertise conducting developmental, formative, impact, outcome, and summative evaluations using mixed-methods approaches.
Looking for comprehensive evaluation services for your STEM education program?
Learn more about our evaluations
Curricula Review: NextGenScience’s team of expert consultants review and provide feedback on elementary and high school materials as well as K–12 proprietary materials. Reviews earning the top rating on the EQuIP Rubric for Science are recognized with the NGSS Design Badge.
We conduct alignment and quality reviews of K–12 science lessons, units, and assessment tasks using the Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products (EQuIP) Suite of Tools.
Are you interested in a curriculum review for your science instructional materials?
The evaluation by WestEd was so useful and informative. The feedback provided useful insights to particulars we simply assumed, useful confirmations of what we knew, and insights into how the program can continue to improve to meet SciAct, SETI Institute, and AAA goals.
— Coral Clark,
Education Programs Manager, SETI Institute
Our Work in Action
NextGenScience
In April 2020, NextGenScience launched at WestEd to support educators with the implementation of rigorous science standards across the nation. NextGenScience brings together expertise in classroom teaching, learning design, science leadership, and policy analysis.
At WestEd, the NextGenScience team works alongside educators to design quality, coherent programs that align science standards, instructional materials, professional learning, and assessments.
Visit http://ngs.wested.org to learn more about our work and latest developments.
Read Brokering Knowledge in Diverse Classrooms to learn about a framework that helps teachers adapt science learning experiences to be relevant and authentic for Indigenous learners.
Artificial Intelligence in Education
For more than a decade, WestEd evaluators have been working with researchers at North Carolina State University and Indiana University to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence on K–16 and informal education and to create professional development materials and grade-appropriate curricula that can help teachers introduce artificial intelligence (AI) to their students. Some of the projects include the following:
- The PrimaryAI project. This game-based learning experience introduces upper elementary students to AI with a curriculum that integrates AI with life science using problem-based learning. PrimaryAI is aligned with NGSS.
- ExplainIt: Improving Student Learning With Explanation-Based Classroom Response Systems. In this project, researchers use natural language processing to analyze undergraduate students’ explanations of STEM phenomena. The goal is to develop a better understanding of how students learn and engage with explanation-rich classroom response systems.
Learn more about these and other AI projects for which WestEd serves as the evaluator.
Evaluation Services for High-Quality Instructional Materials
Instructional materials are a necessary component of the successful transition to today’s science standards. WestEd aims to create a shared vision and common understanding about what design for today’s science standards means among educators and developers.
Learn an example of how EQuIP Curriculum Reviews helped a developer improve the quality of their science instructional materials.
About the EQuIP Rubric for Science
We provide evaluation services using a variety of tools including the Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products (EQuIP) Rubric for Science.
The EQuIP Rubric for Science provides criteria by which to measure the alignment and overall quality of lessons and units with respect to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The purposes of the rubric and review process are to:
- Review existing lessons and units to determine what revisions are needed
- Provide constructive criterion‐based feedback and suggestions for improvement to developers
- Identify exemplars/models for teachers’ use within and across states
- Inform the development of new lessons and units.
Learn more about Science Instructional Materials review services.