Supporting D3A2 Professional Development Through Evaluation
A Preliminary Annual Report to the Ohio Department of Education

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has designed the comprehensive Data Driven Decisions for Academic Achievement (D3A2) initiative to serve as a uniform system that enables teachers and administrators statewide to access and use various types of educational data.  Additionally, D3A2 provides educators with content resources that align with state standards and assessments.  Developing the D3A2 system has involved a collaborative approach among multiple stakeholder groups that attend to various aspects of the system including its associated professional development. Click here to read the entire Executive Summary.

A Study of the Role of Educational Service Agencies in Teacher Professional Development
Little research exists on the role of Educational Service Agencies in the provision of teacher professional development.  How do ESAs deliver professional development to teachers and school districts? A Hezel Associates survey, on behalf of PBS TeacherLine, found out.

Teacher professional development translates to better teaching practices for the improvement of student learning.  As good training is key to good performance, it is important to know how professional development and related coaching is implemented in schools.  Educational Service Agencies (ESAs) are a significant but often overlooked resource in the provision of professional development and coaching in schools.  The Association of Educational Services Agencies defines an ESA as “a public entity created by state statute to provide educational support programs and services to local schools and school districts within a given geographic area.”  The names for ESAs vary across states, for example: Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (New York, Colorado), Educational Cooperatives (Connecticut), and Educational Service Agencies (Vermont) to name a few.  Yet despite the inconsistency of names, the agencies provide similar key services.  Not much literature could be found on the important role ESAs play in teacher professional development, so Hezel Associates conducted a survey to learn more. Click here to read more...

Experimental Methods and Results In A Study Of PBS Teacherline Math Courses
Examining the link between teacher professional development and student achievement

Since the 1980s, the emphasis in public education has shifted from a focus on inputs (e.g., per-pupil spending) to outcomes (e.g., student performance on a statewide or national assessments) (Hurst et al., 2003).  As a result, states have enacted a series of reform policies meant to transform the provision of education.  Among these, teacher training and professional development has emerged as a primary way to improve student achievement.

The efficacy of online teacher professional development is of concern to school district leaders, especially educators in large, urban districts that must train and support a continually changing population of teachers with increasingly limited funds.  For school district and other education leaders to make data-driven decisions to improve instruction, researchers must continue to assess the impact of professional development.  Hezel Associates’ research paper describes the methods and outcomes of this evaluation research, one of few studies incorporating experimental methods in an attempt to link a professional development intervention to both teacher and student outcomes.  Click here to download full paper. (PDF)

Alumni Matter: Unleashing a Lifetime of Value
The Benefit of CRM Principals in the Postsecondary Environment

In a recent survey of continuing and professional education leaders, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) reported that marketing budgets are steadily rising with institutions spending an average of $319 million on an integrated marketing mix that targets would-be students.  But what the numbers do not tell you is the potential benefit of employing relationship-management principles in marketing to the customer—college alumni and alumnae. Click here to download full white paper. (PDF)

Benchmarking for Quality in Distance Learning Study

How do you measure success, growth, development, and change in your distance learning organization? For years, industry has used benchmarking as a tool for measuring internal progress and external standing. Higher education institutions, too, have come to use various forms of benchmarking – particularly for their undergraduate programs. On behalf of and in conjunction with NUTN, Hezel Associates has launched the Benchmarking for Quality in Distance Learning Study to explore the issues related to benchmarking for distance learning, and to assist college and university distance learning organizations in building their own benchmarking capacity. Click here to learn more.

Global E-learning Opportunity for
U.S. Higher Education

Connecting the dots: Using student and school data to assess statewide education improvement efforts

Connecting student level data to school level activities that, in turn, stem from programs mounted at the state level (and whose original source is federal funding) is hardly a straightforward task, even when data are replete.  Against this backdrop, Hezel Associates’ research team discusses South Carolina’s External Review Team Program and how accountability data at the student and school levels are used to assess complex, statewide education interventions, and to probe the limitations of their use.  Click here to download full research paper. (PDF)

The NCLB Title II D requirement for Scientifically Based Research.

Title II D mandates the implementation of statewide educational technology plans, together with the scientific evaluation of technology use. The goal and expectation of Title II D is that technology will be exploited for its potential to increase student achievement. Read more about the challenges associated with Title II D and the implications for evaluation.

Past Publications

Telemedicine: The State-by-State Analysis, 1997-98
Hezel Associates wrote the book on telemedicine in the United States. This report describes telemedicine programs, planning and policy initiatives from a state perspective as well as a national viewpoint. It examines telecommunications technology utilized for telemedicine, applications and funding sources.

By considering the telemedicine projects that exist in each of the fifty states, we disclose telemedicine's actual applications to date. This publication describes how each state has, or has not participated in telemedicine. The dual approach of portraying national and state level telemedicine best depicts the domain today. By paring federal and state telemedicine activities, trends begin to emerge that otherwise could not be detected. Considering federal and state telemedicine activities in tandem, as we have in this document enables us to better understand the relationships that may lead to greater success in planning for telemedicine.

Business Model for Distance Learning in Higher Education
Whether you are a distance learning coordinator, academic administrator, business officer, or faculty member, the Hezel Associates Business Model can help you determine whether distance learning programs are profitable and beneficial for your institution.

Use the Business Model to analyze distance learning development, distance learning expansion, or to evaluate your current program. The Business Model determines your potential revenue, costs, and savings, and develops a break-even analysis in print and electronic form.

The Business Model:

• Generates revenue, cost, cash-flow, savings and break-even analysis in print and electronic form
• Considers delivery, program development, equipment, staff development and related distance learning costs
• Provides a step-by-step business planning guide with sample numbers
• Works with your institution's specific distance learning needs
• Provides templates for short narratives as an option to assist eventual business plan development
• Includes cost out program development alternatives for asynchronous learning