Deadline Near for PEPNet 2 Training Institute Proposals

The good news is that the deadline for submitting presentation proposals for the PEPNet 2 Training Institute has been extended.

The urgent news is that the deadline has been extended to Friday, February 3, 2012, which means you only have one week or less left to submit your proposal!

To review the proposal criteria, or submit a proposal, go to PEPNet 2 Training Institute

Same Stars, Different Venue
AHEAD, PEPNet 2 Share the Spotlight at New Orleans Events

AHEAD and PEPNet 2-two premier disability-oriented professional organizations-will hold their independent national events in tandem to provide attendees from the disability and education communities a week-long array of trainings that can build institutional capacity to work with post-secondary students with disabilities. The two concurrent events will be held at the Sheraton Hotel Canal Street in New Orleans on July 9 - 14, 2012.

Registration information will also be available on www.pepnet.org in March 2012. For more information, please contact the PTI Chair, Cassie Franklin, at cassie.franklin@pepnet.org.

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Evidence-Based Practice 101

Submitted by Dr. Stephanie Cawthon, Ph.D., PEPNet 2 Associate Director for Research and Evidence Synthesis

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is a system for identifying and evaluating practices that lead to strong positive outcomes for stakeholders and consumers.

EBP is not new-it has been used by a variety of professional disciplines since 1992-and its value is recognized by our funding organization, the US Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

The PEPNet 2 (PN2) Research and Evidence Synthesis (RES) center uses an EBP approach to collect and analyze data about our activities and services. RES then generates EBP summaries that can be used by PN2 to improve the cost-effectiveness and quality of the services and practices we provide to our stakeholders.

Our EBP process has five steps:

1. Identify the key issue or question.
   We will use our needs assessment to identify key issues that will need support through PEPNet personnel development and technical assistance activities.
2. Review the pertinent research.
   After a comprehensive search of the research literature, the RES center will summarize main themes and findings about those key issues. Summaries will include a relative rating of the strength of the findings, ranging from "weak" (inconclusive), to "very strongly supported by research."
3. Identify empirically supported practice.
   Those practices that are strongly supported by research will be identified and shared with the PN2 Leadership TeamPN2 will use this information in technical assistance and personnel development activities.
4. Incorporate clinical expertise.
   We will then solicit input from experts in the particularly content area to help provide additional context and examples that may be useful for PEPNet stakeholders.
5. Summarize findings and make recommendations.
   The RES center will provide PN2 with written summaries, informative online resources, or potential scenarios to use to create effective training materials and to provide technical assistance

For more information:

As we develop our database of EBP, we will include summaries in our monthly updates to PN2 stakeholders.

We will also post details on our website, pepnet.org.

Questions? Email RES leader Dr.Stephanie Cawthon:
stephanie.cawthon@pepnet.org

Dr. Stephanie Cawthon designs and oversees PEPNet 2 (PN2) needs assessments and research activities, and in close collaboration with the PN2 Leadership Team (LT), integrates evidence-based approaches into PN2 products and services.

Dr. Cawthon, who is hard of hearing, has a Master's degree in Psychology, and a Doctorate in Educational Psychology. She has conducted extensive research on educational outcomes of students who are deaf, and, for five years, directed the National Survey of Accommodations and Alternate Assessments for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing-a study that used mixed methods approaches to study large-scale assessment practices used to evaluate academic progress of students who are deaf or hard of hearing in diverse environments.

Dr. Cawthon's scholarly writings have been published in the American Education Research Journal, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Journal of School Psychology, American Annals of the Deaf, Remedial and Special Education, and Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice.

Gallaudet University Press recently published Dr. Cawthon's book, Accountability-Based Reforms: Impact on Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

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National Summit: Outcomes Measurement in Deaf Education

Saturday March 3, 2011
St. Louis Union Station
St. Louis, Missouri

The newly-funded PEPNet 2 national center will host a full-day working meeting on Saturday, March 3, 2012 prior to the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) conference in St. Louis, MO. This activity continues the work of the National Summit on Deaf Education that urges states to build capacity to keep pace as students progress through their educational programs.

The meeting aims to expand the National Agenda Goals in Deaf Education by developing outcomes statements, performance measures, and benchmarks for selected goals. The work accomplished at this kick-off session will continue through committee assignments using online collaboration tools. Participants will include key leaders and stakeholders-parents, state departments of education personnel, state (or other) representatives of schools and programs for the deaf, educators from local or regional educational programs, and staff from postsecondary education programs.

Additional information about this meeting is available at Outcomes Measurement in Deaf Education.

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Understanding What Works and Why

Submitted by Dr. Courtney L. Malloy, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Vital Research, LLC

To understand what works, to assess the quality of our products and activities, and to establish and maintain transparency, PEPNet 2 (PN2) collaborates with an external evaluator-Vital Research (VRE)-a consulting firm with experience and expertise in research and evaluation projects in education, social service, and health care settings.

What you see depends on your vantage point.

An external evaluator can often provide an organization with clear insights into its strengths and weaknesses, the quality of its products, and its operational efficiency. An evaluation by an unbiased "outsider" who is not an employee or otherwise involved in the organization offers "insiders" a new perspective that can be invaluable in maintaining and improving products, services and outcomes.

VRE supports PN2's activities by evaluating the ways PN2 delivers services, the quality of the resources created, and the impact of those services and resources on stakeholders.

Two critical questions guide VRE's work:

1. What happened?
2. Now what?

What happened?

VRE will collect information from individuals recruited from PN2's key stakeholder groups: students, parents, teachers, administrators, school counselors, disability services coordinators, and vocational rehabilitation specialists. PEPNet staff will supply information about the services they provide, PN2's available resources, and the products they create to meet stakeholder needs.

These data will gauge how extensively PN2 activities have been implemented, and document those achievements. The data will also measure stakeholder satisfaction regarding those activities, and the impact of those activities on student success in postsecondary education.

Now what?

PN2 strives to deliver the most effective services and resources. VRE supports that goal by regularly providing formative feedback to the PN2 leadership team and working with them to interpret key evaluation data. These findings will guide decision-making and encourage the creation of effective activities and positive outcomes throughout PN2's grant cycle.

As evaluators, VRE's primary objective is to help the PN2 team understand what works, and to help them build on those findings so that more students who are deaf or hard of hearing can be successful and achieve their personal goals.

For more information about the evaluation, please contact courtney@vitalresearch.com

Dr. Courtney L. Malloy is a senior researcher for Vital Research, the external evaluator for PEPNet 2. (PN2). Dr. Malloy's responsibilities in the PN2 external evaluation process include research and evaluation design, instrument development, data collection, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and reporting client data. Her forte is qualitative data collection and analysis strategies in mixed-methods research.

Dr. Malloy received her Ph.D. from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California (USC), where, as assistant professor of Clinical Education, she currently teaches courses in research methods and accountability. The educators and community leaders who take her courses learn valuable data and evaluation skills that benefit their organizations and schools.

Before joining Vital Research, she was a postdoctoral research scholar and assistant director of the Center on Educational Governance at USC, where she researched K-12 educational policy and reform.

Dr. Malloy's publications include articles on the relationship between school governance and effective classroom practice; the roles of teachers in charter schools; school networks; and educational partnerships as vehicles for school improvement.

In 2009-2010 Dr. Malloy was selected by the Phi Delta Kappa professional educators association to participate in the PDK Emerging Leader program. Her exemplary leadership through service, teaching, and research places her among the world's top educators.