New Projects, New Staff (October 2011)

Evaluation Support for International and Foreign Language Education Programs

The Office of Postsecondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education has awarded BPA a contract, with ICF Macro as subcontractor, to provide evaluation support to The International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) programs funded through Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961. The discretionary grant programs conducted under these legislative authorities serve students, faculty, K-12 teachers, and other educators throughout the United States. The purpose of the grant programs is to strengthen the capability and performance of American education in foreign languages and in area and international studies, and to improve secondary and postsecondary teaching and research concerning other cultures and languages, as well as the training of specialists, and the American public's general understanding of the peoples of other countries. There is a strong emphasis on less commonly taught languages throughout the programs.

This project has two main objectives; 1) improve the effectiveness of IFLE's programs and 2) increase transparency and accountability. In accordance with these objectives, the focus of the BPA/ICF work for IFLE is on the development and refinement of performance measures, analysis of existing performance data, ensuring public availability of these data, review of the grant program evaluations, and providing recommendations for developing a comprehensive program evaluation strategy.

Impact Evaluation of the Pono Choices Teen Pregnancy and STI Prevention Program

BPA was selected to conduct an impact evaluation of the Pono Choices program funded by DHHS's Office of Adolescent Health (OAH). Pono Choices is a culturally responsive teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention program in Hawaii that seeks to provide young adolescents with the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and skills necessary to reduce their risk of STIs and pregnancy by incorporating medically accurate information, character education and Hawaiian cultural values. BPA will be implementing random assignment, collecting and analyzing pre-and post-intervention data in treatment and control classrooms, monitoring and providing feedback on implementation fidelity, and analyzing and reporting on evaluation results. Primary research questions address the program's impact on reduction of teenage pregnancy, delay of first time sexual experience, reduction of the transmission of STIs and increased use of contraception. Secondary research questions address students' bonding with schools, community organizations, and parents; positive sense of identity; self efficacy skills; and positive expectations for the future.

BPA Welcomes New Staff

BPA is pleased to begin working with three new staff members as of this summer. Maria Coh-Prospero took over as BPA's Human Resources Manager, bringing over a decade of experience to the company. Hui Kim, M.P.P, joined BPA as a Research Analyst. She comes to BPA after experience working with Acumen, LLC; Heal the Bay; and multiple government agencies. Hui earned both her B.A. and M.P.P. degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles. She brings to BPA expertise in a variety of policy areas and research methods. Tommy Huynh joined BPA as a Research Assistant after earning his B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He contributes skills in econometric analysis and health policy.