Using logic model and visualization to conduct portfolio evaluation

Portfolio evaluation is the evaluation of multiple projects with a common purpose. While logic models have been used in many ways to support evaluation, and data visualization has been used widely to present and communicate evaluation findings, adopting logic models for portfolio evaluation and using data visualization to share findings simultaneously is surprisingly limited in the literature. With the data from a sample portfolio of 209 projects which aims to improve the system of early care and education (ECE), this study illustrated how to use logic model and data visualization techniques to conduct a portfolio evaluation by answering two evaluation questions: “To what extent are the elements of a logic model (strategies, sub-strategies, activities, outcomes, and impacts) reflected in the sample portfolio?” and “Which dominant paths through the logic model were illuminated by the data visualization technique?” For the first question, the visualization technique illuminated several dominant strategies, sub-strategies, activities, and outcomes. For the second question, our visualization techniques made it convenient to identify critical paths through the logic model. Implications for both program evaluation and program planning were discussed.     

Urban community as resource: Evaluation of the mentors in Toledo schools program

We report findings from an evaluation of the Mentors in Toledo Schools program (MITS), which pairs adult community volunteers with elementary school students in need of reading support. Begun in 2012, MITS now operates in five elementary schools in Toledo Public Schools. A quasi-experimental study of 379 students (n = 128 mentored, n = 251 comparison) tested the effectiveness of MITS, using changes (fall to spring) in students’ scores on STAR Reading. Multilevel models demonstrate students who participated in MITS made statistically significant, and educationally meaningful, reading gains compared to students who did not participate. Further, an investigation of the importance of dosage revealed that number of mentoring sessions is related to students’ outcomes; students who participated in reading mentoring at least once per week showed the most educationally meaningful improvements. We also report qualitative feedback from adult program participants, including teachers, mentors, and site coordinators, to help contextualize the STAR Reading results. These findings speak to the opportunity for community volunteers to act as low-cost and effective supports for urban elementary school students who are at-risk for reading failure.     

Use of Redundant Industrial Buildings as Injections into the Cultural Sector in Norway

Prime aim is to examine the way the culture sector reuses industrial buildings to instigate cultural activities in the municipalities. The discussion of various actors’ motivation for engagement is based on results from a case study, supplemented with findings from a coarse-meshed telephone survey. At national level overarching political guidelines can be traced back to white papers concerning cultural policy, urban transformation and cultural heritage, and the municipalities’ cultural policies mirror these guidelines. What tends to decide if such initiatives are considered successful are local abilities to cross sectorial divisions and instigate cooperation between municipal planners, private entrepreneurs and NGOs.     

‘A city is not a company,a flat is not a commodity’: urban movements and defenders of tenants’ rights in Poland

This article describes urban and tenant movements that have been created in Poland in response to the commercialization of urban space and the complete commodification of the right to housing. On the one hand, spatial segregation in Polish cities was fully approved by the state; on the other hand, it became a source of income for new owners of acquired buildings, who often used criminal methods to intimidate tenants. Brutal evictions encountered social resistance from the emerging tenant movement, non-institutionalized left-wing communities and endangered tenants, who were often pensioners and members of the lower classes. The author mentions undertaken and possible methods of social self-defence such as eviction blockades and rent strikes. He also raises the question of whether urban movements can become part of a broader social movement for systemic change.     

Understanding Client Communities Spatially for Developing Effective Interventions: Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology for Program Planning in Health and Human Services Agencies

Social workers are better equipped to understand the need to incorporate geographical aspects pertaining to their clients’ lives as part of their practice, given the significant influence these factors have on client well-being. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is a useful tool for administrators and planners to make informed decisions regarding human service programs including examining program outcomes and impact as well as streamlining program implementation. This article synthesizes the literature to date on GIS in health and human services with examples of real world applications.     

论城市规划中的公众参与

随着城市规划从技术手段到公共政策的性质转变,实践中封闭的规划编制程序逐渐成为许多城市规划问题的源头。通过对公众参与功能和外国公众参与实践的分析,我国应增加公众参与的操作性规定,发挥社区组织和居民团体的作用,构建一个开放、透明、包容、公平的公众参与城市规划程序。     

构建武陵山区交通枢纽提升武陵地区经济竞争力

在分析武陵山区交通状况的基础上,结合恩施州现有交通情况,立足构建铁路、公路、航空及水运的综合交通运输体系,提出了把恩施建成武陵山区交通枢纽目标、任务及措施,提升恩施区域经济竞争力。     

论高校学生政治辅导员队伍的统筹发展

高校学生政治辅导员队伍是培养社会主义事业建设者和接班人的一支重要力量,但当前这支队伍的发展现状还不能令人满意,存在诸多问题,因此文章提出必须按照统筹发展的方略,在发展理念、发展目标、发展模式等方面更新思路、创新对策,以实现高校学生政治辅导员队伍的长远发展.     

论信息系统——ERP项目监理

信息系统工程监理在我国目前还是一个新生事物,无论是在理论研究上,还是在社会实践中,都还处于一个探索和起步阶段.要真正发挥ERP工程监理的作用,解决ERP成功率不高的问题,必须按照ERP工程的特点,建立相应的监理机制和实施模式.文章力图从ERP项目的特点和存在的问题出发,探讨ERP项目监理的有关问题.