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Domestic
Programs1
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Domestic Programs is home to several separate programs and activities, many of which are described in detail elsewhere in this report. Some of these programs link the college with the community. The other activities and projects aim to inform the debate on public policy in the metropolitan Atlanta area, the state of Georgia, and the nation through research and education. The issues that are addressed include those associated with the structure of urban area, government tax and expenditure policy, education, program evaluation, social policies, and economic development. Some of the specific topics include the evaluation of pre-K programs, analysis of the transition from welfare to work, studies of teacher retention, a multi-year study of public housing transformation, and studies of the labor market opportunities of low-skilled workers. Domestic Programs also houses the Georgia Poll, a quarterly public opinion poll of Georgia residents, and Atlanta Census 2000 — a portal that allows easy mapping of census data. Funding comes from a variety of governmental, foundation, and business sources. David L. Sjoquist is the Director of Domestic Programs.
Domestic Programs has extensive experience in measuring performance of programs in areas as diverse as education, transportation, and information systems. The evaluation and policy analysis projects have included many studies of educational programs. The office’s work in analyzing the effects of Georgia’s innovative HOPE Scholarship and in evaluating the nation’s first universal pre-kindergarten program has brought national attention. Evaluations conducted by the office’s staff range from large-scale statewide and national programs to school based innovations.
In This Page:
• Activities
• Projects
• Reports
The Fiscal Research Center provides nonpartisan research, technical assistance and education in the evaluation and design of state and local fiscal and economic policy, including both tax and expenditure issues. (See the Fiscal Research Center section of this report.)
The Neighborhood Collaborative project, an extension of the Atlanta Project started by the Carter Center, provides the University with a means of enhancing research, teaching and service through more effective partnerships with its urban environment and neighborhoods. (See the Neighborhood Collaborative section of this report.)
The Office of Community Outreach and Partnerships (OCOP) serves as vehicle for linking the University's resources, students and faculty to the community through coordinated outreach activities. As part of the university reorganization, OCOP continues its work under the direction of the GSU Office of the Provost. (See the Office of Community Outreach and Partnerships section of this report.)
The Nonprofit Group is devoted to informing the discussion of policy issues confronting nonprofit organizations in the Southeast. (See the Nonprofit Studies Program section of this report.)
Research Atlanta is a private not-for-profit public policy research organization that studies public policy issues affecting the metropolitan Atlanta region. (See the Research Atlanta section of this report.)
AtlantaCensus 2000 is a collaborative effort between the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Fiscal Research Center to support a Web site that provides access to the 1990 and 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing, allows the creation of maps, and contains reports focused on the Atlanta region.
Atlanta Outreach Consortium is an inter-university collective working to bridge community outreach and service-learning programs at Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University. Domestic Programs houses the Director of the AOC.
The Educational Policy Group provides research and recommendation on issues related to education policy in Georgia.
The Georgia Administrative Data Project involves the development of a database built on the unemployment insurance records from the Georgia Department of Labor and welfare records for the Georgia Department of Human Resources.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), a national repository of data housed at the University of Michigan, maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use. Domestic Programs served as the Georgia State University representative to ICPSR. In 2003 this responsibility was transferred to the Pullen Library.
Regional Leadership Forum (RLF) is a Metro Atlanta citizens organization dedicated to creating discussions by citizens and leaders about the future of the Atlanta region. Although independent, RLF is housed at the Andrew Young School, which partners with RLF.
Survey Research and the Georgia Poll provides data collection and expertise in data management, study design, and project management. The Survey Research Lab has worked on projects varying widely in size, scope, methodology, and complexity, ranging from collecting the opinions of students within Georgia State University to conducting national public opinion surveys.
The Urban-Regional Policy Group provides research and recommendation on issues related to urban and regional policy in Georgia.
Title II Teacher Quality. Darleen Opfer. The evaluation team worked with various stakeholders to develop measures for each of the program objectives, then gathered data on these measures and presented a plan for obtaining data on the measures that were not currently being collected. Georgia Board of Regents. ($28,160)
Georgia Teacher Quality. Darleen Opfer. Funded by the Board of Regents, this project facilitates increases in student achievement by locating a qualified teacher in every Georgia public classroom by 2006. ($88,463)
The Marriage Solution. Dana Rickman. As part of the Young Scholars Research Program, this project is an analysis of the influence of marriage policies on former welfare recipients in seven states. ($20,991)
Communities in Schools of Atlanta Evaluation Consulting (CISA). Mark Rivera and Craig Gordon. Semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and a document review are being conducted to develop recommendations for improvements to the CISA evaluation plan and reporting practices. The CISA program aims to help reduce absenteeism in schools and to provide caseload assistance to children and families with need. ($4,315)
Ride Quality Thresholds from the Motorist’s Perspective. Theodore Poister. This research is designed to learn more about Pennsylvania motorists' satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the highways they drive on and the basis upon which they rate these highways. Using a detailed telephone survey of motorists in eight counties, this research will provide the Department of Transportation with a better understanding of its customers' concerns regarding highway maintenance issues. Based on this information, the project will also pilot a revised mail-out survey instrument for soliciting customer feedback annually on a statewide basis. Pennsylvania State. ($190,580)
Office of School Readiness: Registry Project. Gary T. Henry and Judith Ottoson. The project offers accurate data on children's Pre-K experiences and provides a base for future research and evaluation. The project conducted for the Office of School Readiness consists of three major data components: class rosters, lead teacher credentials, and resource coordinator reports. The project is in its fourth and final year. ($776,252)
Georgia State Poll 2003: 4 Random Digit Dial Telephone Surveys. Charlotte Steeh. Four times a year the SRL conducts this survey of 800 Georgia residents on topics of current interest. Various groups and organizations that purchase question time fund the Poll. Participating organizations in 2003 included the Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia Department of Transportation, Community Foundation, and the Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs. ($40,416)
Performance Outcome Measures Project: Georgia Division of Aging. Charlotte Steeh. For the third year, the Georgia Division of Aging Services participated in a national evaluation coordinated by Westat to learn how in-home services have helped those who receive them and how satisfied clients are with their care. Approximately 366 telephone interviews were conducted with a sample of clients who received Personal Support Services during the previous six months and with an independent sample of 353 caregivers. ($49,480)
North Carolina Teacher and Principal Surveys. Mail Surveys. Charlotte Steeh and Dana Rickman. For a third year, North Carolina teachers and principals provided information on a variety of topics including teachers' professional development, principals' leadership, interactions with parents, and performance of schools within the state. Results are presented in a report by the Governor that gauges the progress of North Carolina in becoming one of the top ten states in education performance in the nation. North Carolina's Education Research Council. ($44,606, $126,625)
Blood Donation Decision 2. Charlotte Steeh. This national telephone survey of 500 people who had not donated blood in the last few years was a follow-up to the pioneering effort of 2001 that was sponsored by the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University and funded by the National Blood Foundation. In addition to asking why respondents had not donated blood in the past, the questionnaire examined decisions about blood donation that were made after the attacks of September 11, 2001. For comparison, some limited data were also collected from people who had recently donated blood. ($24,514)
A Comparison of RDD and Cell Phone Surveys. Charlotte Steeh. Since very little research has examined the impact on surveys of the exploding growth of wireless communication devices, this study assesses the extent to which these devices are likely to change telephone surveys. Results from two national surveys, one using the usual list-assisted RDD sample and the other employing a sample of mobile telephone numbers, are being compared. The analyses look for significant differences between surveys along four dimensions—coverage, nonresponse, data quality, and relationships among variables. Methodological factors, such as the number of attempts, the percentage of sample numbers whose status as working or nonworking is indeterminate, and the effects of caller-id, are also explored. The basic hypothesis underlying all analyses is that there are major differences between the two modes along each dimension. ($176,296)
Child Care Worker. Gary Henry. This study assists the Urban Institute in the examination of the state of childcare worker compensation in Georgia. ($24,994)
Evaluation of Metro Atlanta Partnership for Visual Arts and Learning (MAP) teacher professional development program. Gary T. Henry with Mark Rivera. A central goal of the Metro Atlanta Partnership for Visual Arts and Learning (MAP) is to equip educators in two metro Atlanta school systems to use the High Museum of Art's innovative reinstallation of its permanent collection as a tool for improving student literacy. Key objectives include a) providing substantive content; b) implementing a field-tested model to develop teacher mastery of new content and approaches; and c) using a classroom-based pedagogical focus to ensure the effective translation of new material. As the external evaluator, staff conduct surveys, focus groups, interviews, and observations to identify strategies for program improvement, assess the impact of MAP on teacher and student success, and determine if there is a "scale-up" impact on nonparticipating teachers and students at these same schools. This led to a request by the High Museum of Art to develop an evaluation plan for the newly endowed Goizueta Foundation Teacher Institute for Visual Arts and Learning which will draw on MAP evaluation research findings and include an ongoing evaluation research component. Metro Atlanta Partnership for Visual Arts and Learning. ($78,503)
Studies of Pre-K Programs in Georgia. Gary T. Henry. There are two current longitudinal studies evaluating early childhood programs across the state of Georgia. The first longitudinal study is a five-year evaluation of Georgia's Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) Program. This study followed a probability sample of over 3,000 four-year-olds from 203 Pre-K classes selected from across the state. Student outcomes, including teacher assessments of academic and behavioral skills and promotion, have been collected and analyzed annually. Current efforts are focused on analyzing data and report writing from the fifth year data collection. Previous years' reports are among the most downloaded documents from the Web site.
The second longitudinal study, also known as the Georgia Early Childhood Study, began in July 2001. This study samples approximately 650 children participating in a variety of preschool settings, including Pre-K, Head Start, and other preschool facilities serving four-year-olds. This study will help determine the impact of the various types of preschool experiences on children's future school success, as well as investigate the reasons behind parents' choices for child care arrangements. Children will be followed into the first grade. Each year, data collection efforts will include: individualized standardized assessments with sampled children in key developmental areas, teachers' and parents' assessments of children's skills and behaviors, classroom observations rating the quality of the classroom environments, surveys with teachers and program directors regarding early childhood education, and surveys with parents about preschool arrangements and family demographics. Laura Henderson and Bentley Ponder co-manage the Georgia Early Childhood Study.
The Office of School Readiness funds both of these projects, with the current year's funding set at $385,111. Total funding for the two projects is $2,051,892.
Preparing Teachers for Technology (PT3). Gary T. Henry. This project addresses the need for preparing new teachers for the best use of technology in the classroom and increasing their use of technology within the existing curriculum. In addition to increasing opportunities for mentorship and collaboration, the program strives to set student standards for technology proficiency and collaboration at all levels of education. As the PT3 Evaluator, staff will assess implementation and impact on participating pre-service teachers and in-service teachers to determine the extent of preparation provided to PT3 teachers to use technology in the classroom, and their teaching efficacy beliefs regarding the use of technology in the classroom. Mark Rivera served as the evaluation project director. College of Education/U.S. Department of Education. ($89,965)
State Educational Policy. Gary T. Henry. This project engages knowledgeable policy scholars with faculty throughout the South at two conferences focused on innovations in state-level educational policy. This project is in response to the Spencer Foundation's Southern Initiative and proposes to begin a long-term research program on the influences on and impacts of state educational policymaking. ($50,000)
Comparative Study of the Effects of High Stakes Accountability on Teacher Professional Development. Gary T. Henry. Spencer Foundation. ($210,000)
Understanding the Impact of Preschool Policy. Gary T. Henry. This project studies the impact of alternative types of preschool and other childcare and expands the work of the Early Childhood Study (ECS), which began in 2001. This project is funded by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. ($199,845)
Preschool Policy Research. Gary T. Henry. This project addresses issues in early childhood policy and the provisions of preschool and childcare. Research includes data collected from the Georgia Pre-K Longitudinal Study, which began in 1996-97. The longitudinal study includes over 3,000 participants during the first four years of formal education. This project is funded by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. ($36,482)
Final Report: Evaluation of the Metro Atlanta Partnership for Visual Arts and Learning. Gary Henry and Mark Rivera. March 2003.
Mid-Year Report: ACET Collaborative Team (ACT), The Child Policy Initiative. Laura Henderson, Dana Rickman, Craig Gordon, Monica Herk, and Jennifer Antinozzi. July 2003.
Final Report: ACET Collaborative Team (ACT), The Child Policy Initiative. Laura Henderson, Dana Rickman, Craig Gordon, Monica Herk, Elizabeth Stone, and Karen DeVivo. November 2003.
Final Report: Evaluation of Georgia State University’s Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology Grant. Gary Henry, Judith Ottoson, and Mark Rivera. June 2003.
Report of the Findings From the Early Childhood Study 2001-2002. Gary Henry, Laura Henderson, Bentley Ponder, Craig Gordon, Andrew Mashburn, and Dana Rickman. 2003.
1. For a complete listing of AYSPS Active Research Sponsored Grants from CY2003, see the Appendix: Report on External Funding.
