Case Study

Center for Israel Education, Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia

Program Assessment, 2019

The Center for Israel Education (CIE) required a program evaluation for its grant funders. The process for the Program Assessment at CIE involved collecting, evaluating and interpreting the evidence on learning outcomes from interviews and surveys, aligning the learning evidence in each initiative with the outcomes, and analyzing the results for a full program assessment. The intent was to help improve the program and to improve student learning outcomes.

DP focused on the ways in which Israel is taught and learned in three new programs with different populations including teen summer programs, camp staff seminars and educator week-long seminars, as well as in an established program that has been implemented in day schools over a five-year period.

Within the stakeholder interviews, undertaken of participants in all of the programs, the protocol identified the methods and means used in the different sessions and captured information on how the various groups gained insights, knowledge and context about Israel’s history, politics and culture. DP provided a detailed report on the interview themes and designed and administered a short survey which focused on specific, demonstrable, measurable and student-centered outcomes.

Working with Demographic Perspectives was a great experience.  They were detail oriented, organized, and responsive to questions.  The project felt more like a partnership than a client/vendor relationship.  The evaluation that Demographic Perspectives completed has been incredibly valuable.  Beyond reinforcing some of our assumptions, we learned a great deal about our constituents and have already made substantial changes to our programmatic approach.

Rich Walter, Associate Director

Actionable Outcomes:

• CIE was able to report to funders that participants had a high degree of satisfaction with CIE programming, appreciated their dedicated, knowledgeable staff, and would strongly recommend CIE programming and workshops to colleagues and to their schools.
• CIE used study results and constructive suggestions internally to improve each of the programs including developing pre-work so that all participants have same knowledge base and, constructing a rubric with evaluation criteria, goals, milestones, regular check-ins and a timetable to implement programming.
  • Based on these findings, CIE developed a phone app for the Educator’s Workshop which included pre-readings, all workshop readings, list of registrants with photos and places of work, lists of restaurants and shops in the area, an immediate session evaluation rating, and a chat function. Registrants thereby had an opportunity to become a community by talking in advance and afterwards. Registrants gave the app high marks.
  • The speaker list was broadened in response to requests from Educators for more diverse presenters.
  • CIE added a pre-workshop to the Teen Seminar and implemented other suggestions gleaned from the teen interviews.
• The findings established that participants felt robust assurance of implementation of CIE programming within curriculums.
• The study confirmed that participants considered networking at the workshops to be beneficial in both the short- and long-term.