Day: April 29, 2021

Evergreen was engaged with Stafford County Public School to conduct an efficiency review of the school division. To accomplish this, Evergreen’s consultants reviewed: administrative and operational support systems to assure maximization of financial resources; long-term fiscal planning, budgeting, and related areas; long-term planning and facility needs to accommodate student population and programs; availability, organization, and delivery of instructional services and support systems for students, including scope of program and course offerings; technology planning, systems, and utilization present and projected as needed for instructional and administrative support; human resource components, such as recruitment, training, professional development, salary and benefits, and systemic leadership and collegial participatory opportunities; operational areas such as food services, transportation, and facilities management; and organization for central administrative services; school organization issues, including grade configuration; and utilization effectiveness.

In the end, Evergreen provided recommendations on ways to improve the utilization of resources and, therefore, improve efficiency of the school division.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by Florida Virtual School (FLVS) to conduct a Comprehensive Compensation Study that included a detailed market analysis and internal equity review to improve the fairness in the current compensation and classification system of FLVS. Evergreen’s consultants evaluated current pay grades for each classification to ensure they aligned with the appropriate market data obtained from local public school districts and private employers, and provided recommendations as to whether the pay grades were appropriate for the classifications, both internally and externally. Evergreen’s recommendations took into consideration the current professional compensation strategies, compensation philosophy, pay practices and research, as well as applicable laws, statutes and regulations governing FLVS. Evergreen developed alternative recommendations demonstrating the methodology the FLVS should use to implement the compensation recommendations and the advantages, disadvantages, and costs of each alternative.

Evergreen was selected by the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) to conduct the 2014 Data Access Research Taskforce (DART) Survey. Evergreen understands that the overarching goal of the survey was to inform decisions within OPI’s IT Division to better meet the needs of schools and districts related to data collection systems. The purpose of this project was to: 1) review, revise, and finalize the DART Survey instrument used in Fall 2012 using input from various OPI staff; 2) administer the revised DART Survey in Fall 2014 to all schools and districts served by the Montana OPI using Evergreen’s survey instrument; 3) analyze and report survey results once the survey is complete to establish a baseline for further improvement and measurement; and 4) present results back to OPI in a way that can also be distilled for schools and districts.

Evergreen Solutions was engaged with the Caddo Parish School Board (CPSB) to develop a Districtwide Strategic Plan. Evergreen worked with CPSB to develop five-year plan that was innovative and addressed the various components that contributed to the success of the district’s students, including, but not limited to, Instructional Leadership, Personnel Development and Effectiveness, Secure Learning Environment, Fiscal Management, Facilities Management and Capacity Utilization, Curriculum and Technology integration, Parental & Community Involvement, and Branding of CPSB.

Evergreen was engaged with Akron Public Schools (APS) to conduct a Human Resources Department Review/Audit and an Administrative Salary Study. Evergreen’s consultants conducted the following tasks: reviewed Human Resources Department staff and processes to determine appropriate staffing levels and provide recommendations and strategies for the development of new and/or revised processes, programs and practices; recommended elimination and/or outsourcing of processes, programs or practices as deemed appropriate; and reviewed Principal and Central Office Administrator Salary Schedules and provided recommendations as to whether revisions needed to be made to the salary schedule and/or whether another type of salary system should be developed, i.e., merit pay system.

Evergreen Solutions is a subcontractor to the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to conduct a five-year evaluation of the Common Core Technology Project for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The purpose of this evaluation is to describe the organizational structure and lines of communication and decision making among participating committees and departments, and how that structure supports planning, implementation, and continuous improvement. Evergreen’s primary responsibility will be to conduct focus groups and interviews district administrators and central office staff responsible for leading and/or supporting CCTP implementation and representatives of major vendors and stakeholder groups. Evergreen will also interview members of CCTP planning committees who are not district-level staff.

During each stage of the initiative, Evergreen will collect key documents describing the organizational structure of district leadership. This will include organizational charts, memos, notes from public and private meetings of key committees, and external communications that are provided to schools and to the broader public, particularly those documents that outline the goals of the initiative and the expectations for piloting and implementation. In the later stages of the evaluation, evergreen will work with the evaluation team will determine whether the documents have been revised or updated. AIR and Evergreen will collaborate on identifying what to collect and on developing a coding framework. Evergreen will collect, review and code the documents, then summarize findings and integrate with findings from interviews.

Evergreen will work with AIR each year to develop Interim and Formative Evaluation Reports as well as the Annual Report at the conclusion of year of the evaluation which will involve a review of previous findings to depict how the project has changed over the course of the various stages of the evaluation.

Evergreen Solutions was hired by Broward County Schools to conduct an External Independent Review of Services for its Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Department to determine program effectiveness in supporting positive outcomes for students receiving special education.

Specifically, Evergreen reviewed the efficiency and effectiveness of the: district and school staffing alignment, roles and responsibilities; district support to schools; support services for students with disabilities; special education related services (i.e. speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy and transportation); district and school-based communication to all stakeholders (families, schools, community and district); district and school-based professional development for administration, teachers and support staff; district and school-based parent training, parent engagement activities and development of parent partnerships; district and school-based community engagement activities and development of community partnerships; Child Find Process/timeliness, screening and evaluation process for children birth to five; referral, evaluation and staffing process for ESE eligibility which included intervention activities and the RTI process; Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process for students PreK-12 which included the use of EASYIEP™, training on quality IEPs, compliance requirements and the development of IEPs; transition/matriculation activities from PreK to Elementary, Elementary to Middle, Middle to High and High to Post Secondary; instructional technology needs included technology integration and training; inclusionary practices which included District and school-based implementation and professional development activities; student goals to ensure a relationship to the present level of performance; and student transition goals and services to ensure a relationship to post school outcomes.

Upon completion of the audit, Evergreen submitted findings to the Superintendent of Schools.

Evergreen Solutions was hired by Horry County Schools to provide consulting services for Facility Department processes in the areas of capital improvement, custodial, and maintenance.

In the area of capital improvement, Evergreen consultant’s assisted in developing standard processes and procedures for the construction, installation, and/or assembly of capital projects including, new assets, or the alteration, expansion, or extension of an existing asset to accommodate a change of function or unmet programmatic needs. Evergreen worked with Horry County Schools to establish an annual schedule for the review of sustainment projects so that the Board and community would know what was planned.

In the area of custodial, Evergreen’s consultants developed an improved management system for work activities performed on a recurring basis throughout the year for the purpose of meeting routine, daily operational needs. Work activities included the daily work of cleaning and recurring maintenance performed by custodians, grounds workers, and general maintenance crews.

In the area of maintenance, Evergreen’s consultant’s developed an improved management system for work activities performed on either an unscheduled or a scheduled basis to resolve current maintenance deficiencies. These work activities included corrective, preventive and predictive maintenance for buildings, structures, as well as installed building equipment (113E) in accordance with manufacturer and industry standards.

In the end, Evergreen trained all staff on new standards, guidebook and processes with fully functional District leadership and provided assistance in developing future staff development and training opportunities.

Evergreen was selected by the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) to evaluate the state’s K-20 Data Project. The K-20 Data Project connected existing OPI databases to databases owned and operated by the Montana University System (MUS). OPI designed data reports and dashboards to assist stakeholders in assessing college readiness of Montana K-12 students. Specifically, the K-20 database enabled stakeholders to retrospectively assess the success of college students in the MUS and correlated that success (or failure) to that student’s K-12 experience. This effort represented an step for both the OPI and MUS, as little if any data was available linking K-12 and post-secondary outcomes.

Evergreen’s role as the program evaluator was to collect initial input from stakeholders on K-20 dashboards and reports and track implementation of the K-20 data project; assess the effectiveness of training modules and training tools for the entire K-20 Data Project (which included not only the reports and dashboards, but data transport and an electronic transcript); assess the ease of use of the system for end-users; develop a tool to measure whether end-users found the data useful; provide additional data in the system; utilize and apply the data and reports effectively in regards to their information needs and goals; and provide ongoing and annual reports to the OPI on progress and feedback on the K-20 data project.

Evergreen Solutions was hired by Pinellas County Schools to conduct an evaluation of Pinellas County Schools’ Teacher Incentive Fund – Cohort 3 (TIF3) Grant Program for Years 3 through 5. Evergreen evaluated the implementation and success of the TIF3 program from the perspective of four middle schools within the district. Evergreen conducted a variety of data collection activities including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and walk-throughs, as appropriate, to evaluate and report on Year 3, 4, and 5 performance.

Evergreen’s evaluation of TIF3 objectives and underlying performance measures relied on baseline data collected by the district in Year 1 and 2, as well as new data collected as a result of Evergreen’s evaluation activities. On-site data collection activities were conducted throughout the duration of the project performance period, and the first onsite kick-off meeting with district TI3F leaders was conducted in June 2013. Year 3 evaluation results formed a comprehensive baseline for evaluation of future TIF3 performance periods.

The evaluation resulted in both findings as they related to TIF3 objectives and underlying performance measures set forth by the district as well as findings and recommendations related to program administration and implementation.