Projects by Service
Research and Evaluation
Health Policy and Planning Unit Assessment: The San Mateo County Health Department turned to Gibson & Associates to conduct an assessment of the Health Policy & Planning (HPP) Unit. Formed in 2004, the HPP Unit is responsible for policy development and community planning around health challenges that impact San Mateo County. The purpose of the assessment was to examine the extent to which Unit goals have been met and barriers to achieving those goals. Gibson & Associates developed an assessment plan, timeline and protocol, created a database to house all qualitative data and scheduled and conducted over 40 qualitative interviews with Health Department and community leadership. Data was analyzed and coded by theme and summarized in two reports: one used by Senior Health Department leadership to inform the development of the Unit and one distributed to participants. The assessment has been used to inform organizational planning by Health Department leadership.
Best Practices in Municipal Funding We were selected by the City of Berkeley to conduct an extensive review of best practices in municipal funding of nonprofits. Our research included processes for distribution of resources from a city-funded sugar tax, methods used in Community Development Block Grant; and interviews with four Bay Area governments involved with fund allocation and distribution. The resulting document, a list of best practices, and recommendations for the city was widely distributed, and has been used as the basis for continued changes in policy for city agencies.
Linguistic Access Study to Health Care: In an effort to reduce health disparities in San Mateo County, the Health Department turned to us to conduct a countywide study of the level and quality of linguistic access to health care through the public and private system of care. Research activities included a demographic review, a policy review, a program manager survey, a staff survey, interviews with community leaders, site observations and client focus groups conducted in four languages. Over 50 health care programs and organizations, as well as the major limited English proficient groups in San Mateo County participated in the study. G&A worked with numerous community-based organizations and community leaders to create forums for community members to provide authentic input on the level of linguistic access in the County. The final report synthesized quantitative and qualitative data and outlined findings and recommendations to improve linguistic access.
National Science Foundation and STEM Evaluations: G&A conducted an extensive study of Oakland Unified School District's Algebra program, as the basis of the 4th year of evaluation of their National Science Foundation Grant. Based on the quality of this evaluation, G&A was asked to perform an extensive evaluation of the districts implementation of Standards-in-Practice Professional Development at all their secondary schools. We conducted over a hundred hours of classroom observation, dozens of focus groups, surveys of all ninth grade students, and studies of best practices. G&A conducted program evaluations of eight Math and Science Partnership grants. Our work for San Francisco's Working Together to Improve Science Education (WISE) partnership grant was identified by the United States Department of Education for outstanding results. Data for the Partners as Resource to Improve Math Education (PRIME) was also identified as one of a small number of research projects that met the criteria for significant results. Based on the quality of our data and methods, we were asked to present at the California Department of Education on research methods.
College and Career Readiness: G&A conducted evaluations of SFUSD and Modesto high schools implementation of the federal grants designed to improve school communities and student preparation for college and career. Evaluations include analyses of student achievement, placement and data, teacher professional development surveys, and analyses of student graduation and post-secondary enrollment. G&A also conducted focus groups of students and teachers, surveyed parents, and review of college preparatory activities.
Early Literacy Programs: G&A has conducted extensive research into successful pre-school and early literacy K-3 programs. These included a three-year study of the implementation of the Early Reading First coaching model on early childhood literacy and teacher practices. G&A's evaluation included observations of classrooms, review of student achievement data on Peabody literacy assessments, and interviews with teachers and professional development providers.
