Shari Golan | SRI International (original) (raw)

Papers by Shari Golan

The R AND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking thr... more The R AND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND-make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/ contribute.html R ® is a registered trademark.

The goals of The McKnight Foundation's Education and Learning (E&L) Program are "to incr... more The goals of The McKnight Foundation's Education and Learning (E&L) Program are "to increase the percentage of students reading at grade level by the end of third grade and to increase access to high quality learning beyond the classroom so that all Minnesota's youth thrive." For this work, McKnight formed strategic partnerships with seven grantee schools in the Twin Cities: * Andersen United Community School, Minneapolis Public Schools * Jefferson Community School , Minneapolis Public Schools * Saint Paul Music Academy, Saint Paul Public Schools * Wellstone Elementary School, Saint Paul Public Schools * Earle Brown Elementary School, Brooklyn Center Community Schools * Academia Cesar Chavez, independent charter school * Community of Peace Academy, independent charter school Each school is focused on dramatically improving results for readers across the PreK-3 continuum. The schools first received a one-year planning grant before submitting a three-year proposal to...

In 2011, The McKnight Foundation partnered with a set of districts and schools in the Twin Cities... more In 2011, The McKnight Foundation partnered with a set of districts and schools in the Twin Cities area, all serving high-needs students, on a PreK–3 literacy initiative. The Pathway Schools Initiative aims to dramatically increase the number of students who reach the critical milestone of third-grade reading proficiency, an indicator predictive of later academic outcomes and high school graduation. This report focuses on findings from Phase I of the Pathway Schools Initiative (2011–2015).The McKnight Foundation selected the Urban Education Institute (UEI) at the University of Chicago to serve as the initiative's intermediary. UEI was tasked with providing the intellectual, conceptual, and managerial leadership for the initiative as well as professional development and technical assistance focused on literacy and leadership to the Pathway districts and schools. UEI anchored this support on two, validated diagnostic tools developed at the University of Chicago: the Strategic Teach...

Rand health quarterly, Jul 15, 2015

This article reports on an evaluation of student mental health collaboration activities among Cal... more This article reports on an evaluation of student mental health collaboration activities among California higher education systems, community agencies, and county mental health.

Rand health quarterly, Jun 1, 2014

This article evaluates the development, quality, and effectiveness of collaboration activities am... more This article evaluates the development, quality, and effectiveness of collaboration activities among California K-12 Student Mental Health program partners.

Rand health quarterly, Feb 28, 2013

The authors review data on the prevalence of youth mental health disorders and schools' use o... more The authors review data on the prevalence of youth mental health disorders and schools' use of student mental health (SMH) programs. They also describe the role of schools in addressing SMH concerns and outline a conceptual model for guiding evaluation of SMH programs. Finally, they touch on issues related to evaluation of cross-system collaborations that can influence students' access to resources and services and then review some of the challenges associated with evaluating SMH programs. They determine that SMH programs can be effective and can improve staff, faculty, and student knowledge of mental health problems; provide skills for identifying and referring students with mental health and social and emotional difficulties; and change attitudes toward mental health problems.

three major constructs: (1) the governance, function, and goals of collaborative activities as pe... more three major constructs: (1) the governance, function, and goals of collaborative activities as perceived by the respondents; (2) the extent to which respondents believe that collaboration activities were associated with improvements in the delivery of SMH PEI services and supports; and (3) the respondents' perceptions of ongoing challenges and facilitators to collaboration, their personal level of participation in the group, and their perceptions of the group's achievement of goals. Each potential respondent was asked to give consent (electronically) for his or her participation in the survey. No incentives were off ered for participation, and individuals could refuse to participate and/or refuse to answer any question in the survey. Survey items asked participants to identify themselves by gender and age categories and to provide brief demographic information (e.g., location of workplace by county). Th ere were no unique links between participants' responses and identifying information, however, so responses were not attributable to specifi c individuals. Findings from Collaboration Surveys Participants. Th e SRI research team consulted with the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) program coordinators and partners at the college and university campuses and chancellors' and presidents' offi ces to identify individuals who participated in collaborative activities and represented various programmatic and administrative roles across all locations. Th ese individuals who were invited to participate in the surveys, due to their personal and professional involvement in SMH partnerships, were in positions to judge the benefi ts, challenges, and achievements of collaboration. Here, we summarize program features, describe survey respondents, and report fi ndings from 43 surveys completed in spring 2014 across the higher education program partners. • California Community Colleges (CCC). Th e CCC Student Mental Health Program (SMHP) off ered centralized training and technical assistance at no cost to all of its 112 campuses to support SMH PEI services and supports. In addition, CCC SMHP selected 23 campus-based grantees (CBGs), rep

Standardized testing has assumed a prominent role in recent efforts to improve the quality of edu... more Standardized testing has assumed a prominent role in recent efforts to improve the quality of education. National, state, and district tests, combined with minimum competency, special program, and special diploma evaluations, have resulted in a greatly expanded set of testing requirements for most schools. At a cost of millions, even billions, of dollars and at the expense of valuable student, teacher, and administrator time, testing advocates and many policymakers still view testing as a significant, positive, and cost-effective tool in educational improvement. Testing advocates' support for testing as such a tool is based on a simple set of arguments. First, testing sets meaningful standards to which school districts, schools, teachers, and students can aspire. Second, test data can be used as feedback to shape classroom instruction. Third, 3 testing makes school systems, schools, and teachers more accountable for student learning. Finally, testing, coupled with incentives and...

Rand health quarterly, Jan 15, 2015

This study examines the involvement of 462 teachers in school-linked service efforts (such as pro... more This study examines the involvement of 462 teachers in school-linked service efforts (such as provision of medical care, parenting education, and counseling at the school site) in 77 schools throughout California. The survey found that the teachers participated in an average of 2.7 types of training activities concerning school-linked services. Teachers most frequently participated in information sessions about the services or in training on ways to identify students for referral to school-linked services. Fifty-nine percent of the teachers reported feeling very or somewhat well-informed about school-linked services. Forty-seven percent felt very or somewhat involved in activities related to school-linked services. Teachers reported increases in involvement in meetings concerning students' noneducational needs, frequency of communication with service agency staff and students' family members, and frequency of referring students to noneducational services. Teachers perceived that services available to students had improved a little. They felt slightly more positive about their abilities to help students. Teachers who participated in more training activities were more likely to report feeling more informed about and involved in school-linked services than those who participated in fewer training sessions. Implications for incorporating teacher involvement into design of school-linked service programs are noted. (JDD) *

Browse Reports & Bookstore Make a charitable contribution Limited Electronic Distribution Rights ... more Browse Reports & Bookstore Make a charitable contribution Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions.

Rand health quarterly, Jul 15, 2015

Rand health quarterly, Jun 1, 2014

Rand health quarterly, Feb 28, 2013

Rand health quarterly, Jan 15, 2015