Research Symposium Recap from the NCCEP Capacity Building Workshop

The Prove Team at NCCEP hosted the first Research Symposium during the 2023 Capacity Building Workshop which provided a space to highlight qualitative and quantitative evaluation studies specific to GEAR UP goals, objectives, services, and outcomes. Xcalibur participated in the Research Symposium and presented with GEAR UP Georgia during the session focused on quantitative studies.…

Leaving a Legacy for Grant Work

Grant work can be exceptionally rewarding because it presents an opportunity to make an impact on communities. In the world of GEAR UP, grants are making an impact on students and their families, by supporting students to graduate high school and prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.  Funding for state and partnership GEAR…

Xcalibur Evaluation Retreats

As part of Xcalibur’s participatory evaluation approach, Xcalibur staff conduct biannual evaluation retreats with our evaluation clients. The goal is to bring together grant team members to review their grant’s vision, reflect on their work, assess progress, and plan for future work. Retreats eliminate the everyday interruptions of the usual daily work setting and create…

Over the Mountains and Through the Snow: Hearing Experiences from Different Stakeholders.

The past few months have been exciting! Xcalibur staff have been traveling and engaging in discussions with high school students, college students, parents, educators, and GEAR UP staff about their GEAR UP experiences. In addition to collecting data for the Annual Performance Report (APR), many GEAR UP grants have accompanying evaluation questions for which quantitative…

A brain with a stethoscope attached.

Evaluate Your Thinking

Do you find yourself making decisions based on your gut instincts again and again? Do your initiatives seem to falter rather than gain traction? If so, then it may be time for a tune up of your evaluative thinking. Evaluative thinking is critical thinking applied to the context of evaluation. It is the heart of…