Research and Evaluation

EDC HHD Asia was selected by Hewlett Packard as a Center of Excellence in Asia Pacific for Micro-Enterprise Development Programs in April 2008. As a Center of Excellence, EDC will be managing and supporting 58 Microenterprise Development Centers (MEDCs) in countries such as China, India, New Zealand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam, amongst many others. EDC will manage the Web portal posting information on new developments in regional economies, providing access to training curriculum and forums for MEDCs to share their best practices to support the growth of Micro Enterprises.

EDC is conducting a two-year pilot study to address critical methodological challenges inherent in doing longitudinal research linking informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences and school achievement: first, addressing selection bias through careful selection of a comparison group that is comparable to the intervention group, and second, developing a qualitative design that both complements and extends the quantitative data collected.

CSE is directing the evaluation of the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Wolbachia Project. This five-year effort engages high school teachers and students in authentic research on bacterial symbionts, thereby providing an opportunity to learn important concepts and techniques in modern microbiology. Project components include (1) an annual teacher workshop, (2) discovery-based lab implementation during the school year in classrooms of teachers who participated in the workshop, and (3) student and teacher summer “envisionships” in a Wolbachia scientist’s laboratory.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers University are conducting a study of the impact of pre-K expansion on child care for low-income families. The expansion of state-funded universal pre-K raises questions about the impact of such trends on the quality and supply of child care for low-income families. For our three-year investigation we will conduct a longitudinal investigation using a natural experiment to identify changes in child care access and quality for low-income, working families in New York and Ohio.

Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, and existing behavioral interventions do not meet their prevention needs. EDC is developing and evaluating the No Excuses/Sin Buscar Excusas one-session video-based intervention designed for culturally- and geographically-diverse English- and Spanish-speaking gay and bisexual Latino men. Working with community partners in New York City, a randomized efficacy trial is enrolling approximately 400 men, with the goal of testing whether the intervention reduces risk behaviors and promotes HIV testing.

This exploratory qualitative study asks: How do youth and their parents in high-poverty urban environments conceptualize, recognize, and respond to teen mental health problems? Building on over a decade of research conducted with New York City schools serving low-income families, this study uses a theoretically and empirically informed qualitative approach. Focus groups and in-depth interviews with parents and their adolescent sons and daughters are being conducted.

EDC and Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York are developing and pilot testing the Keep It Up program targeted to African American and other Black young men in high-poverty communities with high rates of HIV. Keep It Up embeds HIV behavioral prevention in a broader health promotion campaign. The goal is to reduce the stigma surrounding HIV and reach a population that bears a disproportionate burden not only of HIV/AIDS, but also other health problems—hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma, and other STIs.

This rigorous three-arm randomized experiment tests whether an innovative multi-year parent-mediated HIV intervention, Preparing Our Sons and Daughters for Healthy Futures, reduces HIV risks among African American youth living in high-poverty urban neighborhoods. About 1500 families with 6th graders in New York City public schools are being enrolled and will be followed through 9th grade.

The MetroWest Youth Risk Behavior Survey is a ten-year initiative of the Massachusetts-based MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation to better understand and address the health needs of adolescents in the region. Surveys are being conducted biannually with middle and high school students. The first round of surveys was conducted in 2006, with over 16,000 high school students and 8,000 middle school students participating. Districts receive timely reports of their data along with technical assistance. Findings are used to identify problems, track trends, and inform local programming.

EDC has produced a dissemination package for Safe in the City, a brief video-based HIV/STD prevention intervention for STD clinics. In a large, multi-site efficacy trial, Safe in the City was found to be effective in reducing new cases of STDs among clinic patients. The intervention has been selected for national dissemination through CDC’s Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions program. EDC was a collaborating partner in the development and evaluation of this intervention.