Improvement Science in Evaluation: Methods and Uses

Christina A. Christie is professor and chair of the Department of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. Moira Inkelas is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and assistant director of the Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities.Sebastian Lemire is a doctoral candidate in the Social Research Methodology Division in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.

• Editors’ Notes 7Christina A. Christie, Moira Inkelas, Sebastian Lemire1. Understanding the Similarities and Distinctions Between Improvement Science and Evaluation 11Christina A. Christie, Sebastian Lemire, Moira InkelasThis chapter considers the similarities and distinctions between improvement science and evaluation according to use, valuing, and methods.2. The Methods and Tools of Improvement Science 23Sebastian Lemire, Christina A. Christie, Moira InkelasThis chapter introduces the intellectual foundation, core principles, and selected tools of improvement science.3. Timely and Appropriate Healthcare Access for Newborns: A Neighborhood-Based, Improvement Science Approach 35Courtney M. Brown, Robert S. Kahn, Neera K. GoyalThis chapter illustrates the application of quality improvement science techniques to iteratively address family- and system-level barriers to primary care.4. Improvement for a Community Population: The Magnolia Community Initiative 51Moira Inkelas, Patricia Bowie, Lila GuirguisThis chapter illustrates how a network of diverse organizations can use iterative learning cycles to come up with promising ideas, test and prototype these ideas, and spread and sustain what is found to work for a community population.5. Breaking the “Adopt, Attack, Abandon” Cycle: A Case for Improvement Science in K–12 Education 65Kristen RohannaThis chapter describes the implementation of rapid cycles of evaluations (Plan–Do–Study–Act cycles) to adapt interventions to local school contexts.6. Online Learning as a Wind Tunnel for Improving Teaching 79James W. Stigler, Karen B. GivvinThis chapter considers the potential value of combining improvement science and online learning.7. Value and Opportunity for Improvement Science in Evaluation 93Moira Inkelas, Christina A. Christie, Sebastian LemireThis concluding chapter reflects on the case examples comprising this volume and considers the major benefits and implications of integrating improvement science more firmly in evaluation.Index 103