Sun Associates is an educational technology consulting firm specializing in issues related to the integration of instructional technology in primary and secondary schools. We take a broad approach to technology implementation which emphasizes the need to link the efforts of teachers, students, administrators, parents, and other community members in a common understanding of the uses and value of classroom technology. This approach is realized through services centered around:

• Evaluation of school and district educational technology implementation
• Assistance to school and district strategic technology planning committees

In most cases, an important element of our work is capacity development in our client districts. Sun Associates works our clients to design evaluation strategies, professional development, and strategic plans which will inspire reflection and change. Our clients often choose to work with us to both facilitate plans and to implement some or all of their plans.

One desired outcome for all of our work is to help clients improve and develop their ability to scale up the projects that Sun Associates has been brought in to create. We do not overwhelm our clients with "experts"-- rather, we collaborate to apply assistance where needed and always strive to leave our clients in a position where they can be even stronger collaborators in the future.

Several examples of the firm's recent work are listed below. For direct links to some of our clients' websites, visit our Clients, On-Line page. Information on our staff - including resumes - can be found on the Sun Associates Staff page

Technology Evaluation, Planning, and Implementation Projects

Sun Associates' experience and work relates to facilitating strategic planning efforts and projects that involve implementing and evaluating the various technology and learning goals such as those typically included in a district/organizational technology plan. This reflects our basic philosophy that strategic technology planning is in fact just one part of a holistic process that must also include professional development and assessment. In turn, professional development and assessment must be grounded in a sound and comprehensive strategic project plan. To this end, several examples of the firm’s recent work are listed below.

U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History Projects

In our existing TAH evaluation and project development work, we bring a strong background in program evaluation combined with expertise (both academic and classroom-based) in U.S. History. We are not simply evaluators, but we are historians and history teachers. This combination of process and content knowledge has proven to be a significant asset to the ten TAH projects with which we currently work.

State-wide Technology Plan and Local District Evaluation Planning

Sun Associates provides support to the Alabama State Department of Education in the creation of its 2007 – 2012 state technology plan and subsequent creation of a new approach to local technology evaluation.  This work includes providing consulting services to the state planning committee and State Education Agency staff. Follow up support to the state includes the development of two state-wide technology surveys and a pilot project with five districts (2006) and a subsequent cohort of 12 districts (2007 – 2008) to create unique local level technology assessment procedures.

NCLB Title IID Evaluation

Over the past four years, we have engaged with a large percentage of the Massachusetts recipients of NCLB Title IID grants.  Sun Associates is, or has been, the external evaluation partner in 18 of the state’s Technology Enhancement Competitive Grants.   We also work with all Northeast states to develop resources and approaches to address US Department of Education guidelines for Title IID evaluation.

Other Examples of Recent Work

Evaluation Projects

• Meta-Evaluation and Program Support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) American History and Civics Initiative – Working with the WGBH Interactive, the Program Manager for CPB’s AHCI initiative, Sun Associates is providing meta-evaluation support to both phases of this $20 million initiative.  The AHCI initiative has funded seven projects that use new and interactive media to support K-12 American History and Civics education.  Sun Associates is working (in conjunction with WGBH Interactive) to guide the individual project evaluations to utilize common metrics for measuring the projects’ impact on student learning.

• Program Evaluation for the Northeast and Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium (NEIRTEC) -- Sun Associates provided program evaluation for this five-year, seven state, technology technical assistance project funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

• Vermont LEAD-IT Evaluation and Training – Sun Associates is engaged in a two-year Title IID project with 12 Vermont school districts, the Vermont Institutes, and the Vermont Department of Education.  Our work on this includes general program monitoring as well as the facilitation of local district technology plan evaluation training.  In a model similar to our work with Alabama, we are piloting a new statewide model for local evaluation of technology plan implementation and technology’s impact on teaching and learning.

• Technology Audit and District Plan Facilitation for Newton (MA) Public Schools – Sun Associates has conducted a district-wide technology integration audit for Newton Public Schools during the 2006-2007 school year.  Follow-up work includes facilitation of local planning work with the ultimate goal of producing a new five-year strategic plan for the district.

• Field-Based Data Collection for the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory’s (NEIREL) Long-Range Study on Literacy – Sun Associates is working with NEIREL and its partners AIR and CAST to implement a two year study of technology-based literacy interventions.  This study is built around a quasi-scientific research methodology that compares the efficacy of Thinking Reader to other non-technology-based literacy interventions.

• A Technology Audit of Brookline (MA) Public Schools– Sun Associates conducted a district-wide audit of the technology program of the Public Schools of Brookline.  The report  from this work helped inform Brookline’s program review of instructional technology.

• K-12 Science Program Review for Brookline (MA) Public Schools - Sun Associates assisted Brookine's K-12 Science Program Review committee in data collection and analysis. Data on program impact was collected from teachers, administrators, and parents via focus groups, interviews, and online surveys. A comprehensive program review report was created as a final product of this work.
  
  
• Westwood (MA) Public Schools Technology Audit - Westwood (MA) Public Schools retained Sun Associates to create a district-wide evaluation "audit" of its instructional technology effort. The product report for this project has been used to support the district's annual budget process as well as capital improvement initiatives. Our work for this seven-school district is typical of our district-wide evaluation projects.

• Meta-Evaluation for Massachusetts Department of Education’s Title IID– Sun Associates worked with the Massachusetts Department of Education to organize a “meta-evaluation” of the department’s entire Title IID program.  This work involved providing support to approximately 40 separate, district-based, projects and the creation of a summary report detailing the outcomes/impacts of the Title IID effort.

• Preparing New Teachers 2 Project -- Sun Associates provided program evaluation for the NH Department of Education's three-year PT3 Catalyst Project.  This was a $1.2 million per year project that involved all 14 institutions of higher education in NH.

• St. Louis (MI) Public Schools Technology Evaluation– formative evaluation of technology’s impact on teaching and learning.  This project is a pilot for ultimately developing evaluation projects 11 districts in this Central Michigan educational service region.

• Katonah-Lewisboro (NY) Schools Technology Evaluation - formative evaluation of the impact of technology on student achievement and teacher behavior in the district.

• Evaluation of Lexington (MA) Public Schools Technology Plan Implementation – evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of professional development initiatives to develop teacher technology skills and technology infused curriculum.

• Evaluation of Cambridge (MA) Public Schools’ Technology Staff Development Process – evaluation design and implementation of the district’s “design team” approach to technology staff development.  Additional components included examination of district-developed curriculum activities and student technology proficiencies.

• Assessing Technology's Impact at the Classroom Level, Fayette County (KY) Public Schools -- creation and implementation of an evaluation design framework to examine technology's impact on student achievement and teacher productivity.

• Project Evaluators for the Development of a Systemic Improvement Protocol and Product Catalog – summative evaluation for an NSF-funded project to create a rating and review protocol for systemic reforms arising from state systemic initiatives (SSIs).

• Project Evaluation for Co-nect Schools’ Comprehensive School Reform Grant – in partnership with Rockman et al., Sun Associates has designed and implemented the program evaluation for this large, multi-year, CSR grant.  Work involves profiling Co-nect’s services and documenting the effectiveness of this program at the local school level.

• Evaluation of USVI Technology Literacy Challenge Fund Grant Implementation – working with Learning Innovations at WestEd, Sun Associates profiled the work and documented the impact of three years of federal TLCF funding in the 38 schools of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Education.  Findings have been used to design new programs and procedures for technology allocation in the Territory’s schools.

 Implementation Projects

Sun Associates designs and facilitates professional development that focuses on providing teachers with the skills and curricular approaches necessary to make effective use of instructional technology.  We specialize in job-embedded approaches that help teachers develop a broad and deep understanding of technology as a tool for effective teaching and learning.

• Massachusetts Department of Education, New Teacher Technology Mentor Training-- Development and implementation of mentor teacher training for a school year 2000/2001 TLCF-funded project involving 51 schools across the state.  Sun Associates is responsible for training mentor teachers in effective mentoring,  professional development strategies, and technology integration.

• Mercer County (WV) Public Schools Integrating Technology in the Curriculum Institute – Development and implementation of a technology professional development institute for 23 schools in this large, mostly rural, school district. Sun Associates created and facilitated a summer institute with 150 participants and then conducted follow-up sessions across the district in Fall, 2001. 

• Independent Schools Teacher Mentoring Project, St. Thomas/St. John (USVI) District – Sun Associates designed and implemented this intensive teacher mentoring project in St. Thomas, VI.  Sun Associates staff worked with teams of teachers to design technology-infused curriculum units and then worked directly with these teachers, and their students, to implement the units over a two-week mentoring residency.

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