Evaluating Educational Innovations for Youth

Catalog description

This course will survey selected social innovations aimed at improving social and educational outcomes for youth, and introduce students to theoretical and empirical approaches to assessing the effectiveness of innovations. Following the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, a social innovation is defined as “a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than present solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals.” Through the course, students will understand the evaluative needs of different stages of innovation, learn to connect appropriate research designs, and become critical consumers of research that examines social and educational innovation. Course participants will also have the opportunity to interact with local and national social entrepreneurs through a series of in-person and remote guest lectures. In addition, students will engage in intensive case study of select social innovations, and design an evaluation plan for a new or existing innovation. Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. Satisfies a major requirement in the CIS major Educational Studies & Public Policy Studies. Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.