Tiffany Berry

Tiffany Berry is Co-Director of the Applied Developmental Program and a faculty researcher at the Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research. Dr. Berry spends most of her time evaluating programs that fall under the umbrella of educational evaluation, including K-12 educational curricula, two-generation family literacy programs, after school programs, and comprehensive school reform initiatives. Across these evaluations, she has used a variety of evaluation methods, ranging from experimental randomized control trials designed to assess program impact to methods such as program monitoring designed to facilitate program improvement. Taken together, these evaluations have supported three broad domains of interest that lie at the intersection of applied developmental psychology and program evaluation.

Research and Evaluation Interests

Dr. Berry is interested in examining how the developmental trajectory of children at risk for academic failure may be modified by participating in various educational interventions, both in school and out of school. Conducting program evaluations that measure multiple developmental outcomes across different educational contexts over time helps identify the extent to which developmental trajectories are modified. This work was started several years ago when Dr. Berry provided evaluation consulting to one of the nation’s largest and most well-respected after school programs, Los Angeles’s Better Educated Students for Tomorrow (LA’s BEST). In line with her interest in afterschool programs, Dr. Berry’s currently conducting an evaluation of a local middle school afterschool program in Southern California, Afterschool All-stars, Los Angeles. Results from this multi-faceted evaluation, which involves measuring program implementation, social outcomes, and academic outcomes through student surveys, interviews, focus groups, and archival academic data will be available early Fall 2008.

A second area of interest is in evaluating family-level interventions designed to improve overall family functioning and promote children’s social and cognitive development. Within the context of several Even Start Family Literacy Programs, she has evaluated the effectiveness of their interventions as well as examined the interactive relationship risk and protective factors play in predicting program attendance (and retention) as well as children’s school readiness. Current funding from the California Department of Education supports this program of research.

The third prong of Dr. Berry’s research is focused on evaluating the efficacy of the curricula that community-based programs and/or K-12 schools implement. Understanding how curriculum materials facilitate or inhibit effective teaching and learning is part of her current funded program of research. With funding from Pearson Education, Dr. Berry has completed a series of national, Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) examining a range of topics, including Biology, Language Arts, and Mathematics. Currently, she’s initiating an evaluation of an elementary reading program called Reading Street (please see the attached flyer for more information). Together, this research is designed to document the impact of curricular materials on student learning, provide useful information back to product development, and help strengthen the scientific base of educational curriculum in response to the No Child Left Behind legislation. In fact, she’s recently co-edited a volume of New Directions for Evaluation entitled the “Consequences of No Child Left Behind for Educational Evaluation” which specifically details how this legislation has affected, and continues to affect research and evaluation in the K-12 school system and community programs that are school-linked.

Teaching Interests

In addition to conducting research and evaluations, Dr. Berry regularly teaches courses in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences.  Below are descriptions and links to the syllabi of the two courses which she teaches most frequently.

Psych 351q: Applied Developmental Psychology (click course title for full syllabus)

This course addresses the definition of applied developmental psychology, as well as fundamental issues underlying its practice:

• the methodological foundations of applied developmental psychology
• how to reconcile differences between basic and applied research
• a discussion of how both basic and applied research are needed to solve the social problems that plague impoverished children and families
• the impact of disasters and terrorism on children’s development

The class also discusses real-world examples of good applied developmental research, including:

• the effects of day care on child functioning
• the impact of welfare reform on children’s cognitive and social development
• the current state of child welfare issues (such as foster care and adoption)

Psych 352i: Evaluating Developmental Interventions (click course title for full syllabus)

This applied course examines how developmental psychology and program evaluation work together to inform effective intervention programs serving children and families.  An ecological approach is used to explore how concepts of risk and resiliency at the child, family, and community level positively (or negatively) impact child developmental outcomes.

Also, in-depth case studies of intervention programs that target different age ranges (i.e., early childhood, school age, and adolescence) are presented so that students can critically examine how each intervention has been evaluated, including:

• the type of evaluation design employed
• the quality of the measurement instruments used
• whether the selection of outcome measures were developmentally appropriate

Director of Applied Developmental Psychology Program

Dr. Berry has the pleasure to supervise MA students and doctoral students enrolled in the Applied Developmental Psychology concentration. Not only do her students get evaluation experience working on her funded projects, many of them use these experiences as a springboard to develop their own research projects. Three of her current doctoral students are working on issues such as positive youth development, the roles risk and resiliency play in the evaluation of educational programs, and understanding what characteristics (e.g., student, program, school, etc.) lead to positive experiences in after school programs.

E-Mail: tiffany.berry@cgu.edu

Selected Technical Reports, Publications, and Presentations

Berry, T. & Eddy, R.M. (2008). Consequences of No Child Left Behind for Educational Evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, vol 117.

Eddy, R.M., & Berry, T. (2008). Challenges and Opportunities Revealed by the Impact of No Child Left Behind on Evaluation as a Discipline. In T. Berry & R.M. Eddy (Eds.), Consequences of No Child Left Behind on Evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation 117.

Berry, T. & Arruda, E. (2008). Risk factors, protective factors, and development. The Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology.

Berry, T. & Eddy, R. M., Fleischer, D., Asgarian, M., & Malek, Y. (2007). A randomized control trial to test the effects of Prentice Hall Literature Penguin edition curriculum on student performance: Mid-year report. Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research, Claremont Graduate University: Claremont, CA.

Berry, T. & Eddy, R. M. (2006). A modified pilot study of Prentice Hall Literature Penguin edition (2007). Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research, Claremont Graduate University: Claremont, CA.

Eddy, R. M., Berry, T., LaVelle, J., Dyer, K., & Newton, X. (2006). A randomized control trial to test the effects of Prentice Hall Biology curriculum on student performance: Final report. Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research, Claremont Graduate University: Claremont, CA.

Berry, T., & Eddy, R. M. (2006). William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program evaluation continuation report 2005-2006: Amador County. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA.

Berry, T., Eddy, R. M., & Asgarian, M. (2006). William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program evaluation continuation report 2005-2006: New Horizons Family Center, Glendale, CA. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA.

Berry, T. (2003). Special report on the 21st century community learning centers program national evaluation. The Evaluation Exchange: A Periodical on Emerging Strategies in Evaluating Child and Family Services, 9, 12-13.

Pezdek, K., Berry, T., & Renno, P. (2002). Children’s mathematics achievement: The role of parents’ perceptions and their involvement in homework. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 771-777.

Presentations

Berry, T., Eddy, R.M. (2007, August). Using RCT’s in educational research. Workshop to be presented at the Professional Development Workshop Series: Claremont Graduate University. Claremont, CA.

Ng, E. & Berry, T. (2007, March). Intrinsic motivation and parental control in a sample of Asian American adolescents. Poster to be presented at the Society for Research on Child Development, Baltimore Maryland.

Eddy, R. M., & Berry, T. (2006, November). The evaluator’s role in supporting program closure: A model for decision making and professional responsibility. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Portland, OR.

Berry, T., & Eddy, R. M. (2006, November). A researcher/ evaluator’s perspective on the advantages and disadvantages in participating in a national RCT. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Portland, OR.

Eddy, R. M., & Berry, T. (2006, August). Educational evaluation under No Child Left Behind. Workshop presentation presented at the Professional Development Workshop Series: Claremont Graduate University. Claremont, CA.

Eddy, R.M., Berry, T., & Mills, J. (2005, October). The use of scientific conferences as a method to increase minority students in the sciences: A follow up study. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Evaluation Association & the Canadian Evaluation Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Berry, T. (2004). Widening the Evaluative Lens on Out-of-School-Time Programs: Alternative Approaches and Practical Strategies. American Evaluation Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Berry, T. Program Evaluation Briefing on Capital Hill. Invited Presenter, Washington, DC: March 2003.

Berry, T. Practical strategies for increasing accountability in after school programs. Invited Presenter for a professional development workshop, American Evaluation Association Conference, November 2002.