The Challenge
A client who received funding from U.S. Department of Education without a named evaluator in their grant application sought a skilled evaluation team who could execute their vision for a successful project. Without deep experience in evaluation, they needed to work closely with an evaluator to develop and implement high-quality evaluation to examine the extent to which their program would work well for their student population.
Our Solution
Project administration brought us onboard to execute the evaluation plan described in their grant proposal. We invested significant time initially to understand the program context, then worked collaboratively with the team to revise performance measures to be more feasible and measurable and developed the data collection instruments needed to carry the work forward.
The Impact
Our responsiveness and close collaboration allowed us to capture more than the original grant proposal had intended, including richer detail on transferable skills and career preparation outcomes. The client has continued to work with us on future grant proposals and has recommended us to other teams in search of an evaluator.
Case Study
“Working with Cobblestone for our grant’s evaluation has made my life so much easier – they produce high quality, timely work at a reasonable cost. Cobblestone provides fresh thinking on hard-to-measure concepts, and they shape diverse ideas into solid evaluation plans. The evaluation reports Cobblestone produces have helped me manage our program effectively and gain a stronger understanding of how our program affects students and communities.”
Diane Podolske, Ph.D.
Former Principal Investigator, CoyoteCareers
California State University, San Bernardino
"Working with Cobblestone is always a wonderful experience. The team is like our extended family. They really care about our STEM Pathways Program and how it can thrive. They are organized, easy to get along with, and really work with you to help us achieve the best possible outcomes. They are a blessing in disguise, and thank goodness we have had them as part of our team year after year. They made a fabulous infographic that we use with stakeholders and partners. It really uses the data to tell our program's story! It's not just data, there is a connection to the people behind it! Thank you always!"
Melani Soto
STEM Pathways Coordinator
San Diego State University
Focus Area
Workforce Development
Workforce Development
Portfolio
Publications
Conference Presentations
Workforce development programs prepare people for real jobs, whether through apprenticeships, job training, reskilling initiatives, or career pathway programs. Cobblestone evaluates these initiatives for the organizations that run them, measuring whether participants gain the skills, credentials, and employment outcomes the program was designed to produce. We bring experience evaluating training and employment programs funded through the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and NASA, drawing on rigorous social science methodology matched to each program's goals and stage of development.
STEM PROJECTS
79
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION PROJECTS
30+
See Our Work
Publications
Conference Presentations
Work
Examples
See Our Work
Conference Presentations & Publications
Work
Examples
See Our Work
Conference Presentations & Publications
Work
Examples
Our Clients
Dell Micro-Internships at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Projects at California State University, San Bernardino including:
CoyoteCareers
Here to Career
​Pathways to Success
PASS GO
SECURED BY OUR CLIENTS
$1,500,000
On a recent survey of our clients, 20 out of 21 respondents said that Cobblestone was successful in helping their organization secure external funding.
FAQs
Both use similar methods — surveys, interviews, observations, and document review — but they serve different purposes. Applied research is investigator-driven: it aims to generate knowledge in a real-world setting (e.g., schools). Evaluation is client-driven: it assesses the merit, worth, or value of a specific program to inform decisions. In federally funded projects, the two are often distinct components with separate teams, questions, and reporting lines — and for good reason, since each serves a different function.
Evaluations typically draw on a mix of quantitative data (surveys, test scores, administrative records, completion rates) and qualitative data (interviews, focus groups, observations). Most rigorous evaluations use both — a mixed-methods approach — because each type answers different questions. Quantitative data shows how much or how many; qualitative data explains why and how. Your evaluator will help you determine the right data sources based on your evaluation questions, timeline, and available resources.
A logic model is a visual representation of how your program is designed to work and how you expect it to unfold in practice — connecting inputs and activities to short-term outputs and longer-term outcomes. It makes the assumptions underlying your program explicit, which is essential for designing an evaluation: you cannot measure whether a program achieved its goals if those goals are not clearly articulated. Federal funders increasingly require logic models as part of grant applications, and evaluators use them as the backbone of evaluation planning. If you do not have one, your evaluator can help you build it.