Understanding MindBrain

 
 
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Evaluation

Organizational Evaluation

Outside consultants and committees will be established to evaluate the performance of the Society for Mind Brain Sciences and its programs. They will also be tapped to obtain advice about issues where the Board does not have its own expertise, to help resolve difficult questions, to help sustain a three-year plan, and to monitor financial and other accounting issues.

The quality of the Board members is of primary concern. New Board members will be nominated and elected on a three-year rotating basis, with overlapping terms. Thus one-third of the Board will be replaced each year.

mbSci will ask its Board and its Committees to ensure the maintenance of high scientific, medical, and ethical standards throughout its operations.

The Publications Council will ensure high quality in our mbSci Monograph and eBook Series, in SCR and in our public image as communicated by our major web portal, wikis, and printed materials. The Board will vote on the membership of the Publication Council each year. In case of conflicts of interest, as when Board member is also a Mind/Brain Monograph Series book author, the Board member will explicitly excuse himself or herself from any decision-making about projects in which s/he has a personal stake.

Program Evaluation

As the Co-Principal Investigator and Director of the Centers for Research on Creativity, Board CFO, Dr. James S. Catterall, will lead all Evaluative Studies, and is Professor of Urban Schooling and Professor Emeritus at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, where he has served on the curriculum and education policy faculty since 1981. James’ research interests include the arts and human development; Arts and neuroscience / brain structure and function; Evaluation of Arts – Integration Programs: Joining the visual and performance arts with academic subjects; Issues generally related to education policy implementation; Issues related to children at-risk of school failure.

He is internationally renowned for works related to children at risk, and in recent years for his studies examining the influences of participation in the arts and learning development. Dr. Catterall also served as director of multi-year evaluation of the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, a program which pairs artist and teachers for interdisciplinary teaching. Reports of his longitudinal studies and the CAPE research can  be found in the Champions of Change volume available on the Arts Education Partnership website.

Practical and ongoing statistics analysis benefits all input and output efficacy, including:

  • Needs / Progress surveys of specific demographics
  • Focus / pilot group research
  • Website usage analytics
  • Response rate to direct mail, direct e-mail
  • Open and click through rates to e-mail fundraising and other e-blasts
  • Online survey findings and other audience research
  • Incoming inquiries from each source (website, volunteer referrals, etc.)