“Oldham Innovation Research was the lead research partner for a new statewide initiative—Together for Quality (T4Q)— to expand QRIS across Massachusetts. Specifically OIR was responsible for conducting a thorough, randomized assessment of 100 MA early education and care providers to determine how programs had used QRIS improvement grants and what challenges and successes programs had experienced. OIR completely this assessment professionally and efficiently, and findings and recommendations from this assessment have been essential to the T4Q initiative and for planning of the next round of QRIS improvement grants and supports.”
-Jake Murray, Project Director, Together for Quality (T4Q), Director, Aspire Institute, Wheelock College (2011)
"Our evaluation team from Oldham Innovative Research played a significant role in helping us to meet our SSHS sustainability goals. They were able to capture and report the data in ways that made sense to all school and community stakeholders and highlight the success of each SSHS program in a way that encouraged the community to become more involved."
"OIR has been a critical part of our SSHS team, providing not only data on individual programs, but also insight into how each fits with our overall outcome goals. The OIR evaluation team is professional, thorough, and very knowledgeable, but their true passion for the work is what I feel puts them above the rest. They are truly working with us to make community-level change through the SSHS initiative."
"Completing the Safe Schools Healthy Students Performance reports can be a very daunting experience. Every six months, the OIR team has made completing these reports possible. In fact, our SSHS federal project officer has remarked that our performance reports have been among the best in the nation, largely due to OIR's professional touch!"
- Cathy Lounsbury, Project Director, Sanford Safe Schools Healthy Students Initiative (2011)
“Erin Oldham and Nan Simpson of Oldham Innovative Research have been engaged with the Center for Assessment and Policy Research in helping design the New York State's early childhood quality rating and improvement system, particularly around its point and rating structure. In the course of the project, they have provided a wealth of related information about experiences and deliberations in other states developing or revising their QRIS and organized this information in easy-to-use formats using both narrative summaries and detailed tables. They have been exceptionally responsive during a short-term project with changing specifications.”
-Sam A. Stephens, Ph.D., Director, Center for Assessment & Policy Development (2011)
“During the Race To the Top application process Oregon was fortunate to receive technical assistance from Nan and Erin. Oregon requested technical assistance to help merge and redefine Oregon's Program Standards into a further defined tiered QRIS. Nan and Erin provided concrete feedback on graphical models we developed as well as on the narrative sections of the grant application. They also provided valuable resources in a timely manner to help further our work. Their feedback was direct, thoughtful and really helped move us forward as a state.”
-Kara Waddell, Child Care Administrator, Child Care Division, Oregon (Nov, 2011)
“I have worked closely with Oldham Innovative Research over several years, including on a number of projects related to designing, revising, and implementing state QRIS. OIR is a team of talented and dedicated individuals, with a valuable combination of expertise and skills in research, evaluation, state policy design and implementation, facilitation, and perhaps most importantly, child development and early childhood best practice. It is this combination of content and process expertise that makes the OIR team a pleasure to work with and to learn from, and allows them to consistently deliver high quality products and move state initiatives to the next level.”
-Christine Johnson-Staub, Christine Johnson-Staub, Senior Policy Analyst, Quality Rating System, CLASP (Nov, 2011)
“I highly recommend the services and technical expertise of Dr. LaChance and the OIR staff. I can attest to her knowledge, research skills and experience in the area of developing a QRIS System and in working collaboratively with a team of individuals to design and complete the process. Her technical assistance and professionalism were invaluable to completing the standards, provider supports, guidance and accountability documents, cost estimation model and public awareness campaign. OIR’s work plans, documentation and deliverables kept the planning team on track to complete the project deadlines within the contract’s time allotment... She continues to be a great resource in our efforts to launch VI Steps to Quality: Early Care and Education in the Virgin Islands.”
- Gerri A. Hanna, Director, Licensing and Quality Services and Project Manager of Leadership Team, Virgin Islands Department of Human Services QRIS (November 2011)
“The continued and frequent involvement from the evaluation team is an excellent asset and will result in even more valuable benefits to the project moving forward…. My congratulations on having such a good working relationship with your local evaluators.”
- Michael Wells, Ph.D., Federal Project Officer for Sanford SS/HS, Oct. 8, 2008
“OIR has partnered with the Muskie School of Public Service, on a number of mixed-method federally-funded projects over the past ten years and has been a critical component of those projects’ success. Dr. Oldham brings a strong foundation in research design and quantitative and qualitative research methods… especially skilled at ensuring a project design is practical, non-invasive or burdensome to participants and will result in usable findings and recommendations. Dr. Oldham is creative and flexible...”
-Julie Atkins, Research Associate, University of Southern Maine (2011)
“I saved the best for last...The report… is well organized, clearly written and helpful to me in better understanding the activities of the project… I would like to request your permission, when the need arises, to share your entire performance report with other grantees that are struggling with how best to structure a performance report that is useful to me as well as to the project and I think this one does that extremely well.”
- Michael Wells, Ph.D., Federal Project Officer for Sanford SS/HS, June 3rd, 2009
“In working with Erin Oldham and Oldham Innovative Research on numerous projects since 2006, we have found their work to be of the highest quality. We contracted with them on a wide variety of projects to create and implement survey and assessment tools and conduct site visits and interviews. They have also provided useful and through data analysis and recommendations. Oldham was also instrumental in raising the quality of our United Way agencies by providing training and technical assistance in several assessment tools. The success of this project was highlighted in a March 2008 article in the publication Child Care Exchange.”
“Oldham Innovative Research is currently working with United Way in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), Wheelock College, and The CAYL Institute to provide evaluation and monitoring of the first round of Program Quality Improvement Grants for the statewide Quality Rating Improvement System. They designed a strong tool, piloting and adjusting it to maximize the usefulness of the resulting data to the state. Oldham has been a pleasure to work with. The Oldham team is open and clear in communications; this is particularly key on this project because there are multiple partners and agencies at the table. We have found them to be efficient, attentive to detail, and flexible. On this project they were resourceful and thoughtful when working with early childhood care providers who had a wide variety of cultural and linguistic diversity. They completed all deliverables well within the timeframe projected, and produced a strong and through set of recommendations.”
-Wendy Valentine, Director Community Impact, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (2011)
"OIR was indispensable in the securing of our federal grant with the U.S. Department of Education. We found them to be knowledgeable of resources at the community level and experienced in developing a quality grant proposal. I am sure that we would have had a much weaker proposal without… OIR."
- Carrie Horne, Assistant Director, NAMI Maine Advocating for Healthy Minds (2009)
“OIR has allowed us to turn ideas into practice for our early childhood assessment initiative. The consulting, research, and facilitation provided…was friendly, flexible, and tailored to our needs. The research done by OIR has helped us to promote our work to a wide audience and gain local and national attention beyond what we could have done ourselves. We enthusiastically continue our relationship with OIR and think of it first when seeking advice and assistance in our child assessment work.”
- Claire Sanford, United Way of Merrimack Valley and Massachusetts Bay (2009)
“… OIR produced timely reports and other deliverables in accordance with a tight schedule. They are dependable and completed a complex analysis in a short timeframe and produced a valuable product that has helped us frame a plan to implement a new child development assessment system for Massachusetts.”
- Rod Southwick, Director, Research & Evaluation Unit, MA Department of Early Education and Care (2008)
“Erin and her team brought a wealth of expertise in the types of research and outcomes that were required with the IHE Mapping Project. I appreciated their attention to detail, diligence, and flexibility as the project developed. The IHE Mapping Project was on a tight timeline and OIR attended to task, met deadlines, and was always very responsive and receptive to our needs and interests.”
- Katie Devita, Educator and Provider Support Specialist, MA Department of Early Education and Care (2010)
“...a sound set of technical skills in both qualitative and quantitative research combined with a sensitivity about the realities of the lives of the populations...an ability and desire to translate...findings for policy makers in a way that makes them accessible and engaging.”
- Helen Ward, Research Associate, University of Southern Maine (2008)DHHS/ACF/ACYF/ Head Start and Child Care Bureaus
“The Maine Assembly on School Based Health Care is a new organization focused on bringing quality health care to children in Maine. Erin Oldham and Nan Simpson are so easy to work with. They are attentive, logical, concise, and always ready to work on our behalf. Their evaluation and technical assistance for our efforts is well researched and exceptionally valuable to our association. “
- Cindy Dolben, President of the Board for the Maine Assembly on School Based Health Care
“OIR is responsive to the needs of the organization with on time work, very easy to work with and always willing to adapt as needed. I recommend OIR for any research needs."
- Cathy Roland, Board Member of the Maine Assembly on School Based Health Care
"OIR was indispensible in the securing of our federal grant with the USDOE. We found them to be knowledgeable of resources at the community level and experienced in developing a quality grant proposal. I am sure that we would have had a much weaker proposal without collaboration with OIR."
- Carrie Horne, Assistant Director, NAMI Maine Advocating for Healthy Minds
“The expertise and professionalism provided by OIR is top rate. Having worked with many other evaluation groups in the past, OIR is far superior. Staff at OIR are able to, decipher, interpret data that is useful and supportive to projects we have worked on. In this day and age of evidenced based work, it wonderful to know you have OIR supporting your important work.”
- Paul D. Pinette, Maine Psychological Trauma Institute, Director of Education and Consultative Services, Saco, Maine
"Oldham Research takes the time to understand project work to assure that the data they generate supports continuous high quality improvement. The researchers offer insightful, grounded, knowledge based performance that builds successful interplay between research and practice."
- Phillip Printz, Formerly of Educational Development Center, Inc., Consultant
- Joyce C. Scott, Executive Director, WCAP
"Waldo County Head Start recently received a federal triennial PRISM review. OIR helped us prepare for the review by conducting an audit of our files, conducting mock staff interviews, and double checking to ensure all program documentation and data were accurate and in place. Our review was a success. OIR's evaluation and support were instrumental to that success."
- Jane Adams
