External Evaluation Reports

Visit this section to find reports and evaluations generated from outside the IRIS Center.

• IRIS Evaluation Projects: Overview (PDF)
  This 2019 infographic outlines the purpose of the IRIS Evaluation Projects and gives a brief description of each project. It also explains the relationship among the evaluation projects and how they build on one another. The expected timeline for implementation and completion of these projects is also provided.
• IRIS Evaluation Project 1 (PDF)
  This 2019 infographic summarizes the results of IRIS Evaluation Project 1. A survey was used to collect data about who users of IRIS resources are, what and how IRIS resources are used, and the perceived value of IRIS resources. These data are summarized in this document. The same survey will be administered in the final year of the project to assess changes in user experience.
• IRIS Evaluation Project 2 (PDF)
  Conducted by IRIS external evaluators Drs. Kristin Sayeski and Bethany Hamilton-Jones at the University of Georgia, this next step in our evaluation process was designed to gauge the effect of engagement with specific IRIS OERs on pre-service teachers’ level of knowledge and ability to make instructional decisions. Using two sets of IRIS resources in a repeated measures design, the evaluators assessed students’ knowledge of IRIS content using multiple-choice test questions, as well as the students’ ability to apply that knowledge in the context of short-answer test responses.
• IRIS Evaluation Project 2b: Replication (PDF)
  This infographic summarizes the results of a replication of IRIS Evaluation Project 2 (see above). The replication project was conducted in fall 2020 with students enrolled in online, virtual courses at the University of Virginia and California State University—Los Angeles.
• IRIS Impact Survey II (PDF)
  This 2022 infographic summarizes the results of the second IRIS Impact Survey, conducted in the spring of 2022. Data from this survey reflect who users are, what and how IRIS OERs are used, and the perceived value of IRIS OERs. A comparison to the results of the initial survey of IRIS users, conducted in 2018, is forthcoming.
• IRIS Center External Evaluation: Formative Outcome Evaluation Findings of Faculty and Professional Development Providers (PDF)
  This comprehensive external evaluation report (2017) assesses data around four key areas: (1) who is using the IRIS Center’s resources (i.e., Modules); (2) how IRIS is satisfying current needs, (3) how the IRIS Center’s Modules are being infused in courses, curricula, and professional development, and (4) future needs.
• Evaluation of the Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (PDF)
  This 2013 report, produced by the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with the Institute of Education Science (IES) and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, represents a highly detailed effort “to conduct evaluations of the implementation and impact of programs supported under IDEA,” the IRIS Center among them.
• IRIS Center Resource Use and Perceived Influence (PDF)
  This external evaluation report (2012) details the results of a survey to determine who is using IRIS Resources, how highly they rate those resources, and to what extent those resources influence their practices and programs. The survey focused on college and university faculty and professional providers.