trnpt@aol.com, drgriffin@unr.edu
Education
Ph.D. in Psychological Studies in Education, Child Development/ Ed.S. in Evaluation
Positions and Honors
1984-87 Director for Undergraduate Program in the School of Education/Assistant to Dean,
Stanford University
1987-1990 Director for the Research and Educational Planning Center, College of Education
University of Nevada, Reno
1990- Evaluation Director/Owner, Turning Point, Inc., Virginia City, NV
1992-2001 Program Development and Evaluation Director, Community Chest, Inc., Virginia
City, NV
1994- Adjunct Faculty, Human Development and Family Studies, College of Human and
Community Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno
2005- Associate Dean of Research and Evaluation, College of Health and Human
Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno
2001 Candidate for Ford Foundation’s Leadership for Social Change Initiative (1 of 280)
2005- Professional Development Committee Affiliate Representative, American Evaluation
Association
1994-1997 Rand Corporation: Evaluation Advisory Committee for National Evaluation of Higher Education Learn and Serve Projects.
Selected Peer-reviewed Publications
Loesch-Griffin, D.A. and Rye, A. (November, 2003) A Youth Development Approach to Civic
Engagement. Paper presented at the International Conference on Civic Education. New
Orleans, LA.
Loesch-Griffin, D.A., McGill, C., Rye, A. and Byrne, C. (November, 2003). Breaking the Best
Practice Mold: Dilemmas Encountered in Using a Partnership Evaluation Approach to
Evaluate Community-Based Youth Programs with Rural and Frontier Communities.
Paper presented at the American Evaluation Association’s Annual Conference. Reno,
NV.
Northern Nevada Writing Project Teacher Researcher Group (1996). Team Teaching.
Stenhouse Publishers: York, Maine.
Loesch-Griffin, D.A. (Chair) Griffin, S., Ostler, T., Nelson, L. & Berliner, B., and Uline, C.
(1990). Research, Policy, and Practice: Implications for Educating Homeless Youth.
Conversation Hour presented at the Fifth Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on
Adolescence, Atlanta, GA.
Wippern, D. & Loesch-Griffin, D.A. (1987). Evaluation as weather vane and lightning rod.
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Boston,
MA.
Loesch-Griffin, D.A., & Ringstaff, C. (1986). When unintended consequences become
the main effect: Evaluating the development of a foster parent training program.
Resources in Education. ERIC Document ED 290 762
Research Support
2004- present State Improvement Grant Funds to evaluate effectiveness of substance abuse
prevention programs among five rural coalitions operating through the state’s Bureau of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse/SIG funds.
2002-present WIC Nutrition Education studies: Evaluation of the effectiveness of systems
reform and revitalization efforts in moving toward learner-centered education in Nevada,
Nebraska, and the Southwest Region.
1994-1995 Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Statewide Evaluation: Qualitative
evaluation of a six-year effort of three AHEC centers in Nevada and the impact
they achieved on health and medical students, professionals, and service providers
in rural and under-served Nevada communities.
1991-1998 Head Start Early Childhood Education/Public School Transition Demonstration
Project:
Community Services Agency, Washoe County & rural counties in Nevada;
subcontract with the University of Nevada, Reno; six-year program evaluation
and research of intensive training, services and follow-up of Head Start children
and families into and through the third grade.
1991-1993 Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Nevada: conduct a statewide evaluation of
BADA treatment programs and develop and pilot a system for use by agencies in
tracking and assessing client outcomes.
1989-1991 Drug Free Schools and Communities Grant: Pre-service Training for Teachers in
Substance & Alcohol Abuse Prevention, University of Nevada, Reno, NV;
Conduct yearlong evaluation of two-year program designed to provide pre-service
training for teachers in their third and fourth year of college in substance abuse
prevention; evaluation involves evaluation of course development, development
of training and evaluation video, and follow-up of teachers in on-site behavioral
applications of the training.
Personal
I had formerly been Director of the Research and Educational Center in the College of Education and left in 1990 to form my own consulting business, Turning Point, Inc. After a decade of independent evaluation consulting, I realized that there was a need in our state to train evaluation professionals to meet the growing demands. I had been an Adjunct Faculty with the College since its inception and worked closely with faculty on various evaluation projects. The next logical evolution of that work was to found a center that could fill a void in providing evaluation services to the state’s public and private health and human service systems and organizations as well as develop professional development opportunities to build capacity for high quality evaluation. In 1998 Turning Point, Inc. became a joint sponsor and founder of the center in partnership with the University of Nevada, Reno.
I have been most recently involved in evaluating Nevada’s WIC Program, the Bureau of Family Health Services Real Choice Systems Change project- developing evaluation strategies and recommendations for Children with Special Health Care Needs. I work with the Service-to-Science initiative as an evaluation coach for substance abuse prevention programs in the western region (WCAPT) and also work closely with several rural prevention coalitions in Nevada. Last fall I began working with the Davidson Academy as a facilitator for the staff and parents strategic planning process and hope to continue this partnership as it evolves into an ongoing evaluation of their innovative organization. I also teach a number of program evaluation courses, including the summer Evaluation Training Institute: Evaluation Approaches and Applications, workshops for the non-profit management certificate program, and HCS 340 Evaluation of Substance Abuse Prevention Programs.
At heart I’m an activist, community-builder, and idea-maker. I work closely with Community Chest, Inc., a non-profit, social justice organization to support their work in community youth development. I am a business sponsor of the Global Voice Project, an international youth exchange program, and serve as one of the adult leaders to train participants and organize the exchanges. I volunteer at the local high school to provide career and college guidance to graduating seniors. Professionally, I serve on the local affiliate board of the Nevada Evaluation Association, and serve as the liaison from that affiliate to the American Evaluation Association’s Local Affiliate Collaborative. I am a member of the LAC Steering Committee and their liaison to AEA’s Professional Development Committee. I enjoy traveling and bringing the world beyond our own borders to life for others, particularly young people. I read voraciously and write occasionally. I sing, dance, walk and hike. Occasionally I take greater risks by zip lining through rainforests or walking 100 miles along the El Camino. I love the out-of-doors and being in the natural world. It always renews my faith in myself and the human species in general.
Evaluation is relationship-based. It involves working closely with people, learning what they care deeply about and, through intentional, thoughtful, and systematic methods, bringing relevant information to bear on their work so that they can achieve the desired social change.