Erin J. McCann
Project Director
Erin McCann is a Project Director with SEDL's Research and Evaluation (R&E) program. Dr. McCann’s work focuses broadly on evaluation capacity building with state education agencies. Through SEDL’s Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) and Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC), Dr. McCann leads a team that consults with state education agency staff in designing and conducting evaluations on a range of district and school improvement programs. She assists state staff in developing logic models and evaluation plans, creating tools and timelines for data collection, and analyzing, interpreting, and reporting evaluation results. Other work includes developing presentations and workshops for state, district, and school audiences on evaluation topics and conducting evaluation studies on various educational initiatives.
Contact Information
You may contact Erin J. McCann at 512-391-6535
Dr. McCann’s expertise as an evaluation researcher includes more than 12 years designing and implementing evaluation studies for federal, state, and local-level contracts with a general focus on examining factors that influence school turnaround initiatives and school improvement processes and practices. This experience includes work at the preK through high school level and a range of activities such as creating program logic models and data collection plans, designing and validating data collection instruments, using performance management systems, and employing mixed-method analyses as well as a variety of approaches for disseminating evaluation study results. She also works with school districts and others in the use of SEDL’s Concerns-Based Adoption Model, focusing specifically on developing Innovation Configurations and helping systems use the Stages of Concern Questionnaire to guide decisions about implementation of new initiatives. Experience
Prior to joining SEDL in June 2000, Dr. McCann worked as an evaluation consultant and taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Texas, Texas State University, and Austin Community College. Since joining SEDL, she has led and worked collaboratively on a number of evaluation projects, including the evaluation of SEDL's work with the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle in districts in Louisiana and South Carolina. She was also part of a team that developed and tested the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI) for Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council). Other projects include studying the effectiveness of teacher professional development programs, ESL initiatives, TEA’s High School Completion and Success Grants, and 21st Century Community Learning Center projects. Education
Dr. McCann holds a BA in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, an MEd in counseling psychology from Texas State University, and a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Professional Development Session Presented by Erin McCann
Erin McCann teaches SEDL's professional development session, "Program Evaluation 101."
- Transforming Low-Performing Rural Schools: Texas Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, Number 10 (2012)
- Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle, Lancaster School District (2011)
- Rapid Response: Studies of Mathematics Software Programs (2011)
- Latest Evidence on the National Staff Development Council's Standards Assessment Inventory (2009)
- Rapid Response: Response to Intervention (RtI) Policy (2009)
- Rapid Response: Response to Intervention Implementation and Monitoring (2009)
- Rapid Response: Statewide Uniform Grading Practices (2009)
- Rapid Response: Transition Activities and Strategies for Middle Grades (2009)
- Rapid Response: Career And Technical Education (2008)
- Rapid Response: Early Childhood Education Curricula and Programs for PreK Students (2008)
- Rapid Response: Educating Overage Students (2008)
- Rapid Response: GED Test and State Assessment Completion for High School Diploma (2008)
- Rapid Response: Project-based Learning (2008)
- Rapid Response: Response to Intervention Practices (2008)
- Rapid Response: State Policies for Parental Notification of Response to Intervention Processes (2008)
- Evaluation of the Texas High School Completion and Success Grant Initiative, Cycle 2 Final Report (2007)
- Final Evaluation of the Texas A&M University System's Support Activities Related to the Limited English Proficient Student Success Initiative (2007)
- Evaluation of Texas A&M University System's Support Activities Related to Limited English Proficient Student Success Initiative, Cycle 1 Grants (2006)
- National Staff Development Council Standards Assessment Inventory: Summary Report of Instrument Development Process and Psychometric Properties (2003)
- McCann, E., & Turner, J. E. (2004). Increasing student learning through volitional control. Teachers College Record, 106(9), 1695–1714.
- McCann, E., & Garcia, T. (1999). Maintaining motivation and regulating emotion: Measuring individual differences in academic volitional strategies. Learning and Individual Differences, 11(3), 259–279.
- Blair, B., McCann, E., & Meadows, M. L. (2010, August). Conducting program evaluations. Presented at the Federal Programs New Coordinators Orientation, Tuscaloosa, AL.
- Blair, B., Ward, M., McCann, E., & Meadows, M. L. (2010, July). Conducting program evaluation for federal programs. Presented at the Alabama MEGA Conference, Mobile, AL.
- McCann, E., & Pirtle, S. S. (2008, June/July). Part 1: Program evaluation; Part 2: Implementing programs with fidelity. Presented at the Annual Conference of the Mississippi Association of Federal Education Program Directors, Biloxi, MS.
- McCann, E., & Rudo, Z. (2007, October). Evaluating supplemental educational services. Workshop at Louisiana Conference for Supplemental Educational Service Providers, Baton Rouge, LA.
- McCann, E., & Harris, C. (2007, June). Is it working; How do you know? Evaluating your school improvement programs. Workshop at Mississippi Rising Summer Conference, Biloxi, MS.
- Groth, C., & McCann, E. (2005, April). National board certification as a school improvement strategy: Is certification enough? Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.
- McCann, E., Groth, C., Dodson, M., & Harris, C. (2004, November). Process use and organizational learning: A field study of the evolving nature of evaluation within a nonprofit organization. Presented at the American Evaluation Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
- McCann, E., Groth, C., Beck, J., & Street, S. (2003, December). New NSDC Standards Self-Assessment Inventory. Presented at the 35th Annual Conference of the National Staff Development Council, New Orleans, LA.
