R. JERRY ADAMS, Ph.D.

Primary Areas

Dr. Adams has managed business, education, health, technology, and social service programs over the past 30 years. He started his career as an administrator at The Ohio State University, Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, in 1973. In addition to serving as the Director of the Evaluation Unit for a 22 discipline federal program at The Ohio State University, he taught graduate level courses in the Department of Education within the Development and Evaluation Division. He also served on the Vice-Provost's Committee on Instructional Development. While at The Ohio State University he was a consultant for Model One, the nation's largest federally funded Vocational Education program at the time.

Dr. Adams left The Ohio State University to work for the Governor of Ohio as the Executive Director of the state's Developmental Disabilities Planning and Evaluation Council. As Executive Director he administered a program to plan, evaluate, research, and provide services for developmentally disabled individuals in the state, which included planning for $2 billion in disabilities funding within the state and $2 million in programs funded directly through the Council. The Council was composed of representatives from the key higher education institutions, advocacy groups, and the Cabinet.

After going into business as an educational consultant for several years, Dr. Adams returned to a higher education institution. He became the Coordinator at the Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. At Western Michigan University he managed federal, state and local programs related to education and community development. The projects frequently involved partnerships among nonprofit, business, and educational institutions. He managed the evaluation of Kellogg Foundation's Kellogg Youth Initiatives Program (KYIP), one of the nation's largest, privately funded comprehensive community development programs.

Dr. Adams is currently the Executive Director of the Evaluation and Development Institute (EDI), which provides planning, evaluation, and development services in the fields of education, multicultural communication, health, mental health, and technology. EDI also operates the Awesome Library, a Web site that gains over 5 million requests for pages per month according to Analog 5.22 log analysis.

EDI has received contracts to conduct program evaluation studies, such as evaluation of Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse, Red Road Project, St. Andrew Nativity School, and the Portland Youth Opportunities program. EDI also serves as a consultant in evaluation and development to Family of Friends, a mentoring program conducting a pilot for a national program.

EDI received a contract from the Oregon Division of Health, funded through a federal grant, to conduct research on multicultural collaboration and to develop a toolkit to assist with training of state and federal administrators nationally. Key portions of the toolkit are available online (http://www.awesomelibrary.org/multicultural-training.html).

EDI’s Website on "Multicultural Training" has been rated as the most popular in its field by the Google search engine (8/6/03). EDI’s Awesome Library Website includes portions of the Multicultural Toolkit to help trainers, teachers, and students work more effectively with persons from a different ethnic or cultural background.

In the past he has also served as Evaluation Manager for the Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and managed large, medium, and small evaluation studies, frequently for national or state demonstration programs.

Dr. Adams has served on national, state, and local advisory boards in the fields of program evaluation and developmental disabilities. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Educational Evaluation and Development from The Ohio State University, class of 1973.

Employment

1997-Present Executive Director, Evaluation and Development Institute

1993-1997 Associate, Evaluation and Assessment, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Evaluation Manager, Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities

1991-93 Coordinator, The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University

1990-91 Manager, Quality Control, ActionSystems, Inc.

1989-90 President, Association for Businesses and Entrepreneurs, Inc.

1988-89 Vice-President, National Business Association, Inc.

1983-88 President, Aspirations, Inc.

1980-83 Executive Director, The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Planning Council

1976-80 Director of Evaluation, Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities

Projects/Activities

2003 Evaluator, Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse Program, Red Road Project (Omaha, Nebraska)

2003 Evaluator, U.S. Dept. of Education, NAHPLC Project (Omaha, Nebraska)

2003 Evaluator, Youth Opportunities Program (Portland, Oregon)

2003 Consultant, Family of Friends Program (Portland, Oregon)

1997-2004 Publisher, Awesome Library Website (www.awesomelibrary.org)

2002-2004 Evaluator, St. Andrew Nativity School

1999-2003 Web Development Coordinator, Apples for Health (Dallas, Texas)

1999 Web Development Coordinator, National Business Association (Dallas, Texas)

1999 Web Development Coordinator, Wallstreet Mortgage (Dallas, Texas)

1998-99 Consultant, Multicultural Collaboration Study, Oregon Division of Health

1998 Reviewer for US Department of Education Grants to ERIC Clearinghouses (June, 1998)

1997 Co-Author, Road Rage Study

1993-97 Manager, Northwest Frontier Addiction Training Center Evaluation Project

1994-97 Manager, Project Network CSAT Evaluation Project

1994-97 Manager, DaDa Kidogo CSAP Evaluation Project

1994-97 Manager, Friends of the Children Evaluation Project

1995 Co-Director, Teacher/Pathfinder Project

1995 Supervisor, Hawaii Evaluation of Plans Project

1995-96 Manager, Law-Related Education Evaluation Project

1995-96 Manager, Tribes Evaluation Project

1995-96 Manager, Clackamas Housing Authority HUD Evaluation Project

1995-96 Manager, Chemeketa Community College Title III Evaluation Project

1995-96 Manager, Walla Walla Community College FIPSE Evaluation Project

1994-96 Manager, Chemeketa Community College FIPSE Evaluation Project

1994-95 Manager, Hawaii Attorney General's Office Evaluation of Plans Project

1994-95 Manager, Hawaii Student Assistance Program Evaluation Project

1994-95 Manager, Seattle Public Schools Student Assistance Program Evaluation Project

1994-96 Manager, University of Portland FIPSE Evaluation Project

1993-95 Manager, Albina Head Start Evaluation Project

1993-96 Manager, Lincoln County Community Partnership Evaluation Project

1993-95 Manager, Regional Drug Initiative Evaluation Project

1994 Manager, RAWHIDE Evaluation Project

1994 Advisory Board Member for Performance Indicators, U.S. Department of Education, SDFSCA program

1993-94 Manager, Western Montana University Evaluation Project

1993-94 Manager, Project Network CSAP Project

1993-94 Manager, Vancouver Public Schools Student Assistance Program Evaluation Project

1993-94 Manager, Lewis and Clark College FIPSE Evaluation Project

1993-94 Manager, Hawaii State Survey on Youth Alcohol and Other Drug Use

1993-94 Manager, Washington Youth Behavior Risk Survey

1993-94 Manager, Washington Omnibus Subscription Service Project

1993-94 Manager, Klamath Falls Partnership Evaluation Project

1993-94 Manager, Washington School Security Project

1993-94 Manager, Lakewood Student Assistance Program Evaluation Project

1993-94 Manager, Lakewood Cooperative Project

1993 Manager, Boise Public Schools Survey on Youth Alcohol and Other Drug Use

1993 Manager, Christian Women Against Crime Evaluation Project

1993 Manager, Snohomish Public Schools Survey on Youth Alcohol and Other Drug Use

1993 Consultant, Appalachia Educational Laboratory

1993 Consultant, TELLIT! (U.S. Department of Education, OERI Library Program)

1993 Consultant, U.S. Department of Education, OERI Library Program

1993 Contractor, Kalamazoo Community College Project Success

1993 Coordinator, Evaluation Institute for the Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities

1991-93 Manager, Kellogg Youth Initiatives Program Evaluation Project

1991-93 Manager, Michigan Partnership for New Education Evaluation Project

1991-93 Manager, Appalachian Education Laboratory Evaluation Project

1991-93 Manager, Comprehensive School Evaluation Project

1992-93 Coordinator, Dissemination Project for U.S. Department of Education's Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evaluation (CREATE)

1992 Manager, School Climate Survey Analysis Project, National Association of Secondary School Principals

1992 Manager, Educational Evaluation Performance Standards Project

1992 Coordinator, Comprehensive School Evaluation Institute for the U.S. Department of Education's Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evaluation (CREATE)

1991 Coordinator, Consortium for Developing Technical Standards for National Standards for Excellence in Teaching Proposal, Funded by the National Board for Teaching Performance Standards

1990 Developer, First Step software, recognized by USA Today as a leading contributor to small businesses in the U.S.

1983 Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee for Medicaid Expansion in Ohio

1983 Host, Gubernatorial Debate on Developmental Disabilities (Telecast)

1982-83 Chairman, The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Legislative Coalition

1982 Expert Witness, Ohio Senate Subcommittee on Medicaid

1979 Chairman, Evaluation Task Force of the National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils

1979 Representative, H.E.W. Region V Interagency Caucus on Planning and Budgeting

1979 Reviewer, Grants of National Significance for the H.E.W. Office of Human Development

1979 Co-Editor, ERDE Newsletter of the American Educational Research Association

1979 Panelist, National Performance Standards and Management Information Systems for Developmental Disabilities

1978-79 Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Educational Development, The Ohio State University Graduate School

1978 Director, Nisonger Satellite Project for the H.E.W. Regional Information Network

1978 Panelist, Bureau of Crippled Children's Services, Review of Ohio's Program

1978 Member, Advisory Board for Specifications for Program Evaluation Systems, U.S. Office of Human Development

1978 Panelist, Advisory Board for Case Management Guidelines, U.S. Office of Human Development

1978 Member, American Association of University Affiliated Programs Database Subcommittee

1978 Member, American Academy on Mental Retardation, Data BanksCommittee

1977 Expert Panelist, Trends in Services for Developmental Disabilities in the U.S.

1977 Member, Vice-Provost's Committee on Instructional Development, The Ohio State University

1977 Member, Maternal and Child Health Services Advisory Board, Ohio Department of Health

Publications

Author or co-author of hundreds of program evaluation studies and position papers.

An example of a study report:

Entry Level Addiction Counselor Competencies, National Survey Report, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon, 1997 (co-author)

An example of a position paper:

Programs Need to Go Beyond 'Comprehensive' in Systemic Evaluation: A New Approach to Assessing the Effects of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drug (TAOD) Programs, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon, 1995 (co-author)