Ian Beckford, PhD

Senior Evaluator

Dr. Ian Beckford has almost 30 years of experience conducting evaluation research using various research design methodologies. In addition, Dr. Beckford has extensive experience conducting survey research. This would include survey development, administration, and analysis. During his career Dr. Beckford, has conducted quantitative and qualitative evaluation research in the areas of urban school reform, distance learning, graduate school training, child development and social services. Many of the studies in these areas were national longitudinal studies requiring the use of sophisticated quantitative and qualitative research design methodologies. In several of these studies complicated sampling frames were developed and random assignment was employed when appropriate. Quasi-experimental designs were often created when random assignment was inappropriate. Many of Dr. Beckford’s studies involved creating cross-site evaluation designs, with the resulting data analyzed using multivariate inferential statistical procedures.

For example, during the 1990’s Dr. Beckford participated in the evaluation of the federal funded Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) which was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF). The overall goal of the program was to provide early and comprehensive services to enhance child health and development and to support families in gaining economic self-sufficiency. Overall, the CCDP program addressed the multiple and often interacting problems associated with poverty, including problems dealing with health, nutrition, housing, employment, child care, and safety. In addition, CCDP, was intended to intervene early and continue until the child reached school age.

In order to measure the impact each program model on the development of the children and their parents, as well as measure the impact of related programs on the delivery of services, various statistical techniques were utilized to disentangle program effects from differences in such factors as the types of families that were recruited by sites.

Dr. Beckford holds a doctorate in Policy, Planning, and Evaluation from the University of Pittsburgh, and Master of Arts degrees from Western Kentucky University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Industrial Organizational Psychology and Industrial Labor Relations, respectfully, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Hamilton College.