How Family Engagement Is Like Fishing, is a popular presentation developed by Dr. Sally M. Wade, Manhattan Strategy Group’s family engagement that has struck a chord with educators throughout the nation. The presentation uses humor and the context of fishing to enhance effective family engagement practices in school, community and afterschool settings. The presentation includes a David Letterman style countdown, Dr. Wade’s Top Ten Ways Family Engagement is Like Fishing, a humorous poem about family engagement, the 1000+ Well-Intentioned Family Engagement Mistakes Educators Make, and a Big Fish Finish. The presentation covers a brief overview of research and p... read full article

The American Evaluation Association (AEA) held its annual conference ""Evaluation 2013"" on October 14-19 in Washington, D.C. The Manhattan Strategy Group presented at three sessions during the event which focused on Evaluation Practice in the Early 21st Century. During a session sponsored by the Research on Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG), Jennifer Nielsen presented, “Considering the rightness of our professional acts: What do we report and to whom?” as part of the session “Professionalism, Professional Ethics, and Professional Evaluators” chaired by Kathleen Toms from Research Works Inc. Nielsen’s co-presenters included Brian Dates from Southwest Solutions, and Linda Mabry fr... read full article

MSG is pleased to announce that Dan Geller has joined the firm as Director of Evaluation Services. In this role Dan will be leading the Evaluation Practice at MSG with responsibilities for global growth and engagement delivery.

Dan is an accomplished researcher with over 35 years of experience in program evaluation, policy analysis, research design, and project management. He has directed the evaluation and study of many highly visible programs for public sector clients and through this research provided critical input to inform policy and to assess the extent to which programs achieve their objectives. Dr. Geller’s work includes efforts aimed at assessing program participation, i... read full article

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education has awarded a two-year contract to Manhattan Strategy Group (MSG) for Rural Technical Assistance support with a focus on Dropout prevention. The purpose of this contract is to provide technical assistance to SEAs, LEAs, and middle and high schools, especially those implementing HSGI grants, in designing and implementing programs and securing resources to implement effective school dropout prevention and reentry programs in rural communities.

“MSG has a history of successful partnerships to deliver best-in-class solutions to the U.S. Department of Education. Our team brings unique and proven capabiliti... read full article

MSG has been selected to support the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the conduct of a feasibility study of methodological approaches to undertake an impact evaluation of the Innovation Corps Program (I-Corps). As part of this work, MSG will design data collection and sampling plans, assess potential methods for impact analysis, and provide a quasi-experimental or econometric evaluation design based on the feasibility of data and the expected outcomes defined to measure the long-term impact of the I-Corps Teams program.

The I-Corps Teams program seeks to identify NSF-funded researchers who will receive additional support - in the form of mentoring and funding - to acceler... read full article

MSG has been awarded a one-year contract to support the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) in identifying and promoting open education resources (OERs) in the area of career and technical education (CTE). MSG will review OERs from a variety of sources and identify ways to promote those that will best serve CTE educators, culminating in a practice-oriented guide for educators looking to build and post new OERs related to CTE.

“OERs are becoming a major transformational force in the education world today,” said Andrew Simpson, MSG’s Technology Manager. “MSG’s technology staff have been involved with OERs since the beginning, and we are prou... read full article

Inc. magazine today selected Manhattan Strategy Group for its seventh annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent entrepreneurs. MSG joins LivingSocial, Edible Arrangements, CDW and Lifelock, among other prominent brands featured on this year’s list.

“MSG and its employees are honored to be recognized for the hard work that we have put into our growth and long-term success. Our commitment to delivering quality work for our clients is our number one priority and is the primary engine for our growth,” said Shezad Habib, ... read full article

MSG, led by LMI and a team of eight other world-class companies in the area of continuous process improvement (CPI) will compete for tasks under a five-year blanket purchase agreement (BPA), awarded by the General Services Administration (GSA). There is no annual ceiling to the BPA, but the estimated yearly value is $60 million.

The BPA, which will serve as a government-wide vehicle, will allow LMI and its team to pursue a broad range of work in the area of strategic planning and program evaluation, strategic business analysis, process and performance improvement, communications and change management, and training, certification and recognition efforts. LMI’s team exhibits extensive... read full article

MSG is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) to provide technical assistance and technology support services. MSG supports Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) grantees to provide housing, education, and workforce opportunities for displaced and homeless teenagers. MSG’s services on this contract include peer monitoring, meeting coordination, database development, and TA (both virtual and on-site).

Parent involvement in their child’s education is widely known to enhance outcomes for students. Dr. Sally Wade presented two sessions on strategies that support family engagement in afterschool programs at the Foundations national conference for afterschool and out-of-school time professionals. These “standing room only,” sessions were extremely popular at the conference with active discussions and question/answer periods. Dr. Wade’s presentation included information on research and policy that support family engagement, effective strategies and common mistakes educators often make. One common mistake is focusing all efforts on inviting parents to events where children perform without in... read full article

LMI will lead a diverse, highly qualified team, including Manhattan Strategy Group (MSG) in competing for tasks to support the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army (DUSA) under a $28.5 million multiple-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. The scope of work is reflective of LMI’s acclaimed expertise in deep analytics and organizational improvement.

Over the course of the contract’s three years, MSG under the direction of LMI will compete for task awards to provide DUSA with advisory and assistance services for improving organizational alignment, performance management, cross-functional decision making, and knowledge and information management.

LMI will... read full article