Service Delivery | Work Plans | Evaluation

Service Delivery

The Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center's (MC3's) interactive service delivery system is grounded in evidence-based principles of high quality technical assistance (TA). Key to the success of the model is a seamless TA network that coordinates services across federal, state, and local providers and other partners in education. A three-tiered approach provides differentiated levels of services to states based on their needs: Tier 1(Universal Needs), Tier 2 (Targeted Needs), and Tier 3 (Intensive Needs).

Hold your mouse over a tier to view a description of the services provided.

Work Plans

MC3 develops an annual state work plan in conjunction with each state education agency (SEA). MC3 and the SEAs collaborate to

• identify the current and desired capacity of the state education agency (SEA) to support districts and schools in implementing No Child Left Behind (NCLB),
• determine high priority capacity-building needs, and
• plan MC3 technical assistance (TA) to meet those needs.

MC3 tailors TA strategies and activities to address the capacity building priorities of each state in the region. These strategies address

• the educational goals and priorities of states to be served, including major reform efforts underway;
• the current status of the states in meeting the requirements and goals of NCLB;
• the types of TA and related strategies that would help states, districts, and schools implement the programs and goals of NCLB and close existing achievement gaps in the content areas; and
• state and regional student demographics and other contextual factors, such as urban and rural locality.

The current MC3 work plans are available through the following links.

• Arkansas State Work Plan
• Kansas State Work Plan
• Missouri State Work Plan
• Oklahoma State Work Plan
• Regional Work Plan

Evaluation

MC3's work is evaluated internally by the MC3 Budget and Quality Assurance Coordinator and externally by the Educational Training, Evaluation, Assessment, and Measurement Department (E-TEAM), an evaluation and research group within the Public and Community Services division at the University of Oklahoma College of Continuing Education. E-TEAM researchers have extensive experience in conducting all phases of evaluation for educational and social entities.

The MC3 external evaluation is designed to

• assess if the technical assistance (TA) provided by MC3 to assist the Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma state education agencies (SEAs) is useful, of high quality, and relevant to helping these states achieve stated goals;
• ascertain if the SEAs are satisfied with the quality, content, usefulness, and access to technical assistance services they receive through systems designed to deliver high quality/research-based information and professional development;
• determine the extent to which MC3 is able to establish a strong, proactive, and coordinated system of TA with federal partners and other regional, state, and local TA providers, consultants, and content experts; and
• collect and disseminate information about the impact of MC3 on people and systems involved with or served by the Center.

The internal quality assurance program conducted by the MC3 Budget and Quality Assurance Coordinator ensures

• services are being provided as outlined in the state and regional work plans;
• the management plan is being executed effectively and efficiently;
• resources are being fairly and equitably distributed across the four states in the region; and
• provide guidance and oversight in the development of necessary quality improvement methods, as required.