Our Projects
Grant Program Evaluation in Rochester City School District
The Challenge
In 2026, Rochester City School District, a mid-sized urban district in New York with about 22,000 students, needed a final-year evaluation of its 2021–26 Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention grant from the New York State Education Department and a five-year summary for the state.
Under this grant, the district's Student Support Centers, in place since 1992, operated at four schools. Each center had a full-time coordinator or counselor and community partners who provided counseling, mediation, restorative practices, and crisis help.
Our Support
Gibson Consulting Group evaluated Year 5 of the grant from service logs, a staff survey, climate survey results, and attendance data, and synthesized the four earlier annual evaluations. Gibson was engaged for Year 5 only.
Year 5 evaluation. Gibson reconciled referral and service records from three separate logging systems, analyzed a staff survey completed by 42 staff at two schools, and reviewed school climate survey and attendance results.
Five-year synthesis. Gibson drew trends from the four earlier annual reports into a summary covering students served, reach, needs, staff views, and climate.
Recommendations. Both reports closed with recommendations for the next grant cycle.
Gibson's project lead was Dr. Jennifer McMurrer.
Results
The centers served more than 1,000 students at four schools in 2025–26, up from 500 at three schools in Year 1.
All 42 staff surveyed in 2026 agreed their school's center should be maintained, and 86% reported a positive effect on school climate and safety.
Staff agreement that the center had a positive effect on school climate rose from 67% in 2022–23 to between 84% and 91% in each later year, as reported in the annual evaluations.
Students' sense of belonging and safety generally declined at the center schools from 2024–25 to 2025–26, mirroring a districtwide pattern; small student samples limited firm conclusions.
Pathways to Peace closed 87% of its 2025–26 cases with goals fully or substantially achieved.
Gibson recommended a common data system for all four centers, the same staff survey at every school, more student participation in the climate survey, and attendance support paired with center services.
For your district. A district conducting a multiyear grant can use an evaluation of this kind to decide what to keep, measure, and fix when it applies for the next cycle.