About Us

proven track record

More than 30 years of experience

Evergreen Evaluation & Consulting, Inc. (EEC) is a woman-owned firm located near Burlington, Vermont, founded in 1990 by Dr. Patricia Mueller. EEC consultants and associates have extensive experience in developing evaluation strategies and methodologies designed to provide formative and summative feedback to project managers, program personnel, clients and end-users, and other key stakeholders.

EEC’s expertise is primarily in education program evaluation and professional development. EEC has conducted evaluations of State and Local Education Agencies, Technical Assistance and Dissemination Centers, Educational Technology Centers, and Institute of Higher Education grants. In summary, EEC is large enough to employ several experienced evaluators, yet small enough to be highly responsive to client needs.

We work with you to meet your goals
  • We have a demonstrated capacity to communicate evaluation outcomes about the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of large scale education programs and services. 
  • We use a collaborative approach to program evaluation design, analysis, and reporting, conducting all activities in close coordination with the client.
  • We pride ourselves on developing timely, flexible logic models and culturally responsive evaluation plans that provide the foundation for successfully moving a program forward to meet its goals and objectives.
talented, experienced, knowledgeable

Meet Our Team

Management Team
Patricia H. Mueller – Ed.D.

President & Founder

Patricia H. Mueller, Ed.D. is President and founder of Evergreen Evaluation & Consulting, Inc., a woman-owned firm specializing in development and evaluation of federally-funded programs. Dr. Mueller has extensive experience in writing and evaluating federally funded education initiatives to include: Technical Assistance & Dissemination Centers, Educational Technology Centers,  State Personnel Development Grants in several states, and personnel preparation programs, among others. Pat manages all of EEC’s current contracts.

Pat began her career as a Special Educator in the late 1970s and taught for 6 six years in VT public schools before coordinating a series of OSEP-funded grant projects based at UVM’s University Affiliated Program (now UCEDD) for 13 years. She acquired advanced degrees in 1986 and 1997. From 1997 to 1999, she held a position as a Special Education Administrator in a local Vermont district and in 1999 was employed as the Evaluation Specialist for the Northeast Regional Resource Center (.50 FTE) and began building her business to include EEC’s current and recent clients.

Dr. Mueller annually participates in professional development opportunities to stay abreast of new knowledge and to continue her skill building in the evaluation arena (e.g., American Evaluation Association pre-conference sessions and e-learning webinars). Pat’s advanced degrees are in Special Education and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

David Merves
David j. Merves – mba, cas

Senior Evaluator & Chief Financial Officer

David Merves, MBA, C.A.S. is a Senior Evaluator and EEC Director of Operations. He holds an MBA in Operations Research/Statistics. He also completed the Claremont Graduate University Certificate of Advance Study Program in Evaluation. Mr. Merves participates in project methodology selection, logic model and evaluation plan development, data collection, analysis and reporting.

David has a special interest in the use of technology to share evaluative data/information and improved reporting. He has presented at the Eastern Evaluation Research Society, American Evaluation Association annual conference, and numerous OSEP sponsored activities. His extensive business background includes statistics, survey development-implementation-analysis, professional development and utilization of technology for project implementation and reporting. David’s advanced degrees are in Business Administration and Evaluation Theory.

Evaluation Team
Judy M. Lee – Ph.D.

Dr. Judy Lee has provided evaluation consulting for over twenty years to state agencies, foundations, nonprofits, research and evaluation firms, and technical assistance and dissemination centers. For over six years, Judy has served as a Senior Evaluator for EEC, assisting with project proposals, project management, collaborative planning for evaluation design and implementation, instrumentation development, data collection, analysis, reporting, and conference presentations. 

Recently, Dr. Lee collaborated on the development of a national model for early childcare and education, a research and evaluation project with oversight from the Office of Head Start and grant money from the Buffett Early Childhood Foundation and the Ounce of Prevention Fund. She also managed a case study of the U.S. child welfare system for an international child serving agency and a research validation study for a residential treatment center. 

Judy served for over a decade as a long-term consultant to Casey Family Services, the direct service arm of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. There, she developed evaluation plans with stakeholders ranging from agency social workers to division leaders and the CEO, collecting data through mixed methods and providing recommendations for agency-wide practice and organizational change. Dr. Lee has worked with a variety of state departments to improve services to children, youth, and families, including MA, ME, OR, and CT. Judy’s doctoral degree is in Social Planning and Policy Analysis from Columbia University School of Social Work.

ARLENE RUSSELL – MPA

Ms. Russell received her Master’s of Public Policy at the University of Oregon and has served as a project coordinator and evaluator in various settings at the national, state, and local levels. Currently, Arlene is the senior evaluator on the NC SPDG and the RI SSIP evaluations, as well as supporting EEC in its evaluation of several Technical Assistance and Dissemination Programs (e.g., ECPC). 

Arlene has provided support to educational organizations as they implement policy and programs, including the design and implementation of both formative and summative evaluations and performance measurement systems. Her professional areas of interest within the evaluation and performance measurement field include systems change, and working with stakeholders to support improvement in educational contexts.

Anupama Shekar – Ph.D

Dr. Anupama Shekar has provided evaluation and research consulting for over 12 years both locally and internationally to federal and state education departments, universities, foundations, nonprofits, corporates and consulting firms. Her content areas of interests include educational leadership and administration, school improvement, community-based initiatives, professional development programs, family and community engagement, mixed-methods and qualitative research and evaluation methods. She is currently a consultant for EEC and several other organizations including Southern Methodist University’s Center on Research & Evaluation. 

Previously, Anupama worked as the Director for Evaluation at Teaching Trust, an education leadership non-profit organization in Dallas, Texas. She served as a post-doctoral research associate and worked for several years as an Associate Researcher with the WIDA Consortium which is a national and international prek-12 language development and assessment program housed at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned her doctoral degree from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University.

Jocelyn Cooledge – Ph.d.

Dr. Jocelyn Cooledge has served as a Senior Evaluator on numerous large evaluation studies including statewide, multi-agency evaluations, and in-depth local evaluations. She brings 20 years of evaluation experience in state and federal special education projects, including State Personnel Development Grants (SPDG), State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP), Technical Assistance and Dissemination Centers, post-secondary programs for students with disabilities, and a Safe Schools/Healthy Students project. Additionally, she conducts data analysis for the State Performance Plans/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) Indicators 8 (Parent Involvement) and 14 (Post-School Outcomes). Previously, she was the Director of the Evaluation Unit at HDI at the University of Kentucky, and the Evaluation Coordinator for the OSEP-funded Mid-South Regional Resource Center.

In addition to her evaluation work, Jocelyn has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as served as the Director of a federally-funded TRiO Student Support Services program. Her doctoral degree is in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in Behavioral Neuroscience, where her research primarily focused on recovery from traumatic brain injury.

Kim Chaffer Schroeder – Ph.d.

Dr. Kim Chaffer Schroeder received her PhD at the University of Kentucky in Higher Education with a focus on measurement, assessment and evaluation. She served as a policy analyst for the Government Accountability Office where she worked on a wide variety of topics related to economic development, financial markets, education and natural resources. In addition, she spent 15 years in higher education as a senior administrator working in enrollment management. Kim is experienced at evaluating education programs related to child/student outcomes, professional development programming, transition, persistence, completion and college readiness.

Currently, Kim serves as a TA Evaluation Specialist for the IDEA Data Center and as an external evaluator in various settings within K-12 and post-secondary education. Her professional areas of interest are creating cultures of data within organizations and empowering practitioners to use data to maximize outcomes and resource allocation.

Bridget Devlin – M.A.

Bridget received her Master’s degree in Museum Studies from George Washington University where she focused her coursework on program evaluation and arts administration. Before joining the team at EEC, she developed exhibitions and conducted evaluations for both the Smithsonian Institution and the Peabody Essex Museum. As a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she co-taught Formative Evaluation for Educational Product Development. Bridget supports EEC in its evaluations by assisting in survey implementation and monitoring, data analysis, reporting, and developing infographics.

Michele Mitchell

For over a decade, Michele has supported the work of EEC as Office Associate. Michele assists with administrative tasks, file organization, and accounting.

testimonials

Hear it from our clients

The EEC team is thoughtful, responsive, and so helpful in brainstorming new ideas. They are a trusted partner in our work and I am so grateful to have them in our project. Plus, the people are wonderful!
Project Co-Director & Senior Internal Evaluator
"The EEC team is very experienced, knowledgeable, organized, and enjoyable. They clearly identify evaluation questions and keep the work focused on these goals."
Project Co-Director
"The team is very well coordinated and helpful. Great knowledge of federal grant requirements and interpretations of report content, needs, and preferences."
Project Co-Director
"I have appreciated the evaluation work that EEC has completed for our Center. The staff is very competent and professional to work with. I would highly recommend them to other grantees."
Center Director
"I am always pleased with the quality of work EEC does, as well as the collaborative spirit in which the firm undertakes project evaluation. EEC's staff strike a near-perfect balance between ensuring that funding agency requirements are met through evaluation reports and activities, while also actively working so that project evaluation can provide data that actively supports the completion and quality of project activities rather than just being about compliance and 'box-checking'."
Director of Federal Relations
"This is my first experience working directly with an evaluator. The consistency, organization, and positive approach is invaluable. "
Project Co-Director
"The EEC team is very professional! I have confidence that they will keep the focus on meeting my project's evaluation goals so that we can stay on track with our project goals and timelines. The EEC team is flexible and understands when we need to make some adjustments in our data collection plans. They are professional and highly skilled in the work. I am grateful for the EEC team because they make working with them feel easy!"
Project Director
"The EEC team was very attentive at the proposal development stage, and then post-award as well. Their reputation in the field is well deserved, and it is clear why so many winning proposals have EEC as the evaluator."
Project Director
"EEC personnel are always easy to access and are very responsive. They support from conceptualization to analysis and everything in between. We've been able to incorporate written analyses into larger reporting efforts."
Technical Assistance Provider
"The work is always well done -- Pat and team help with conceptual thinking and then have really good follow through on collecting and reporting evaluation data. The reports are well done and thorough."
Project Director
"EEC collaborates with clients to produce responsive, quality work. I appreciate the dual focus on meeting reporting/funding requirements and generating actionable data."
Senior Internal Evaluator
"I would recommend EEC to colleagues for the following reasons: the consultative partnership approach that is part of the relationship; the trust that is developed; the working thought partner that we have who helps us reflect for continuous improvement and brainstorm for new approaches to challenges; the warm relationship that has been developed with our stakeholders; the guidance provided over time to help us keep our project on course as well as make course corrections along the way."
State Department Grant Director
"EEC staff is very knowledgeable about evaluation requirements that come from the funder, and the application of those to specific projects' goals and objectives. I very much appreciate their thought leadership and flexibility. Valued partners who improve our collective work."
Center Director
"EEC evaluation services are scientific, thorough, and well communicated. EEC staff work closely with the project team and ask insightful questions that influence the direction of the project, thereby the effectiveness of our work and our outcomes."
Center Director
"EEC sets the standard in program evaluation. Their methodologies are of the highest standard; they do an excellent job of translating data into accessible, useful reports; they meet every deadline; and they're a pleasure to work with. In addition, they remain current on regulations that impact their clients. When asked, they participate in funder/client meetings with complete professionalism and add significant value to those meetings."
Center Evaluation Team Lead
"Thoughtful and creative about methods and strategies to employ to assess the work; patient and persistent; produce high-quality work; organized and focused; helpful in brainstorming new ideas and researching approaches and strategies."
Center Evaluation Team Lead
"Strong expertise in the field of evaluation and educational assessment, close attention to activities and timelines, overall professionalism."
Center Evaluation Team Lead
"The EEC team is excellent – professional, easy to work with, timely, efficient and high quality. We feel confident that our evaluation work will be top notch when working with them."
Technical Assistance Provider
"EEC is collaborative, collegial and flexible while maintaining high standards for evaluating and documenting fidelity and quality of implementation. EEC's work has been critical in informing ongoing revisions to prototypes and our professional learning practices."
Technical Assistance Team Lead
"EEC leadership and staff have been extremely responsive to our project needs and bring deep expertise and experience with our OSEP client."
Center Director
"EEC employees have made a concerted effort to deeply understand my organization's mission and how we approach our work. They bring an unprecedented level of nuance to our evaluation efforts."
Center Co-Director
"EEC has considerable knowledge about evaluating projects that they are able to bring to bear. They also organize the evaluation process and provide leadership about next steps which is quite helpful to me as the Director. They also work collaboratively with the team. I am grateful that we asked them to be our evaluators."
Center Co-Director
"The EEC team is very knowledgeable about evaluation strategies, analysis procedures and always makes sound recommendations to clients."
Project Director
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