Brenda Engel, Senior Research Associate and Professor Emerita

In 1974, after a year of intensive planning on the part of a dedicated group of parents, teachers, and consultants, the Cambridge Alternative Public School opened--the first "open classroom" public school in Boston. Having recently returned from a half-year in England, Brenda Engel participated in this endeavor in the capacity of consultant. Brenda recalls that the pedagogy of this school was mainly imported from England and not yet firmly rooted in American soil; in other words, long on theory and short on know-how.

Looking around, then, for ideas and inspiration, Brenda was urged to get in touch with the Prospect School, whose director, in turn, introduced her to the North Dakota Study Group on Evaluation. Through this group, Brenda got to know most of the individuals who would be key to her personal, intellectual, and professional learning of the next 20 years. George Hein was among these individuals.

In 1976, George Hein invited Brenda to join him in making a proposal to evaluate a number of programs coordinated by the Cultural Education Collaborative in Boston. The matrix Brenda devised for Brenda the initial cluster of evaluations would serve as a model for the methodology used on the future projects of what would soon become the Program and Evaluation Research Group.

Though now retired in her capacity of PERG Co-Director, Brenda remains an active member of the PERG community--presenting, supporting, and interpreting the ideas upon which PERG was founded for its present members. Brenda describes her discovery of the "new" evaluation methodology which PERG has implemented since its first days implements as, "one of those rare moments of undoubted recognition."