Chapter 14 Evaluation Skills
by Christie Samuelson
Reasons for Evaluation
- National accountability and testing is a major reason why districts and schools evaluate programs.
- Data from exemplary schools show that decisions should be made based on this information.
Instructional Supervision and Program Evaluation
Programs that involve instructional supervision are:
- Curriculum
- Professional Development
- Student Assessment
How Do We Decide if it is a Good Program?
Wolfe's Typical Methods:
- Cosmetic Method-What does the program look like on the outside? Do students look busy? Are there attractive bulletin boards? If it looks good, it must be a good program.
- Cardiac Method-Go with what your heart tells you. If you have that feeling that it is a good program, then it must be regardless of what the data says.
- Colloquial Method-A group of teachers meets over lunch and decides it is a good program. Who is going to question the decision of a group?
- Curricular Method-Programs are avoided that would cause a lot of changes to the current program.
- Computational Method-Driven by data, data, and more data.
*It is very important to consider if the program actually needs to be changed. Will there be that much more benefit to the new program as compared to the existing program?
Key Decisions
Formative Evaluation-Evaluate as the program is going on and this is on a continuing basis.
Summative Evaluation-Used to decide if a program will remain or undergo changes.
Evaluators-Evaluators can be district personnel and consultants but should always include teachers since they will be implementing the instructional program.
Evaluation Questions
Implementation-How has the program been carried out so far and to what extent?
Outcomes-How successful have students been with the program?
Collect Data-This would include test scores, observations, case studies, surveys, and content analysis.
Analysis of Data-Analyze data by determining what types and how the data will be conveyed to others.
How Will the Evaluation Data be Reported?
Most decision makers will be interested in the results, not the raw data.
Reports should include the following information:
- Purpose of evaluation
- Description of program
- Questions to be answered
- Data sources, methods, analysis
- Results
- Recommendations