TELLING OUR STORY: SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION DOCUMENTED THROUGH AN ETHNOGRAPHIC PHOTO GALLERY Leanne Kallemeyn, Loyola University Chicago Margaret Policastro, Roosevelt University Lisa Hood, Illinois State University Julie Wren, Loyola University Chicago

“The Ladies (and R.J.) of Roosevelt”

D ISCLAIMERS Local evaluation budget was approximately $10,000; relatively little funds are needed for the photographs. Photos were one of many data sources utilized in the evaluation We are only amateur photographers.

A CCIDENTAL D ATA S OURCE ? Dr. Policastro told me at one of our initial meetings in fall 2010 that she planned to take pictures of the schools, so that she could “tell the story” of their work. She intentionally visited the schools prior to the beginning of their work, in order to take pictures. I encouraged her to continue taking pictures, and I also took pictures when I visited the schools.

U SE OF STILL IMAGES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Visual narratives—Choose and arrange photographs to create a narrative Empirical evidence— “Record of the subject at a particular moment” (p. 182) Photo elicitation—Present a set of photos to stakeholders, in order to generate their responses Phenomenological mode—”Photographer chooses points of view that illuminate different aspects of the unfolding social reality.” (p. 191) Source: Harper, D. (2003). Reimagining visual methods: Galileo to neuromancer. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (2 nd ), pp Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

V ISUAL N ARRATIVES Visual narratives have facilitated program implementation and dissemination. Weekly s with project updates (39 photos) Powerpoint presentations in SP 2011 course (49 photos) Professional development presentation at a school outside of the project (12 photos) Teacher Tool-Kit (19 photos) Pre-service teachers posting photos on facebook SmileBox Slide Show SmileBox Slide Show for oral report to teachers, administrators, Roosevelt faculty, and Illinois Board of Higher Education

E MPIRICAL E VIDENCE Preliminary oral evaluation report and presentations Evidence for elements of the program logic model Evidence of change over time, particularly in the school environment Beneficial for monitoring and compliance, and formative evaluation

P HOTO E LICITATION Incorporated a set of photos into interviews with administrators and teachers during school site visits

PHOTO ELICITATION (Con’t) Engage stakeholders in interpretation and analysis of photos representing program implementation and impact Process to help engage discussions of values among stakeholders

P HENOMENOLOGICAL M ODE Currently, photos provide Margaret's perspective on program implementation and impact Demonstrate what Margaret values in regards to Balanced Literacy Potential way to document partnership development and penetration of program implementation within the school Purchased cameras for the schools this year, in order to capture administrator and teacher perspectives

SUCCESSES Photos are engaging, powerful ways to communicate the program model and evaluation findings Provides evidence that balanced literacy can be implemented in schools in the Woodlawn neighborhood Makes the concept of Balanced Literacy concrete, tangible, which seems to facilitate understanding and program implementation. Resonates with stakeholders that may be adverse to numbers Facilitates utilization of evaluation findings. “I watched the slide show four times last Friday.”

S UCCESSES ( CON ’ T ) Photos disseminate easily. Photos are particularly beneficial for documenting people, and changes to the school and classroom environments. Photos have built trust between the local level stakeholders and the evaluation team, since the photos represent and validate their experiences. Photos represent values integral to social change that are complex to represent in traditional data sources.

Beautification of the School Environment

Relationship Building; School- University Collaboration

Commitment School Leaders have to Improving Instruction in their Schools

C ONSIDERATIONS Digital photo management, organization, and sharing is challenging, particularly when the project must meet Institutional Review Board approval. Processes for analyzing visual images are underdeveloped. Photos as empirical evidence are “both constructed and real” (Harper, 2003, p. 183). Photos may not be valued by all stakeholders. Photos can interfere with relationship building.

Q UESTIONS /C OMMENTS Leanne Kallemeyn, Loyola University Chicago, Margaret Policastro, Roosevelt University, Lisa Hood, Illinois State University, Julie Wren, Loyola University Chicago,