A Local Evaluation Process for IMPACT

Why Evaluate? To realize and maximize your investment in technology What sort of “difference” has all of this technology made? What expectations have we established for higher performance? To continue your school or district technology planning effort Evaluation is a key component of ongoing technology planning! It’s a required part of the IMPACT planning process Good question here is to ask if any of them have attempted to do this sort of thing...and why or why not? Greg could talk about why FCPS decided to pursue evaluation. Maybe say a bit about the district’s background re. the audit, student competencies, etc.

IMPACT’s Local Evaluation Process

It All Starts With Goals What do you want to see happen? These are your goals Achieving these goals requires a process Are you performing the process steps? All of this can be measured through a formative evaluation Point here is to give them the basic layout/outline…REMIND THEM that we’ll make this specific to IMPACT later on today.

Basic Process Steps Create meaningful evaluation questions Design relevant indicators Organize those indicators in a performance rubric which can be used to measure progress and achievement Collect data to score the rubrics Create a report which applies the evaluation in a formative manner

An Example Goal and Question The school district will allocate technology resources effectively throughout the district to enable teachers to meet the needs of today’s learners. Evaluation Question: How effectively has the school district allocated technology resources to enable teachers to meet the needs of today’s learners?

Developing Indicators What is it that you want to measure? Impact on teaching and learning Change Progress towards desired outcomes You need indicators for progress to be measured Make the point that this is basically in line with student authentic assessments. If we’re using these sorts of assessments for student work, why not for the tools and processes which contribute to that work?

Indicators should reflect your district’s unique goals and aspirations Rooted in your vision and goals Indicators must be indicative of your unique environment...what constitutes success for you might not for someone else.

Rubric Tips Even number of levels Create from ideal to lesser Yes, Yes But, No But, No Be as descriptive as possible Do not get excessively quantitative

Data Collection Data collection is driven by your indicators Not the other way around Data collection instruments need to tie to the specifics of your indicators/rubrics As questions that seek out terms and conditions specified in the rubrics Triangulate Gather different types of data - surveys, focus groups, observations - that all support the same indicators

Conclusion Evaluation is a key part of the IMPACT plan at both the local and state level Not all evaluation is quantitative Evaluation is not just a survey You will create evaluation indictors that relate to each of the four IMPACT goals, or specifically, your district’s take on those goals

Conditions for Success Developed understanding the technology planning process and its value Awareness building Establish the need for evaluation Establish a process Leadership Commitment to reflective process The evaluation will only be as good as it is taken seriously