Data for Decision-Making Assessing the impact of technology implementation and professional development

zShelley Chamberlain yLexington Public Schools -- Coordinator of Technology, K-12 zJoanne Benton yLexington Public Schools -- Director of Elementary Education zJeff Sun yDirector, Sun Associates

Get the Resources zwww.sun-associates.com/resources/massupt yThis presentation ySample rubrics from Lexington’s evaluation projects yTechnology evaluation workbook yOther program evaluation resources

Lexington’s Technology Plan zCurrently in 5th year of 5-Year Plan zSun Associates has worked with the district to evaluate implementation since Year 2 zPrimarily, we have evaluated technology professional development and its impact on K-8 teachers

Plan Staging zYear 1-- Building Infrastructure zYear 2 -- Developing teacher basic skills zYear 3 -- Applying skills to curriculum zYear 4 -- Developing standards and competencies zYear 5 -- Refining and extending

What Have We Evaluated? zAcquisition of teacher skills (Year 2) zEfficacy of professional development models (Years 2 - 5) zTeacher beliefs and attitudes related to technology, curriculum, and change zGathering data on learnings, models, and other developments

What has Lexington Learned? zAccountability zPlanning -- e.g., what models do we want to promote and highlight? zHighlighting areas for continued/renewed attention -- e.g., infrastructure again!

How? zApproach centers on the development of unique indicators for success zReally a subset of formative evaluation strategies developed to assess the value and impact of technology at a district level zEmphasis is on developing indicators that are unique to a district’s technology goals and objectives

Why? zThe point of evaluation -- whether broad or narrowly focused -- is to gather data that promotes reflection on your progress toward meeting your goals zFocused reflection drives clarity of goals and expectations... zwhich must be communicated to your entire community (staff, students, parents,...)

zProducts yGoal refinement -- important for planning yFine-tuning processes yConnecting with community expectations

Connecting with the Bottom Line zWhat are our expectations for technology? zAre we achieving our expectations? zWhat is reasonable to expect? yTest scores? yIsolated effects of technology? yImpact on how teachers think about teaching and learning? zCreating the space to talk about these issues