DECEMBER 2002 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEWSLETTER
High-quality professional development programs provide sustained,
ongoing opportunities for professional learning that should impact
student learning. Professional development program evaluation
provides information to develop or improve professional development
programs. Rather than relying solely on participants’ workshop
evaluations, we must also examine what teachers have learned, how
new skills and knowledge are used in teaching, and the impact on
student learning. This edition of the Newsletter shares resources
for planning effective professional development evaluation.
1. Principles of Effective Professional Development Evaluation
2. Developing an “Evaluation Master Plan”
3. Professional Development Evaluation Handbook
4. Evaluating Professional Development
5. Practices From Award-Winning Schools and Districts
6. Evaluation Resources and Tools
CURRENT EVENTS
7. Conference for Teacher Leaders
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1. PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EVALUATION
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“The Age of Our Accountability,” (Journal of Staff Development,
Fall 1998) by Thomas R. Guskey presents key professional development
evaluation concepts. Guskey outlines three purposes for evaluation:
planning, formative evaluation, and summative evaluation. He
presents five critical levels of professional development evaluation:
participants’ reactions, participants’ learning, organizational support
and change, participants’ use of new knowledge and skills, and
student learning outcomes. Guskey also provides 12 guidelines for
effective professional development evaluation.
http://www.nsdc.org/library/jsd/guskey194.html
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2. DEVELOPING AN “EVALUATION MASTER PLAN”
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This short article discusses the development of an “evaluation master
plan,” and provides an overview of four phases of professional
development evaluation: organizing the evaluation process, designing
the evaluation, preparing to report findings, and creating the work
plan. An example of a data/question matrix is included; this type of
a matrix is a tool for critiquing a planned professional development
evaluation, considering both the questions to be answered, and
data sources from which information is to be collected.
http://www.nsdc.org/library/jsd/champion234.pdf
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3. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EVALUATION HANDBOOK
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This handbook from the Urban Institute guides the reader through
the process of planning professional development evaluation. The
handbook offers guidance on describing the program to be evaluated,
identifying and involving stakeholders, establishing evaluation goals
and objectives, writing the evaluation design, identifying data
sources, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings.
http://www.urban.org/education/410432.html
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4. EVALUATING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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This online publication on professional development evaluation
from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory discusses
the role and importance of professional development evaluation,
the important goals of evaluation, formative and summative evaluation
issues, and implementation pitfalls. Illustrative cases are presented,
and resources for professional development evaluation are provided.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/profdevl/pd500.htm
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5. PRACTICES FROM AWARD-WINNING SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS
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“Professional Development: Learning From the Best” is a toolkit for
educators based on the National Awards Program for model professional
development. The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
publishes the toolkit. The third section of the toolkit discusses
approaches for evaluating and improving professional development.
Vignettes that describe professional development evaluation
approaches used by award-winning schools and districts are included.
http://www.ncrel.org/pd/toolkit/step3.pdf
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6. EVALUATION RESOURCES AND TOOLS
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“Achieving Your Vision of Professional Development: How to Assess
Your Needs and Get What You Want,” published by The Regional
Educational Laboratory at SERVE examines exemplary practices from
the 1999 National Awards Program for Professional Development.
Chapter Six reviews practices for “Assessing and Monitoring
Progress.” A model for evaluating program content, program quality,
Context factors, and program outcomes are provided. Also included is
a tool for evaluating potential professional development activities,
and another tool for identifying key questions to guide the
evaluation of professional development activities. Chapter Six begins
on page 111 in the handbook.
http://www.serve.org/publications/htayv.pdf
CURRENT EVENTS
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7. CONFERENCE FOR TEACHER LEADERS
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The 2003 Professional Development Conference for Teacher Leaders
(formerly the Mentor Teacher Conference) provides a forum to explore
how teachers, in their roles as leaders, contribute to achieving
excellence for student groups that have historically been denied
excellence by our school system. In-depth sessions offer help in
coaching new and veteran teachers to ensure their students achieve
excellence. This three-day conference, "Teachers Lead the Way:
Evidence of Excellence Through Equity" will be held
March 24-26, 2003, in Palm Springs. Register by December 15 for
the lowest conference rates. There are opportunities to network with
PAR, BTSA, National Board Certified Teachers, and other teacher
leaders. Keynote speakers include Glenn Singleton and Amada Irma
Perez. For more information contact EduAlliance at 831-457-7991 or
by e-mail at http://www.edualliance.org
This electronic newsletter is sponsored by the Region 8 California Professional Development Consortium (CPDC) administered by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, or to subscribe to our other our free electronic Newsletters for Middle School or Professional Development issues, email call or fax Christina Doyle: email - cdoyle@kern.org, phone (661) 636-4331 or fax (661) 636-4135.
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