5.3 Program Evaluation
Candidates design and implement program evaluations to determine the overall effectiveness of professional learning on deepening teacher content knowledge, improving teacher pedagogical skills and/or increasing student learning. (PSC 5.3/ISTE 4c)
Artifact: GAPSS Review
Reflection:
As part of ITEC 7460, I was tasked with completing a GAPSS review in which I interviewed my school principal to determine her vision for technology use and her views on our school’s current reality of technology-based professional development, including our use of needs assessments to inform professional learning, their alignment to our school improvement plan (SIP), funding and incentives, training for teachers of diverse students such as special education teachers and ESOL teachers, collaborative learning, and professional learning evaluation. Using her insight, my own observations, and other evidence gathered from various sources, I then completed a Georgia Department of Education-created GAPSS analysis evaluate several aspects of our school’s professional learning as not addressed, emergent, operational, or fully operational and make recommendations for improvement.
The GAPSS review covered three major professional learning standards and several different elements within those standards to evaluate our school’s professional learning practices; many of these provided an opportunity to evaluate the school’s professional learning for its effectiveness in deepening teacher content knowledge, improving teacher pedagogical skills, and increasing student learning. For example, I found that our effectiveness regarding Standard PL 3.2: Deep Understanding of Subject Matter and Instructional Strategies was at fully operational, meaning that our school does a great job of using professional learning to improve teacher pedagogical skills. Evidence included the fact that both the school and the district have directed focus, mostly through teacher evaluation discussions and collaborative grade level work, on how to incorporate differentiation and rigor to classes so that each student is learning to his/her own fullest potential. Teachers collaborate on strategies that heightened student-centered learning and engagement such as project-based learning. Teachers have begun to implement more performance assessments such as essays and experiments rather than traditional multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank tests and quizzes. However, an evaluation of Standard PL 3.3: Sustained Development of Deep Understanding of Content and Strategies showed that our school was operating at an “Emergent” level for deepening teacher content knowledge because while administrators do not themselves lead formal professional development to enhance teacher knowledge of pedagogy and content, they do support teachers in these needs by sending teachers to workshops and conferences, hiring outside experts to conduct professional development on these topics, and directing teachers to online resources that build teacher knowledge. Additionally, administrators structure the schedule in a way that allows for collaborative planning and interaction, but these topics are often discussed in whole-group faculty meetings and are not differentiated to meet the needs of the different grade levels or content areas. Furthermore, an evaluation of Standard PL 1.6: Resources Support Job-Embedded Professional Learning found that our school was operating at the “Emergent” level because there is limited professional development devoted to helping teachers use technology to enhance student learning. A handful of teachers specifically seek and attend outside opportunities for learning about technology such as workshops and conferences, but this is not a common practice and technology itself is rarely or ever covered within job-embedded learning. This artifact demonstrates my ability to design program evaluation, as I designed the interview questions for my principal before completing the GAPSS analysis to get evidence for each standard. I also designed a method for completing the GAPSS analysis by combining my principals’ insight with my own perspective and evidence from the school improvement plan. This artifact also demonstrates my ability to implement program evaluation, as I personally gathered the evidence, determined the evaluation level for each standard and element, and provided recommendations for improvement in order to complete the GAPSS analysis.
I gained deep insight into the quality of the professional learning activities at our school both from interviewing our school’s principal for her insights as well as analyzing and reflecting on several aspects of our professional learning. I was surprised to learn how diverse our scores were: some standards were evaluated at a “Fully Operational” level, yet several were “Not Evident.” If I were to complete the GAPSS analysis again, I would try to find more sources of evidence and perhaps interview other faculty members to include their points of view as evidence for evaluating our professional learning.
This analysis could potentially have a positive impact on faculty development. By uncovering areas of weakness in our professional development, the school administrators could work to improve these areas to provide more effective professional development for our faculty. One could then assess this improvement by completing a follow-up GAPSS analysis to determine how and to what extent these areas of weakness were improved.
As part of ITEC 7460, I was tasked with completing a GAPSS review in which I interviewed my school principal to determine her vision for technology use and her views on our school’s current reality of technology-based professional development, including our use of needs assessments to inform professional learning, their alignment to our school improvement plan (SIP), funding and incentives, training for teachers of diverse students such as special education teachers and ESOL teachers, collaborative learning, and professional learning evaluation. Using her insight, my own observations, and other evidence gathered from various sources, I then completed a Georgia Department of Education-created GAPSS analysis evaluate several aspects of our school’s professional learning as not addressed, emergent, operational, or fully operational and make recommendations for improvement.
The GAPSS review covered three major professional learning standards and several different elements within those standards to evaluate our school’s professional learning practices; many of these provided an opportunity to evaluate the school’s professional learning for its effectiveness in deepening teacher content knowledge, improving teacher pedagogical skills, and increasing student learning. For example, I found that our effectiveness regarding Standard PL 3.2: Deep Understanding of Subject Matter and Instructional Strategies was at fully operational, meaning that our school does a great job of using professional learning to improve teacher pedagogical skills. Evidence included the fact that both the school and the district have directed focus, mostly through teacher evaluation discussions and collaborative grade level work, on how to incorporate differentiation and rigor to classes so that each student is learning to his/her own fullest potential. Teachers collaborate on strategies that heightened student-centered learning and engagement such as project-based learning. Teachers have begun to implement more performance assessments such as essays and experiments rather than traditional multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank tests and quizzes. However, an evaluation of Standard PL 3.3: Sustained Development of Deep Understanding of Content and Strategies showed that our school was operating at an “Emergent” level for deepening teacher content knowledge because while administrators do not themselves lead formal professional development to enhance teacher knowledge of pedagogy and content, they do support teachers in these needs by sending teachers to workshops and conferences, hiring outside experts to conduct professional development on these topics, and directing teachers to online resources that build teacher knowledge. Additionally, administrators structure the schedule in a way that allows for collaborative planning and interaction, but these topics are often discussed in whole-group faculty meetings and are not differentiated to meet the needs of the different grade levels or content areas. Furthermore, an evaluation of Standard PL 1.6: Resources Support Job-Embedded Professional Learning found that our school was operating at the “Emergent” level because there is limited professional development devoted to helping teachers use technology to enhance student learning. A handful of teachers specifically seek and attend outside opportunities for learning about technology such as workshops and conferences, but this is not a common practice and technology itself is rarely or ever covered within job-embedded learning. This artifact demonstrates my ability to design program evaluation, as I designed the interview questions for my principal before completing the GAPSS analysis to get evidence for each standard. I also designed a method for completing the GAPSS analysis by combining my principals’ insight with my own perspective and evidence from the school improvement plan. This artifact also demonstrates my ability to implement program evaluation, as I personally gathered the evidence, determined the evaluation level for each standard and element, and provided recommendations for improvement in order to complete the GAPSS analysis.
I gained deep insight into the quality of the professional learning activities at our school both from interviewing our school’s principal for her insights as well as analyzing and reflecting on several aspects of our professional learning. I was surprised to learn how diverse our scores were: some standards were evaluated at a “Fully Operational” level, yet several were “Not Evident.” If I were to complete the GAPSS analysis again, I would try to find more sources of evidence and perhaps interview other faculty members to include their points of view as evidence for evaluating our professional learning.
This analysis could potentially have a positive impact on faculty development. By uncovering areas of weakness in our professional development, the school administrators could work to improve these areas to provide more effective professional development for our faculty. One could then assess this improvement by completing a follow-up GAPSS analysis to determine how and to what extent these areas of weakness were improved.