| Unlocking the 11 Components - Annual Evaluation |
Evaluation is critical to CSR for three reasons. First, evaluation demonstrates the success of the CSR initiative. The primary goal of all schools that engage in CSR is to increase student achievement. A well-planned evaluation will result in data that show when (e.g., in what grades), where (e.g., in which classrooms or with which teachers) and with whom (e.g., in which groups or types of students) such increases have been achieved.
Second, evaluation can be the foundation for sustaining support for CSR among school and district staff, parents, students and others interested in school improvement. For example, schools often find that behavior and attitudes improve long before increases in students' academic achievement occur. If data are gathered and analyzed during implementation, staff members can be recognized and rewarded for their early successes. In addition to student achievement data, the CSR program guidance suggests collecting data on other indicators of school performance such as attendance, grade promotion, graduation, suspension and expulsion rates, course-taking patterns, and parental involvement.
Finally, just as evaluation may be used to identify initial successes, it can also be used early in the implementation process to identify difficulties that may arise. Continuous data collection and analysis ensures that school staff members identify and respond to potential difficulties before they become problems.
Program implementation data is another area a school may wish to evaluate. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s CSR Program Guidance, “research has consistently shown that fidelity of implementation is a powerful factor in the success of school reform programs.” Recognizing the benefits of evaluation, many CSR model developers have created evaluation instruments to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the model. Some of these instruments are simple lists of benchmarks, while others are elaborate software packages for collecting and analyzing an array of data. When schools are considering a model and striving to meet evaluation requirements, they should keep the following two questions in mind.
- Does the school staff have the time, knowledge and technology needed to collect and analyze data according to the model specifications?
- Is the model evaluation broad enough to meet all of the school's CSR evaluation needs?
Key Issue
The key to efficiently conducting a valuable evaluation is planning ahead. Many schools see evaluation as a means of accountability rather than a tool; they do not think through the details of their CSR evaluations until after they have been implementing their improvement plans for a significant amount of time. New legislated requirements for annual reports on CSR implementation will put schools, districts’ and states’ feet to the fire to ensure that the progress of CSR is tracked. Evaluation, however, should not be thought of as an obligation but a tool. When evaluation is seen as a tool, evaluation and accountability requirements can be met while evaluation data for decision making and continuous improvement are being gathered and used.
Resources
- The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory’s Evaluating Whole-School Reform Efforts: A Guide for District and School Staff outlines key issues, logistics, and type of data schools and districts should consider when they assess their reform efforts. Transparencies and handouts for activities are incorporated in each section.
http://www.nwrac.org/whole-school/
- Comprehensive School Reform: A Guidebook on School-Wide Improvement, developed by the Region XI Northern California Comprehensive Assistance Center, contains a data collection matrix to be filled out by school staff. This matrix simplifies designing an evaluation by breaking down types of data to be collected on student demographics and achievement, classroom processes and support, and school management and resources.
Matrix: http://www.wested.org/csrd/guidebook/pdf/tools09.pdf
Full report: http://www.wested.org/csrd/guidebook/pdf.htm
|
