| Session Title: Systems Thinking for Curriculum Evaluation |
| Skill-Building Workshop 625 to be held in Room 106 in the Convention Center on Friday, Nov 7, 1:35 PM to 3:05 PM |
| Sponsored by the Systems in Evaluation TIG and the Pre-K - 12 Educational Evaluation TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Glenda Shoop, Pennsylvania State University, gshoop@psu.edu |
| Janice Noga, Pathfinder Evaluation and Consulting, jan.noga@stanfordalumni.org |
| Margaret Hargreaves, Abt Associates Inc, meg_hargreaves@abtassoc.com |
| Abstract: An educational program, and the curriculum that is at its center, is not self-contained. In actuality, educational programs are integrated, socio-technical systems that interact with the larger social, political, and organizational environment. If the function of curriculum evaluation is to make decisions about improvement as well as effectiveness, systems thinking can provide the broader perspective needed to understand the quality of what is going on. In this workshop, participants will learn how to apply systems analysis principles to the evaluation of educational curricula. The workshop will present two models for systems thinking currently used by the presenters to evaluate educational programs. Through a series of hands-on exercises, participants will be encouraged to draw on their own experience in curriculum evaluation as they are stepped through the processes of design, data collection, and analysis that underlie each model. |