| Session Title: Using Participatory Evaluation to Help Parents Redefine Success for Students and Schools |
| Think Tank Session 371 to be held in the Quartz Room Section A on Thursday, Nov 6, 3:35 PM to 4:20 PM |
| Sponsored by the Collaborative, Participatory & Empowerment Evaluation TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Elizabeth Kelly, Independent Consultant, ekelly.work@gmail.com |
| Discussant(s): |
| Brook Hedick, Rye School District, canoepad@earthlink.net |
| Richard Wilde, Independent Consultant, rwilde@hotmail.com |
| Abstract: Data on test scores, school success, and college rankings increased dramatically. Information sharing no longer waits for local school board meetings, but is found daily through the Internet. The intention of such data sharing is to help parents make informed decisions about schools and their children's future. However, unintended outcomes have created a culture of achievement and assumptions about school success that impact where we live, the taxes we pay, and the confidence we have in ourselves as parents. How is it that test scores, class size, attendance rates, and college acceptance remain the most prevalent forces behind what we believe about our children? Using participatory evaluation methods we propose a model for parents and students to join schools in asking the new questions about student and school success - ones that speak to families' very real concerns for their children as every day learners, and as citizens of the future. |