| Roundtable: Beyond Monitoring and Oversight: A Case Study of Evaluator as Critical Friend |
| Roundtable Presentation 523 to be held in Suwannee 21 on Friday, Nov 13, 10:55 AM to 11:40 AM |
| Sponsored by the Evaluation Use TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Sharon Rallis, University of Massachusetts Amherst, sharonrallis@earthlink.net |
| Abstract: The Massachusetts Public Charter School Association (MPCSA) has engaged in a three-year dissemination and replication initiative funded by the United States Department of Education. The project began by identifying high-performing charter schools that serve students from high-need communities and who are at risk for educational failure. A research team was contracted to document common elements of success across these schools. The project's goal was to disseminate findings and facilitate replication. Funding required external evaluation to measure progress toward benchmarks and monitor end-products, based on predetermined criteria. We were selected to fill this role, seen by the contractors to be one of oversight and compliance. From this perspective, the MPCSA was not anticipating use of evaluation findings for formative purposes. This paper tells how, over the course of the project, we changed the association's understanding of evaluation use. They came to describe us as their 'critical friends' who contributed to program improvement. |