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Applying Guskey’s Model for Evaluating Professional Development to a Math and Science Partnership Program: Successes and Challenges in Collecting Data Across Schools and Grade Levels
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| Presenter(s):
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| Carol Haden, Magnolia Consulting LLC, carol@magnoliaconsulting.org
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| Jane Kirkley, Northern Arizona University, jane.kirkley@nau.edu
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| Abstract:
This paper describes the successes and challenges of applying Thomas Guskey’s 5-level model for evaluating professional development to a program funded by Arizona’s Math and Science Partnership program. Professional development was provided to two cohorts of K-8 teachers in Northern Arizona across two years of the project. Program goals were to increase participants’ science content knowledge while also building skills in effective science pedagogy. Evaluation activities and data collection were particularly successful for understanding participant reactions (Level 1), participant learning (Level 2), and participant use of knowledge and skills (Level 4). Participants represented many different schools, and grade levels varied from kindergarten to middle school. These unique contextual factors led to challenges in evaluating organizational support and change (Level 3) and student learning outcomes (Level 5). We describe data collection activities at each level and how lessons learned in year one informed revisions to evaluation activities for year two.
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Using the Transtheoretical Model of Readiness for Change to Evaluate the True Impact of Evidence-based Professional Development in the K-12 Setting
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| Presenter(s):
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| Christa Smith, Kansas State University, christas@ksu.edu
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| Katherine Sprott, Kansas State University, krs8888@ksu.edu
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| Abstract:
For professional development interventions in the K-12 setting that are delivered in varying degrees, a holistic program evaluation that measures true attitudinal and behavioral change at individual and systems levels is necessary. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of stages of change (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1983, 1984, 1986) was applied as a framework to assess the impact of evidence-based professional development interventions for K-12 school personnel. This presentation will demonstrate the use of the TTM framework as illustrated through the program evaluation of evidence-based interventions implemented by a US Department of Education funded Equity Assistance Center. The presentation will discuss the application of the TTM framework in applying relevant metrics to measure the stages of attitude, knowledge, and behavior change and significant relations to appropriate demographic variables and the ultimate equity program outcome of establishing race, gender, and national origin equity in school environments.
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Determining the Validity of tEacher Self-Reports as a Cost-Effective Strategy to Evaluate Teacher Performance
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| Presenter(s):
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| Kasey McCracken, David Heil & Associates Inc, kmccracken@davidheil.com
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| Gina Magharious, David Heil & Associates Inc, gmagharious@davidheil.com
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| Joe Sciulli, National Science Teachers Association, jsciulli@nsta.org
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| Abstract:
This paper reports findings from a validation study of teacher-reported use of instructional strategies, based on independent classroom observations. The validation study was undertaken to support the evaluation of the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy — a professional development experience serving approximately 500 teachers annually that is designed to improve elementary school teachers’ use of inquiry-based instructional strategies for teaching science. The evaluation of the Academy includes measuring changes in teachers’ reports of their instructional strategies from before to after their participation in the Academy and one year later. During Spring 2009 and 2010, independent classroom observations were conducted for a sample of 48 teachers. Teachers’ ratings of their instructional strategies were correlated with observers’ ratings. However, teachers tended to provide more favorable ratings of their instructional strategies than did the independent observers. Findings from the validation study inform strategies for designing quality educational evaluations that balance research validity and cost effectiveness.
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Qualitative Analysis of Changes in Teachers' Knowledge, Beliefs and Classroom Practices Based on Three Years of Professional Development
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| Presenter(s):
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| Carol Baldassari, Lesley University, baldasar@lesley.edu
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| Sabra Lee, Lesley University, slee@lesley.edu
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| Rosalie Torres, Torres Consulting Group, rosalie@torresconsultinggroup.com
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| Abstract:
This presentation details analysis and reporting methods for teacher case studies conducted as part of NSF’s Mathematics and Science Partnership Program. This program funds partnerships between universities and school districts to improve teacher quantity and quality. We conducted in-depth case studies of four mathematics teachers, focusing on their participation in an immersion program of mathematics professional development and their subsequent transfer of learning to the classroom. The data collected, over 1.5 to 2.5 years, included observations of their professional development sessions, review of papers they wrote, interviews with both the teachers and the faculty who taught them, and classroom observations. The data analysis and case study writing methods to be presented helped reveal the significant impact of contextual factors (such as school- and/or district-level circumstances, and teachers’ backgrounds and experiences) that bear substantially on teacher learning from professional development and how they are able to transfer it to the classroom.
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