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Evaluating Programs to Increase Student Achievement

Second Edition
By: Martin H. Jason

Foreword by Cozette Buckney

Make informed decisions about programs with this step-by-step evaluation process!

This practical resource provides guidelines to help school leaders determine the effectiveness of school programs. The author reviews key concepts of the program evaluation process to help new and experienced site-based administrators plan and carry out thoughtful program evaluations. In reader-friendly language, this second edition provides a wealth of updated information, including:

An expanded section on needs assessment, with examples
Additional methods for analyzing data productively
Strategies for using graphs to communicate program results
An in-depth discussion of the principal's role in the evaluation process
A built-in facilitator's guide and checklist

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412951258
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2008
Page Count: 208
Publication date: April 04, 2008

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Description

"The author does all the right things: stays on task, stays focused, communicates clearly, gives correct and adequate information that practitioners can understand and implement, and presents the content in a scholarly, yet friendly style that promotes collaborative efforts."
—Marie Kraska, Professor of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology
Auburn University

"Clear, concise, understandable information presented in a positive, upbeat, and respectful manner. I couldn't wait to share this with other team members!"
—Debbie Johnson, Principal
Lunt School, Falmouth, ME

Make informed decisions about programs with this step-by-step evaluation process!

School leaders can strengthen curriculum and help students experience greater achievement when they have an efficient process for evaluating the effectiveness of school programs. This reader-friendly resource presents a substantive overview of key concepts of the program evaluation process and offers practical guidelines to help administrators and faculty plan and carry out thoughtful evaluations.

Designed for new and experienced site-based administrators, this comprehensive second edition provides a wealth of updated information and tools for implementing evaluations, including:

An expanded section on needs assessment, complete with new examples
Additional methods to analyze data more productively
Strategies for using graphs to communicate program results
An in-depth discussion of the principal's role in the evaluation process
A built-in facilitator's guide and checklist

A successful, ongoing evaluation process can promote a collaborative culture among faculty, improve teachers' sense of accomplishment, and strengthen your school's ability to meet the expectations of students and parents.

Author(s)

Martin H. Jason

Table of Contents

Foreword by Cozette Buckney

Acknowledgments

Preface

1. Perspectives on Program Evaluation

Overview

How Program Evaluation Contributes to School Improvement

Benefits of Site-Based Program Evaluation

Goals of Program Evaluation

Two Evaluation Methods

Assessing Program Processes

Linking Evaluation With Program Improvement

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

2. How Program Evaluation Contributes to a Learning Organization

Overview

The Spirit of a Learning Organization

The School as a Learning Organization

Reflective Practice

Linking the Parts of the School Organization for Improved Performance

Applying a Systems Approach to Increase Student Achievement

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

3. Using Program Evaluation to Improve the Curriculum — A Developmental Approach

Overview

Compatible Evaluation Methods

The Problem of Confounding

Internal Validity

Some Further Threats to Internal Validity

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

4. An Experimental Approach for Evaluating Programs

Overview

Internal Validity—A Review

Building Control Into an Experiment

Random Assignment

Experimental Designs

Deciding Whether to Use One or Two Groups in an Evaluation Study

External Validity

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

5. Program Evaluation Through Collaboration

Overview

Why Have an Evaluation Team?

Team Composition

Factors for Principals to Consider in Establishing the Evaluation Team

Forming an Evaluation Team

The Team in Operation

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

6. Measuring Program Outcomes

Overview

Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Comprehensive Evaluation

Validity and Reliability of Evaluation Data

Validity

Reliability

Perspectives on Authentic Assessment

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

7. The Evaluation Process: Phases 1, 2, and 3

Overview

Phase 1—Describing the Program

Phase 2—Providing Direction for the Evaluation

Phase 3—Obtaining Information to Answer Evaluation Questions

Chapter Highlights

8. The Evaluation Process: Phases 4, 5, and 6

Overview

Phase 4—Analyzing Data to Assess a Program’s Impact

Phase 5—Evaluating the Program’s Effectiveness and Offering Recommendations for Its Future Development

Phase 6—Writing the Evaluation Report

Chapter Highlights

9. Writing the Evaluation Report

Overview

Format and Content

What the Evaluation Report Represents

Chapter Highlights

10. Assessing the Evaluation Project

Overview

Purposes of Metaevaluation

Formative Metaevaluation

Summative Metaevaluation

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

11. Revisiting the Principal’s Leadership Role in Program Evaluation

Overview

The Multidimensional Responsibilities of the Principal in Program Evaluation

Attitudes of Principals Toward Assessing Programs

Beyond the Technical

Principals’ Self-Assessment

A Concluding Note

Chapter Highlights

Appendix. A Mini-Guide for the Evaluation Team Leader

References

Index

Reviews

“The book is a comprehensive guide for school leaders, beginning with the role that administrators can take in promoting, supporting, and facilitating the assessment process, through the goals, process, and actual steps needed to review and evaluate programs.”

From the Foreword by Cozette Buckney

"Clear, concise, understandable information presented in a positive, upbeat, and respectful manner. I couldn’t wait to share this with other team members!"

Debbie Johnson, Principal
Lunt School, Falmouth, ME

"The author does all the right things: stays on task, stays focused, communicates clearly, gives correct and adequate information that practitioners can understand and implement, and presents the content in a scholarly and yet friendly style that promotes collaborative efforts."

Marie Kraska, Professor of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology
Auburn University

"The author takes a difficult and formidable subject and makes it user-friendly to the K–12 practitioner."

Judy Brunner, Adjunct Professor
Southwest Missouri State University

Other Titles in: Instructional Leadership | Program Development & Evaluation | Standards & Accountability

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Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.