Evaluation: Sound Practice for Professional Development and Student Learning

There is a common theme with regards to the need for effective instruction and professional development. In their article highlighting a research study supporting the effectiveness of professional development, Birman, Desimone, Porter, and Garet (2000) state ". . . it is essential that staff development provide the content and opportunities necessary to foster teacher learning and changes in practice" (p. 32). In light of instructional leadership on the part of teachers, Dick and Carey (2001) state that "[i]t is our thesis that the primary role of the teacher is that of designer of instruction, with accompanying roles of implementor and evaluator of instruction. This is a critical statement to consider. If education is to meet the needs of individual students through provision of appropriate knowledge and training in important skills, there must be increased dependence upon well-designed, effective instruction (p. 73). There repeated call for well-designed and effective professional development for teachers in addition to student learning opportunities.
Evaluation is a cornerstone in education. It informs us of potential issues in the future, how we are doing currently and how effective our learning experience was. According to Guskey (1999) in his paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association where he explores the evaluation process of professional development evaluation is defined as the examination of evidence and the application of judgment in a systematic investigation of merit and worth (p. 3). There is an obvious connection between the systematic design for instruction and effective professional development programs.
Guskey (1999) identifies three broad categories of evaluation including: planning, formative and summative (p. 4). Planning refers to an evaluation that takes place prior to the professional development activity. He highlights four aspects in this evaluation process including: identification of needs, assessing the characteristics of the participants, analysis of the context and the collection of related baseline information (p. 4). It is difficult not to draw the parallels that exist between Guskey's (1999) work with Dick and Carey's (2001) model of instructional design. Referring to their instructional model below, these four aspects are explicitly identified by Dick and Carey in their first three steps of a nine step design process for instruction.

Continuing the comparison, formative evaluation, according to Guskey (1999) is an evaluation that occurs throughout the process. Dick and Carey (2005) include formative evaluation in their instructional model and state that "[formative] evaluation provides the designer with a different type of information that can be used to improve the instruction" (p. 16). Guskey (1999) supports this by identifying formative evaluation as the most useful form of assessment as it is focused on the conditions necessary for success. It happens throughout the activity it usually provides the opportunity to make adjustments, modifications or revisions throughout (pp. 5-6). There appears to be a common belief between these individuals that formative assessments can inform and aid in the revision of instruction whether it is for teachers or students. It is integral and key to effective design.
Another commonality is that of the presence of a summative evaluation. Summative evaluations happen after the learning has occurred and it provides feedback about the effectiveness of the activity. Guskey (1999) indicates its role in the evaluation process of professional development, allowing for judgments of the overall worth or merit of the professional activity. The summative evaluation provides the opportunity for decisions regarding the life of the program or activity (pp. 6-7). In contrast, Dick and Carey (2005) have the summative evaluation as a separate component of the design for learning and do not consider it an integral part of the design process.

Clearly the three aspects of evaluation, planning, formative and summative are regarded as integral to effective instruction both for teachers and students.

References

Birman, B. F., Desimone, L., Poter, A. C., & Garet, M. S. (2000). Designing professional development that works. Educational Leadership(May), 28-33.

Dick, W., & Carey, L. (2001). The systematic design of instruction: Origins of systematically designed instruction. In D.P Ely & T. Plomp (Eds), Classical writings on instructional technology (vol. 2., pp. 71-80). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey, J. (2005). The systematic design of instruction: (sixth edition). Boston, M.A : Pearson/ Allyn & Bacon.

 

Guskey, T. R. (1999). New perspectives on evaluating professional development. In the American Educational Research Association. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.