Evaluation and Management in Education

Models of Evaluation:

Evaluation is necessary to every aspect of the classroom environment.  Too often I see people wanting to use data based solely on standardized testing scores, but as a classroom teacher, we know that this is not only inaccurate, but also ineffective in determining how you plan instruction.  Standardized testing is a valuable tool you can use when combined with other evaluation models.  I enjoyed this chapter and found it helpful to consider different ways to evaluate instruction.

I really liked reading about Patton’s Utilization-Focused Evaluation (U-FE) and I believe that as a classroom teacher I used a structure like this in managing my class.  Each week I had a “business meeting” with my 5^th grade students.  We took fifteen minutes on Friday afternoons to evaluate our week and make goals for the next week.  I started the year running the meetings and coming up with our agenda and leading discussion about what I saw that was good and what we needed to work on.  I had a mailbox on my desk where students could put suggestions or issues they had to discuss during our class meetings.  They shared their input and together we rewarded ourselves for goals accomplished and refocused on things that needed improvement.  I saw huge buy in with using this method in class.  Students felt valued and listened to.  Everyone got to have a say in our goals and they got to weigh in on desired rewards.  As the year progressed I had students help make agendas for these meetings and lead parts of these meetings.  My students really saw the benefit of goal setting and learning how to monitor their progress.  I loved watching them encourage each other during the week to stay on task and help meet our goals.  Here is a how U-FE helped us with classroom management.

U-FE Steps	Use in a 5th Grade Class
1. Conduct a readiness assessment.	Have an initial meeting with homeroom and discuss how we are a team working to achieve group goals.
2. Identify the “primary intended users” and develop a working relationship with them.	Get to know classmates and do teambuilding activities throughout the year.
3. Conduct a situational analysis.	Look at our objectives each week and what is hindering us in achieving them.
4. Identify the “primary intended uses”	Boost student morale and efficiency.
5. Focus the evaluation.	Choose our weekly goals (usually one or two)
6. Design the evaluation.	Brainstorm how we will achieve them (Ex. Bathroom breaks took too long à solution: have a competition between boys and girls to see who could finish faster)
7. Collect, analyze, and interpret the evaluation data.	As the teacher I would take notes throughout the week, students shared ideas/problems in mailbox, students had buddy system to help stay on task.
8. Continually facilitate evaluation use.	Sometimes we would have progress updates throughout the week to help keep us on task.
9. Conduct a metaevaluation.	At our weekly class meetings decide if we accomplished our goal and could check it off the list or if it needed to continue to be addressed.

The other evaluation method I loved reading about was Rossi’s Five-Domain Evaluation Model.  My last two years as a teacher I spent as a dyslexia specialist and I learned so much about assessing need during that time.  I wish I would have had all of that knowledge as a classroom teacher.  I did my best to share what I was learning with my peers and help them meet the needs of all their students in the classroom.  I believe that Rossi’s model was one of the biggest “aha” moments that I have had in education.  It is absolutely necessary in any instruction and evaluation to determine what is the objective and tailor the assignment to that objective.  So many times students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities (and students in general) get bogged down with the procedure and not the purpose.  Example: If you are wanting a student to study spelling words and handwriting is difficult for them, writing their words defeats the whole assignment.  Let them practice verbally or using a computer. Example: If you want a student to understand a scientific concept and reading is a challenge, don’t have them read an article describing this concept.  Let them watch a video or listen to it being read.  Example: When a student is assigned minutes to read for a reading log determine the purpose.  Is it fluency or comprehension?  If it is fluency, have them read a short passage over and over again for a set time and see how they improve in accuracy and speed.  If it is comprehension, let them read as quickly or slowly as they need to understand, or let them listen to an audio book or their parents read.  As educators, we have to know WHY we are assigning something. 

Rossi’s Five Domain Evaluation Model	How this looks in the Classroom
1. Needs Assessment	Determine the purpose of the assignment. Do you want students to learn a new concept or practice one already learned?
2. Theory Assessment	Explain why you are doing the assignment.  (This is especially important when assigning homework)
3. Implementation Assessment	Give clear instructions on what you want done.  Make sure each student has instructions in a way that they can understand (written instructions are always great).
4. Impact Assessment	Did the students learn a new skill or improve an old skill from this assignment?
5. Efficiency Assessment	How did students respond?  Were they able to accomplish it in a reasonable amount of time?

Student evaluation should constantly be taking place in a classroom.  Whether you are monitoring and noting visual cues (head on desk, distracted, engaged, etc.) or using data from tangible assessments, we have to remember that all students learn differently and respond to learning differently.  Allow students to show their learning by showcasing their strengths and design ways to help them grow in areas that need improvements.  When we as educators can do this, we will have happier more effective classrooms.

Leadership as a School Librarian:

There is a huge push today to incorporate technology into the classroom.  However, teachers are feeling more and more burdened by strict curriculum standards, and lack of time and support to effectively meet these standards.  They are also having to teach with more students in the classrooms and fewer resources based on budget cuts.  Time is precious to teachers who have lessons to plan, papers to grade and meetings to attend.  When I am a school librarian I will be responsible for helping to implement increased use of technology to help meet classroom needs.  I think the main thing that I will have to consider when creating professional development is how to make sure teachers see me as their ally and support, rather than one more thing to add to their already overflowing plates.  If teachers know me and trust me, and if I know my teacher’s needs; then I will be able to design professional development that will be useful and effective.  First things first, as a librarian I will need to collaborate often with my teachers.  I will need to be familiar with their curriculum and objectives in the classroom.  I will also need to know what technology is available and who my “experts” are.  I would design a series of professional development sessions using actual examples from actual classes.  I would work with teachers who are excited to use technology and help them design lessons that work.  In these sessions I would include the lesson plan, a video of the technology being used in class, teacher feedback, student feedback and then a step by step tutorial for teachers on how to create lessons using this technology.  I would have a file saved either on district cloud technology where teachers could access everything we did in the professional development sessions or make thumb drives available with the information that teachers could check out and use at their convenience.  I would also offer to come in and model teaching using the technology or co-teach a lesson.  I thought it was so refreshing to see how Brenda Litchfield included information on the importance of interpersonal skills in leaders.  I want to make sure that I am finding fresh ideas for teachers who are excited about technology and ready to try anything.  I also need to know how to support teachers who are interested but a little more timid and overwhelmed at the thought of trying something new.  Lastly, I have to figure out incentives to help teachers who are not interested at all to be willing to give technology a try.  As a leader, knowing your audience will help you to provide leadership that will inspire and encourage people to take risks and try something new.  I hope to be a leader that teachers will trust and want to work with because they know I have their best interest in mind.