Group items tagged

"developmental evaluation" contrasted with traditional: Complexity-Based, Developmental Evaluations... provide feedback, generate learnings, support direction or affirm changes in direction. develop new measures and monitoring mechanisms as goals emerge & evolve. position evaluation as an internal, team function integrated into action and ongoing interpretive processes. design the evaluation to capture system dynamics, interdependencies, and emergent interconnections. aim to produce context-specific understandings that inform ongoing innovation. accountability centered on the innovators' deep sense of fundamental values and commitments. learning to respond to lack of control and stay in touch with what's unfolding and thereby respond strategically. evaluator collaborates in the change effort to design a process that matches philosophically and organizationally. evaluation supports hunger for learning.

The "Evaluation Exchange" is a periodical published by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It reports new ideas in evaluating programs and policies.This is a great resource because they include short yet in-depth articles focused on evaluation. I am sure that most CCT students could find useful resources and information within this site. One article I read, called "Evaluating the Impact of Professional Development," was of interest to me because it directly relates to my topic of evaluating a potential professional development opportunity for teachers.

begins w/ a brief introduction to appreciative inquiry (Ai)...Calls for evaluation of the process are acknowledged, as are the few evaluations/critiques of Ai we have found in literature. discuss how critical theory may be applied to an evaluation of appreciative inquiry bridging an apparent paradox between the negativity associated with the former and the positive focus of the latter. An initial application of Critical Appreciative Process (CAP) is described to illustrate how the integrated use of appreciative inquiry and critical theory deepens insight and recognition of the complexity in human endeavours.

Although my project is not necessarily geared toward evaluating an actual exhibit, I stumbled upon this site that is relevant and pretty interesting. This museum dedicates an entire section of its website to sharing evaluation reports of its exhibits. Most of their evaluations are conducted through observations and interviews, which gave me some ideas about how to design my own evaluation process. The Natural History Museum's evaluations are easy to read and might give others ideas about how to design effective evaluation procedures.

Quite theoretical approach to evaluation that recognizes that the real world is not as neat as controlled scientific experiements

randomized control trials used in medicine to evaluate the effectiveness of drugs are now being used to evaluate policies -- some people get assistance; others don't.\nthis can be read in conjunction with the course reading by Muir, Hazel. 2008. Science rules OK: Running societies the rational way. New Scientist (24 May):40-43.

The author presents examples of policies that are "bright ideas that have backfired in the real world." Specifically, examples such as random drug testing in prisons, giving juvenile delinquents tours of prisons to scare them straight, and randomised controlled medical treatment trials. She points out that what many of these policy makers are lacking is research on evidence of effectiveness, and that policy makers and researchers need to be in dialogue with each other. "Stubborn ideology," as she calls it, is costing us money.

Jenal Austin December 2010 "Science Rules OK: Running Societies the Rational Way" This article discusses the importance of basing public policy on evidence found through appropriately- conducted research studies rather than on assumptions or "feel good" ideology. Unfortunately, due to the fact that politicians want to come across as confident and decisive, they often prefer a simple evaluation of policies that research may have found to be unbeneficial for society. "Rigorous evaluations are seen as threatening rather than supportive of better policy" and many people view the task as "laborious, slow, and expensive." Social policies are also often seen as harmless when, in fact, there has been evidence showing that poorly researched policies have increased drug use in prisons as well as the number of teens involved in car accidents. Large randomized trails are necessary to evaluate whether or not a program might work on the national scale. It is also important that researchers and policy makers communicate with one another and that governments utilize proven facts rather than clinging to idealistic visions.

The was written in 1997 (by professional development specialists), so it is a little older, however it is a nice overview of the importance of evaluating professional development programs for teachers. Anyone interested in action research related to professional development would find this useful!

This article evaluated procedures for training supervisors in a residential setting to provide feedback for maintaining direct service staff members' teaching skills with people who have severe disabilities Following training in provision of feedback, all supervisors met criterion for providing more effective feedback to their staff. Results showed that maintenance of teaching skills was greater for direct service staff whose supervisors had received training in providing feedback relative to staff whose supervisors had not received such training.

This article talks about when it may or may not be appropriate to use action learning. Action learning is an approach you take on with a group to gain a better knowledge of a particular objective that can be achieved through shared reflection and action. Through this process individuals willingly participate to deal with a problem as a group and create innovative ideas that can be carried out and evaluated to continue revisionism. (Our action research class in a nutshell) The example chapters at the beginning outline a clear picture of a kind of problem that needs continued learning and revision to meet a better goal after reflection and reassessment occur.

The article is about a systematic approach and learning about "a problem" resolving them with a group of committed people through reflection and dialogue. This action learning approach may not be suitable for everyone due to the time constraints and the possible need for immediate problem- solving. There are tools that are utilized during the process of trying to learn about a problem that help to facilitate the learning process of that problem.

This article provides more resources to the Action Research Process. This involves identifing a problem and wanting to implement change to improve outcomes. Something each Action Research articles have in common are reflection and evaluation.

Dean Ornish's organization. Journal artciles evaluating effects

"Empirically supported treatments (ESTs) are interventions that have been found to be efficacious for one or more psychological conditions, like major depression, panic disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Prior to the 1990s, there were no specific guidelines for either practitioners or mental health consumers regarding which treatments to select for which conditions. " "Because ESTs are manualized, they necessarily constrain clinical creativity. To some extent, this criticism is based on a caricature of manualized therapies. Treatment manuals do not necessarily mandate fixed responses to patients' verbal behaviors in therapy; instead, most manuals provide flexible guidelines for how to proceed at different stages of treatment. Moreover, increasing numbers of treatment manuals afford therapists considerable leeway to respond flexibly to differing patient trajectories within treatment. "

"Jenny W. Rudolph, PhD, VA Boston Healthcare System"

"we ought to ask why meditation is useful. So I polled a group of meditation researchers, teachers and practitioners on why they recommend it. I liked their answers, but none of them were unique to meditation. Every benefit of the practice can be gained through other activities. This is the conclusion from an analysis of 47 trials of meditation programs, published last year in JAMA Internal Medicine: "We found no evidence that meditation programs were better than any active treatment (i.e., drugs, exercise and other behavioral therapies)." "