Accountability Measures

Overview

As educators plan the work to enhance integration of technology within curriculum, instruction, and assessment, they must concurrently plan to evaluate these efforts. Effective evaluation is critical because it:

1. serves as a continuous accountability guide for the educators in the district;
2. provides feedback and results in data that support the project in continuous improvement;
3. provides pre-established, required data from the district to the state; and
4. documents the extent to which the goals and objectives of the project are actually achieved, in terms of the work accomplished, the quality of the work, and the impact of the work.

Strategies for Addressing Local Technology Applications and Plans

Evaluation Questions

The project's evaluation questions, though carefully developed to focus on the specific work of each grant, can likely be nested under the following three overarching questions:

• How has the funding from the grant actually been used? For example, what steps has the grant applicant taken to increase accessibility of technology? What professional development strategies have been used within the project? Who within the district has participated in the professional development opportunities? What has the grant applicant done to integrate technology into curricula and instruction?
• What is the quality and reach of the work of the project, e.g., professional development activities or processes?
• What is the impact of the work, e.g., on parent-school communication, on student and teacher attitudes toward technology use, on student and teacher use of technology inside and outside the classroom, on student achievement in identified content areas?

As applicants consider these questions and how they might be customized to address their specific project work, it may also be particularly helpful to refer to appropriate state or national standards that apply, such as standards for student or teacher use of technology, e.g., National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T) and Students (NETS•S) established by ISTE or standards for professional development such as those established by the National Staff Development Council. Applicants might also find useful the seven dimensions for progress in education technology identified by the Milken Exchange on Education Technology as a way to organize the evaluation of progress within their district.

Evaluation Planning

The evaluation plan that the applicant develops needs to demonstrate a clear understanding of: the needs on which the proposed work is based; the related data to be tracked over time; the use of evaluation strategies that will, indeed, provide the information needed to address the specific evaluation questions; and the manageability of the evaluation work by the designated internal or external person(s) who will do the work. At a minimum, the process for planning the project evaluation involves the following:

• Identify the evaluation questions:

  • related to what the district wishes to accomplish through the grant;
  • that the state department of education requires to be answered;
  • that are of particular interest to other identified evaluation audiences;
• Select the evaluation strategies (e.g., interviews, questionnaires, classroom observations, analysis of student products or scores) that will most effectively provide the data needed to address the evaluation questions;
• Identify or develop instruments to be used for data collection (e.g., classroom observation protocols, questionnaires, student product assessment rubrics);
• Develop a timeline for all evaluation activities including instrument development, data collection and analysis, and reporting/communication of results;
• Determine who will be responsible for the various aspects of the evaluation work and at what budget amount. The applicant will need to negotiate the work with either an external evaluator or internal staff members.

"Understanding the
impact of technology
integration requires
understanding technology
use in a social context."
(Honey, McMillan,
Carrigg, 1999)

© 2002 Education Development Center, Inc. All rights reserved.

Permission to copy is granted for educational use.
 
 

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Extended Resources

An Educator's Guide to Evaluating the Use of Technology in Schools and Classrooms
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdTechGuide/
This is a comprehensive, user-friendly overview of the basics of evaluation.

Assessing the Impact of Technology
http://www.ncrtec.org/pe/index.html
Several resources on this site are relevant to evaluating impact of technology in schools.

Technology Integration Progress Gauge
http://www.seirtec.org/eval/gauge.doc
This instrument supports school leaders in reflecting on technology integration practices in their school and improvements that can be made.

Evaluation Standards and Criteria for Technology Implementation
http://www.ncrel.org/tandl/homepg.htm
This article provides a useful overview of requirements for effective technology integration.

TechPlan Home Page
http://www.wested.org/tie/techplan/
This site provides useful tools for schools to use in self-assessment of technology integration.

References

Honey, M., K. M. Culp et al. Perspectives on Technology and Education Research: Lessons from the Past and Present. Retrieved June 12, 2002. Available online at http://www.ed.gov/technology/TechConf/1999/whitepapers/paper1.html.