Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Louisiana State University

1998-99 LSU CITAL Project

"Preservice Elementary Teacher Education Program: A Total Community Effort"

Evaluation Plan

Effectiveness of Project

Dr. Kenton Denny, an expert in the field of special education from LSU's Department of Curriculum & Instruction, will develop an evaluation design to determine the extent to which educational improvements impact on student performance. The project's three major evaluation issues and the procedures for addressing these are described below:

• Effectiveness of pre-service teacher training program in achieving elementary teachers' acquisition and use of enhanced content, pedagogy, and technology practices. The most critical evaluation question is whether or not the training program was effective in achieving the instructional objectives. To assess trainee mastery of the specific objectives for each competency area, criterion-referenced performance evaluation checklists will be developed for documenting and evaluating trainee demonstration of specific targeted competencies in designing and implementing interventions utilizing principles of the enhanced coursework. Assessment of these competencies will occur in simulation activities using other trainees and by observing videotaped activities.
• Effectiveness of program in achieving ultimate goal of improving the outcomes for students with diverse learning needs, "at-risk" of school failure, or experiencing a learning disability. The most valid measure of the impact of the instruction will be to collect actual student progress data showing whether student performance has improved as a result of enhanced procedures. Project evaluation will encourage the teams to collect their assessment and student progress data. This will allow the project to determine if the procedures developed by the teams facilitate the acquisition of skills and changes in achievement and if not, whether subsequent program changes resulted in improved performance by the students. At a minimum, these data will include pre- and post-training measures of students' achievement and behavior.
• Team and course participant satisfaction regarding program content, format and organization. This level of evaluation is intended to provide the project with suggestions for improving the instructional materials and approaches from the perspective of the teams designing and receiving training. Basically, this evaluation will allow team members an opportunity to provide feedback concerning the: a) content, b) value and quality of materials, c) value and quality of simulated and actual practicum experience, and d) the overall organization of the training. Other evaluation elements include:
  • project participants will conduct an ongoing self study consisting of running records and journal entries of their experiences as they develop increased competence in using technology and telecommunications;
  • university faculty will evaluate the impact of having integrated technology into the preservice curricula on student learning; and
  • examples of integrated lesson plans and student-produced work will be demonstrated on the project web-site, with invitations for review and evaluation by all who access them.

Monitoring progress

During the coudse of the project, the directors must:

• ensure regular progress toward project objectives and activities.
  • Conduct an analysis of project work scope.
  • Collect regular measures of project performance.
• provide for effective and efficient use of resources and implementation of project management mechanism.
  • Maintain a composite time frame.
  • Maintain a schedule of completion.
  • Monitor budget expenditures and cost analysis.

  Go back to the 1998-99 LSU CITAL HOME PAGE.