UTILIZING FORMATIVE EVALUATION IN A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMTiah Alphonso

Louisiana State UniversityDepartment of Educational Theory, Policy, and PracticeApplied Research, Measurement, and Evaluation

Central Theory of Action for Teacher Professional Development

Professional

Development

Experience

Increase in

Knowledge and Skills

Change in

Teacher Practice

Improved Student Performa

nce

Considerations Detecting Change: The amount of change in teacher knowledge

and practice must be considerably large to detect even a modest amount of change in student outcomes (Quint & MDRC, 2011).

Timing of Outcome Measures: Professional development effects are often delayed because time is needed to implement the changes that emerge from the professional development activities (Silverstein, Dubner, Jon, Glied, & Loike, 2009).

Proximal Measures: If only student achievement is measured in a study of PD and no impact is found, then without teacher outcome measures, it is not possible to determine the point where or why the causal model failed (Wayne, Yoon, Zhu, Cronen, & Garet, 2008).

Influential Factors: A wide range of factors influence what takes place in the classroom which impacts the degree of transfer of knowledge and skills gained during professional development to classroom practice (Ingvarson, Beavis, Bishop, Peck, & Elsworthet, 2004).

LaMSTI Evaluation

PHASE IParticipants: 10 members from the 2010 LaMSTI Mathematics Cohort

Methodology: Electronically Administered Survey, Focus Group, Interviews, and Content Analysis of Documents

Phase I: Evaluation Focus & Goals

Evaluation Focus• The purpose of this evaluation was to provide

feedback on the process of program implementation and to assess outcomes related to specific program activities.

Evaluation Goals• Ascertain participants’ perceptions of program

activities• Identify program activities which participants reported

as having a direct impact on their classroom practice• Collect recommendations for change to the program

by participants

Phase I: Evaluation Findings

The following highlight program activities reported by participants to have influenced their professional beliefs and impacted their classroom practice:

Viewing familiar mathematics content in alternative ways which deepened their understanding of basic concepts and was directly relevant to the classroom

Exposure to pedagogical strategies including the principles of learning and deliberate practice in conjunction with planning for implementation of related personalized goals to their classroom practice

Observing peers present topics from the middle and high school mathematics curriculum

Individualized assignments tailored to advance participants from their current level of proficiency in mathematics with support provided in numerous forms

LaMSTI Evaluation

PHASE IIParticipants: 50 out of 63 LaMSTI participants from science and mathematics cohorts from the past five years

Methodology: Electronically administered survey modeled on instruments used in published studies.

Professional Development To Improve Student Achievement

Phase II: Evaluation GoalsDetermine the extent participants report:• The presence of the following features of professional

development in program activities: content focus, coherence, and active learning

• The following teacher outcomes as a result of their experiences in the program: enhanced knowledge and skills and change in their teaching practice

Use path analysis to determine the relationships among:• Essential features of professional development (content focus,

coherence, active learning, collective participation, and duration) and teacher outcomes (enhanced knowledge and skills and change in their teaching practice) as reported by participants

Identify factors participants report:• As influencing the transfer of knowledge and skills gained in

LaMSTI to their own classroom practice

Phase II: Evaluation Findings

Active learning, content focus, and coherence and consequent enhanced knowledge and skills and changes in teacher practice were reported at moderate to high levels.

Factors participants reported as influencing the transfer of knowledge and skills gained in LaMSTI to their own classroom practice:Most Inhibiting Factors Most Encouraging Factors

Time available to plan and prepare for implementation

Their own level of motivation to make changes

State- mandated standardized testing

Confidence in ability to change classroom practice

State-mandated curriculum Feedback from students

Phase II: Evaluation Goals

Path Diagram for Revised Model Based on Regression Analyses

Future Goals for Evaluation Continued work with survey data from

Phase II Investigating alternatives to teacher

report as a measure of transfer of enhanced knowledge and skills to classroom practice

Exploring the process by which teachers create change in their classroom practiceContact Information: Tiah Alphonso, talpho3@lsu.edu