Learning by doing: evaluating the key features of a professional development intervention for teachers in data-use, as part of whole school self-evaluation process

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivaun O’Brien ◽  
Gerry McNamara ◽  
Joe O’Hara ◽  
Martin Brown
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Development Intervention ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Key Features

Research-to-Resource: Self-Assessment and Reflection and Music Educators

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-50
Author(s):  
Douglas C. Orzolek
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Personal Reflections

Many researchers, authors, and thinkers submit that a teacher’s self-assessment and personal reflections are the best means to evaluate and improve teacher effectiveness. In addition, several researchers, authors, and organizations have taken the time to develop and consider tools to assist in the process of self-evaluation as well as considering the effectiveness of these measures. This research-to-resource article will summarize these ideas and tools as a means to help teachers determine the role that self-assessment and reflection might play in their professional development and teacher evaluation process.

scholarly journals Students as co-researchers in a school self-evaluation process

2021 ◽  
pp. 136548022110346
Author(s):  
Shivaun O’Brien ◽  
Gerry McNamara ◽  
Joe O’Hara ◽  
Martin Brown ◽  
Craig Skerritt
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Student Involvement ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
School Level ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Team Student

School self-evaluation (SSE) or data-based decision making is now a common feature of mainstream education in an increasing number of jurisdictions. The participation of stakeholders including students, is promoted internationally as a key feature of effective SSE. Despite this, very little research has been carried out on how education systems might involve students in SSE and even less research has explored how student involvement can move beyond mere tokenism. Similar to many other jurisdictions, Irish schools are encouraged to include students in SSE. However, the research to date would indicate that while students are frequently consulted through the use of surveys they have little or no involvement in decisions that are made as part of the SSE process at a whole school level. This case study explores an atypical approach to student engagement in SSE which was tested in one Irish post-primary school where students participated as co-researchers along with their teachers in the SSE process. In doing so, student participation in SSE shifted from student as data sources to students as co-researchers. Students became members of the SSE Team, responsible for consulting with the wider staff team, student body and parents. They were actively involved in the completion of a whole school self-evaluation report on assessment and the development of a school improvement plan. The study outlines the key stages of the project and how student participation evolved through the process. Interviews conducted with both the teacher and student members of the SSE Team illuminates the experience of the students and staff on the SSE team. The findings indicate that this approach resulted in significant positive outcomes for the school and the individuals involved, but there were also a number of challenges. Student involvement resulted in greater awareness among, and participation of the wider staff team in the SSE process. However, it required more resources and time than is usually the case for an SSE process in Irish schools. The research suggests that this level of participation by students may require a more systematic and sustained engagement of students in decision making at a classroom level in order to build capacity of students to contribute to decision making at a whole school level on an ongoing basis. This study may have an application in jurisdictions aiming to include students in SSE, particularly at a higher level, and it also provides a glimpse into the deliberate planning and structures required if schools are to move beyond an instrumentalist, compliance model of ‘student voice’ towards a more authentic model of inclusive democracy.

A regulatory focus approach to the self evaluation process

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Leonardelli ◽  
Jessica Lakin ◽  
Robert Arkin
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Evaluation

The ideal self is me: Deconstructing the self-evaluation process

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey L. Guenther ◽  
Kathryn Applegate ◽  
Steven Svoboda ◽  
Emily Adams
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Process ◽  
The Self ◽  
Ideal Self ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
The Ideal

Leadership and school self-evaluation in Irish-medium immersion: A roadmap for success

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110152
Author(s):  
TJ Ó Ceallaigh ◽  
Aoife Ní Shéaghdha
Keyword(s):  
Quality Indicators ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Individual Interviews

While research on Irish-medium immersion education (IME) has heralded benefits such as cognitive skills, academic achievement and language and literacy development, many studies have also identified challenges to its successful implementation. Immersion-specific research-validated tools can help school leaders navigate the school self-evaluation journey, critically review and evaluate the quality of aspects of their school’s provision and plan for improvement. This paper reports on one theme, leadership, from a larger study, Quality indicators of best practice in Irish-medium immersion (Ó Ceallaigh and Ní Shéaghdha, 2017). Qualitative in nature, the study was guided by the following research question: What are IME educators’ perceptions of best practices in IME?. The study explored 120 IME educators’ perceptions of best practice in IME to inform the development of IME quality indicators. Individual interviews and focus group interviews were utilised to collect data. Data analysis revealed particular themes related to best IME leadership practices. Findings in turn informed the design of an evidence-informed school self-evaluation tool for IME settings. The various functions of the tool will be explored with a particular emphasis on building teaching and leadership capacity in IME through the school self-evaluation process.

scholarly journals STEM Faculty Instructional Data-Use Practices: Informing Teaching Practice and Students’ Reflection on Students’ Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Cindy Lenhart ◽  
Jana Bouwma-Gearhart
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Instructional Technology ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Institutional Policies ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Stem Faculty ◽  
Standardized Curriculum ◽  
Learning Data

This paper explores the affordances and constraints of STEM faculty members’ instructional data-use practices and how they engage students (or not) in reflection around their own learning data. We found faculty used a wide variety of instructional data-use practices. We also found several constraints that influenced their instructional data-use practices, including perceived lack of time, standardized curriculum and assessments predetermined in scope and sequence, and a perceived lack of confidence and competence in their instructional data-use practices. Novel findings include faculty descriptions of instructional technology that afforded them access to immediate and nuanced instructional data. However, faculty described limited use of instructional data that engaged students in reflecting on their own learning data. We consider implications for faculty’s instructional data-use practices on departmental and institutional policies and procedures, professional development experts, and for faculty themselves.

The Female Physique: Motives Guiding Self-Evaluation

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Carolyn Vos Strache ◽  
Alana Strong ◽  
Cheree Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Southern California ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
The Self ◽  
Physical Aspect ◽  
Individual Response ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Significant Measure ◽  
Chi Square Analysis

The omnipresent physical self remains for young adult females a significant measure of self-worth. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that coping strategies are as complex as they are pervasive as young women strive to maintain positive psychological outlooks despite negatively-perceived physical attributes. Self-presentational concerns may affect one’s activity choice.This study expands on the work of Taylor, Neter, and Wayment (1995) to determine which motives guide the self-evaluation processes of the physical self. An examination of structured interviews identifies which motives direct women in the self-evaluation of their bodies, and concurrently examines whether different motives determine individual response when appraising a “good” versus “not good” physical aspect. Motives, as defined by Taylor et al. (1995), were self-enhancement, self-verification, self-improvement and self-assessment. Interviews were conducted with 30 female, Southern California, undergraduate college students from Southern California, ranging in age from 19-22.A chi-square analysis revealed that women employed different motives in “good” versus “not good” body aspect comparisons (Enhancement: X2 = 21.78 p< .01; Verification: X2 = 10.05 p< .01; Improvement: X2 = 5.15 p< .05). When describing a “good” aspect, women employed the enhancement motive 92 percent of the time, verification 80 percent of the time, and improvement 15 percent of the time. For “not good” aspects, women used enhancement motive 53 percent of the time, verification 98 percent of the time, and improvement 33 percent of the time. Women used more than one motive 74 percent of the time and single motives only 26 percent of the time in the evaluation process. Direct quotes reveal that almost all the women sought out information about themselves when they thought it would reflect favorably. However, when they reported on a “not good” aspect, coping mechanisms included redirecting their attention to more positive characteristics or mentally cordoning off an area of weakness to prevent that attribute from permeating all aspects of their identity. Understanding how we think in the self-evaluation process may offer an explanation why some people are motivated to exercise and why others are not.

Teacher Data Analysis and Assets-Based Discourses about Multilingual Youth: Exploration of Relationships

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Daniella Molle
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Mediational Role ◽  
Teacher Data ◽  
Over Time

Context The pervasiveness of deficit-based discourses about multilingual students has long been documented in the scholarly literature. Such discourses severely erode the learning and well-being of multilingual youth. One of the spaces in which deficit-based discourses about students may be transformed is professional development. Focus of the Study The study connects a key practice of high-quality professional development, the analysis of classroom evidence of student learning, to student-focused discourses about multilingual youth. The research questions the study addresses are: As they make sense of data together, (a) how do teachers discursively position multilingual youth? and (b) what factors reinforce and undermine assets-based discourses about multilingual youth? Research Design Leveraging a case study approach, I explore how a team of three middle-school teachers positions students while analyzing classroom evidence during a one-year professional development designed for educators of multilingual youth. I rely primarily on transcripts of professional development sessions to trace student positioning by the team over time as teachers analyze dissimilar types of classroom evidence. Findings The findings reveal complex mediational relationships among teachers’ data use, student positioning, and shared theories of student engagement. These co-constructed theories reinforce deficit views of students when student reasoning and participation in learning are obscured by the data teachers are exploring. When the data make the process of student engagement available for reflection, however, teachers shift toward assets-based discourses. In addition, the findings shed light on relationships between type of evidence and implications for classroom practice. The teachers in the study shift their focus from teacher-centered instruction to the scaffolding of student interaction when the data make visible student participation in learning. Conclusions The study contributes to a nascent knowledge base about the complex relationships between teacher analysis of classroom evidence and assets-based discourses about all students and multilingual students in particular. The findings expand current conceptualizations of teacher data use by foregrounding student positioning over time as a key element of teacher sensemaking, and revealing the significant mediational role that shared theories of student engagement play in teachers’ data use. In terms of practical implications, the study offers insights into the mechanisms through which assets-based discourses about multilingual youth can be fostered across learning contexts.

scholarly journals Using Learning Communities to Support Cantonese/Mandarin Family Child Care Providers in a Professional Development Intervention Program

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Yafen Lo ◽  
Shu-Chen Yen ◽  
Shinchieh Duh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Child Care ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Family Child Care ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Development Intervention

High-impact educational practices can promote student involvement and learning outcomes, but are rarely tested in the community college setting—where involvement is a typical challenge to student success. For Family Child Care (FCC) providers, who tend to be older and overworked, higher-education training can be especially difficult. The present study examined the use of learning communities as a high-impact practice in Project Vista Higher Education Academy (PVHEA), a two-year professional development intervention program for Cantonese/Mandarin FCC providers at the East Los Angeles College in California. Quantitative and qualitative data during the inaugural term (January 2012-December 2013) indicated that PVHEA successfully helped FCC providers access and complete college coursework towards Child Development degrees and credentials. Course completion rate reached 100%, and the providers gradually increased course load while maintaining above-average grades. Positive changes were also observed in self-efficacy, aspirations, and professional image. The associated program challenges were discussed.

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