Forum Evaluation
Gary Obermeyer, Friday May 09, 2008, 03:20 am
Dear Administrator Forum Members: We are launching a new thread in the Administrator Forum for the purpose of gathering and discussing feedback from Forum members, as part of NDE's annual evaluation of the Forum.
Note: For your convenience, the content of this message is also available as an attachment (at the bottom of this posting).
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The Nevada Department of Education annually evaluates the impact of the Forum, and thus makes decisions about continued funding (which comes from the Title II-A Teacher/Principal Quality Grant). Since you are the participants on the Forum, we need your input to inform decisions.
If the Administrators' Forum is to continue, we must demonstrate impact and a continued need for this professional development.
Our theory of action is that facilitating conversation among school administrators is an effective professional development strategy IF:
- the conversations are focused on the knowledge, skills and strategies that administrators can use to create the conditions for improving student learning (*), and
- there is personal reflection AND robust engagement in the conversations (the process of reflecting and sharing posted comments and questions on the Forum) which leads to deeper knowledge and skills and evidence of impact on dimensions of school improvement (**).
The first IF is fairly easy to answer, as NDE has the Five Dimensions (ref. SAGE) to provide a framework for knowledge, skills, & strategies that have an impact on student learning:
- Shared Leadership
- Learning Environment/School Culture
- Curriculum, Instruction, Intervention & Assessment
- Professional Development, and
- Parent & Community Involvement.
Within each area we can focus on NDE program priorities. That's essentially what we did with the intial PLC thrust.
The second IF is a little trickier, because there are so many factors, e.g.
- time for reflection/writing
- comfort with sharing thoughts and needs online
- understanding the importance of the need for active participation, sharing and growth -- versus passive receipt of information, and
- understanding how to respond back to the Forum group after receiving an email of a Forum posting.
What we know so far from three years of experience with the Administrators' Forum is:
- Members are more inclined to reply by email to discussion thread Leaders, than to post in the thread to the Forum group of participants. We do not know whether this is a conscious preference or a lack of understanding as to what expectations are and/or how the software works.
- Members who have served as discussion thread leaders have all learned from the reflection involved in preparing comments, as well as from the responses/feedback from other members, especially when challenged to develop a theory of change/action in light of their inquiry. It would be interesting if we could assess the relative value contributors and non-contributors place on the forum.
- The strategy of having members frame a theory of action and post a point of inquiry produces substantive conversation and provides evidence of growth, but lacks the energy to be sustained under the current conditions.
- The event model - with an expert presenter and clear beginning and ending dates - has been the most successful approach in terms of member online posting of questions, comments and sharing information.
We need to know your thoughts, needs and desires, and we encourage out-of-the-box thinking. Please respond to the following focus questions:
- Has the Forum been beneficial in meeting professional development needs for you?
If so, please provide a specific example of something that you have learned, what change(s) you made in your practice, how it affected school culture and/or instructional practice, and what effect (if any) it had on student learning.
If not, why not? (Your feedback provides great information to us.) - Do you want us to continue the Forum? (IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND, THIS WILL INFORM US!)
- If you want the Forum to continue, how can it be improved/changed to meet your needs and be more engaging and interactive?
For example, should we consider:
- leveraging other professional development activities that are taking place, such as the work of the Nevada Association of School Administrators (NASA)?
- the event model only (1-3 week seminars - since it has proven to be the most interactive of the strategies used to date)? With this approach we would solicit possible topics, identify topic leaders, and publish summaries.
- holding even shorter events? - one day? one hour?
- organizing special interest groups?
- facilitating book talks?
- establishing participation norms (e.g. monthly posting)?
Remember, please post your comments at the bottom of this thread (you will need to be logged in). Please consider previously posted comments as you add your thoughts/ideas. Let's have ourselves a brainstorm!
If you need assistance, contact Gary Obermeyer (
Thank you for your time and thought in providing feedback to inform the future of your Administrator Forum!
Our best,
Gary Obermeyer and Leslie James
