Hi! My name is Krista Collins, and I am an Evaluation Associate at The Evaluation Group in Decatur, GA. I am an educational evaluator, with an expertise in child development, and my work primarily consists of conducting multi-level evaluations of large federally-funded projects awarded to school districts and non-profit organizations. One of the questions that I ask myself daily is, “How do I develop strong, evidence-based instruments to evaluate innovative educational strategies that are currently being defined?”
One of my current projects is an evaluation of a Race to the Top District grant focused on revolutionizing instruction by building the capacity for personalized learning, blended learning, and digital learning to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness. With limited empirical evidence to define the best implementation practices, pathways, outcomes, or methodologies to evaluate these innovative learning strategies, I turned to Google to find credible resources that could inform my evaluation design. Here are a few useful resources that can provide a good starting point for other evaluators working with innovative educational programs focused on incorporating digital learning into classrooms.
Rad Resource: The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is a non-profit organization that supports research on online and blended learning strategies to inform policy, standards, and professional development opportunities that guide innovative instruction in schools. I found their list of National Quality Standards and Promising Practices to be very helpful in identifying the goals and best practices that guided the impact evaluation.
Rad Resource: Center for Digital Education is a national research and advisory institute that reports on the current trends and policy efforts that guide educational technology in the US. Join their email list to receive Special Reports, Papers, and Newsletters that can provide valuable information on how innovative practices in digital learning are being implemented and assessed. These reports provide an objective perspective on how school districts, schools, and individual teachers can work together to modernize the learning environment, and therefore allowed me to identify key strategies to be included in the implementation evaluation.
Rad Resource: ASCD is a professional association for educators focused on professional development, capacity building, and educational leadership around innovative programs to educate the whole child. Through conferences, publications, and professional learning services, ASCD has developed standards and tools that informed our evaluation of professional development and project implementation.
Hi! My name is Krista Collins, and I am an Evaluation Associate at The Evaluation Group in Decatur, GA. I am an educational evaluator, with an expertise in child development, and my work primarily consists of conducting multi-level evaluations of large federally-funded projects awarded to school districts and non-profit organizations. One of the questions that I ask myself daily is, “How do I develop strong, evidence-based instruments to evaluate innovative educational strategies that are currently being defined?”
One of my current projects is an evaluation of a Race to the Top District grant focused on revolutionizing instruction by building the capacity for personalized learning, blended learning, and digital learning to improve student achievement and educator effectiveness. With limited empirical evidence to define the best implementation practices, pathways, outcomes, or methodologies to evaluate these innovative learning strategies, I turned to Google to find credible resources that could inform my evaluation design. Here are a few useful resources that can provide a good starting point for other evaluators working with innovative educational programs focused on incorporating digital learning into classrooms.
Rad Resource: The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is a non-profit organization that supports research on online and blended learning strategies to inform policy, standards, and professional development opportunities that guide innovative instruction in schools. I found their list of National Quality Standards and Promising Practices to be very helpful in identifying the goals and best practices that guided the impact evaluation.
Rad Resource: Center for Digital Education is a national research and advisory institute that reports on the current trends and policy efforts that guide educational technology in the US. Join their email list to receive Special Reports, Papers, and Newsletters that can provide valuable information on how innovative practices in digital learning are being implemented and assessed. These reports provide an objective perspective on how school districts, schools, and individual teachers can work together to modernize the learning environment, and therefore allowed me to identify key strategies to be included in the implementation evaluation.
Rad Resource: ASCD is a professional association for educators focused on professional development, capacity building, and educational leadership around innovative programs to educate the whole child. Through conferences, publications, and professional learning services, ASCD has developed standards and tools that informed our evaluation of professional development and project implementation.
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Ed Eval TIG Week with our colleagues in the PK12 Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our Ed Eval TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Ed Eval TIG Week with our colleagues in the PK12 Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our Ed Eval TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.