Name: Jennifer C. Greene, 'A value-engaged approach for evaluating the Bunche–Da Vinci Learning Academy' - New Directions for Evaluation Special Issue: Theorist's Models in Action, pp. 27–45. Original Work Metrics: 7555 words, 48515 characters, 19 pages; Skim Highlights and Comments: 2945 words, 19443 characters Notes to Original Work Ratio: 2.6 to 1 What follows is a raw dump of Skim comments and highlights. A Value-Engaged Approach for Evaluating the Bunche–Da Vinci Learning Academy Jennifer C. Greene active engage- ment with values that are drawn principally from democratic and culturally responsive traditions in evaluation (Hood, 1999; House and Howe, 1999; MacDonald, 1977). Because value-engaged evaluation is fundamentally responsive to the particular character of an evaluation context and the programmatic and policy issues that are present in that context, it is not possible to develop an a priori or preordinate (Stake, 1987) evaluation design using this approach. concentrates on envisioning these front-end aspects of evaluation in this context front-end Assumptions will also be made along the way to enable a more complete story to be told \ COVER LETTER\ (J: Brilliant: Greene starts with an email. This is helpful because working with "real working data" (or as close as possible to it) can be better for people wanting to learn a process than working with descriptions of those things.) Principal District Superintendent Dear Ms. García: I am keenly (This is a filler that adds spice to the email: if it wasn't there, some enthusiasm would be lacking, and it could be read to be something other. . . I think this is indicative that we expect higher-energy interaction with others on first meeting) committed eager would like to learn more This will enable me to develop an evaluation plan that can yield the kinds of informa- tion likely to be meaningful and useful to your school community (J: sets up deliverable) meaningful and useful (J: Primary values?) your school community (J: Primary stakeholder?) For this purpose, I am hoping that I can visit Bunche–Da Vinci several times this spring and (J: Sets up activities) review relevant materials (for example, annual reports and previous evaluation studies), i talk with various members of your commu- nity l simply spend some time at your school. learn more about the kinds of evaluation priorities that various members of your school community have. (J: Speaks to her value of the democratic process / stakeholder involvement) I will follow up this email with a phone call to pursue this idea further and hopefully identify particular days for my visits. (J: next-steps) /COVER LETTER/ \REITERATION OF CASE\ (J: good communication practice for active listening: tell them what you just heard) A very important first step in developing an evaluation plan for the Bunche–Da Vinci Learning Academy is to better understand the particular characteristics and diversities of this school community especially important not to make assumptions about this particular context based on urban stereotypes. Learning about this particular school community—its uniqueness, its complexities, and its continuing and dy- namic evolution—is fundamental to developing an evaluation plan /REITERATION OF CASE/ \TEAM ENGAGEMENT\ Estella Marquez , Hashid Robinson  Interview) One class at each grade level iden- tified as “representative or typical” Classes require teacher and parent con- sent. observations will be made about once a week for about half of the school day during the months of October, November, February, March, and April, scheduled so that all components of the curriculum are observed mul- tiple times. observations will generate rich descriptions of the learning activities, interactions, and environments of these classrooms. focuses include engagement and learning of different kinds of children in the various components of the curriculum character of the integrated in-class services provided how time is used the evaluation team will record field notes of unstructured observations conducted at other sites in the school, including lunchroom playground fif- teen teachers will be individually interviewed selected to be collectively representative of the school’s faculty, along dimensions of sample education classroom or specialist assignment experience longevity at the school Very new teachers and teachers new to the school will be excluded race and ethnicity commitment to the school (J: less likely to provide "rich" information) With the consent of the teachers’ union and the district and school administrators group-level evaluative information about the Bunche–Da Vinci teaching staff over the past three years profile of strengths and weaknesses weaknesses If access to this information is denied, the eval- uation team will consult with the administration and faculty at Bunche–Da Vinci regarding other avenues to secure data on teaching quality. Six group interviews of parents five to ten parents in each group formed primarily around the demographics of the school will include 1) one group of Latino parents of children who have good English fluency 2) one group of Latino parents of children in the Structured English Immersion classes (3) one group of African American parents 5) one group of parents of children in special education (J: Short Essay Prompt 1: What percentage of the possible combination of named parent groups is this? Short Essay Prompt 2: What percentage of students does this combination reach?) (4) one group of parents of children in Title I For all groups, parents will be sampled for representativeness, along longevity in the commu- nity age gender work income status number of children in the school longevity in the Bunche–Da Vinci school (J: LOGISTICS:) Child care, transportation, and food will be provided for all group interviews. interviews will be conducted in Spanish if the Spanish-speaking parents prefer this major focus of these interviews will be to gather parent descriptions of and evaluative reflections on their children’s learning experiences in this school sense of connectedness and commitment to the school. their full content analysis comparison of teacher- developed assessments Da Vinci program tests state tests and standards with the consultation of additional content experts as needed two experts in psychometrics stu- dent performance on all of these tests over the past four years, using the first year before the Da Vinci partnership as a baseline, will be analyzed by stu- dent subgroup and skill area. analysis will endeavor to identify the spe- cific areas of relative strength and weakness displayed by various subgroups of students for sub- groups and specific skill areas patterns in performance over time summary of methods as connected to evaluation questions Table 3.1. (J: Communication note: Put links to summary tables (or the tables themselves) at the BEGINNING of documents) = Reporting = ("June 5, 2004") reporting section of our evaluation plan periodic brief reports on the evaluation’s progress first in writing and then in person, including time for questions, comments, and dis- cussion We believe that ongoing engagement in the evaluative issues being pursued, especially by your staff and interested parents, can enhance the potential power of the evaluation to be a meaningful and valuable learning activity. for this first year of the evaluation, can we reserve one of your faculty meetings for evaluation reporting and discussion in mid- November, one in early March, and then one in late May? thought that it could be useful to have a joint pub- lic forum for all interested members of the Bunche–Da Vinci community to discuss with one another the emerging findings and continuing issues being engaged in the evaluation. we \LOGISTICS\ We could organize a pasta and salad dinner for the occasion, and we would have interpreters there for the Spanish-speaking parents /LOGISTICS/ every three to four months, the evaluation team will present written progress reports to leadership of the Bunche–Da Vinci Learning Academy (principal and lead teachers), the district leadership (superintendent and identified others), interested parent and community groups, and designated representatives of the Da Vinci Learning Corporation. outline in brief, non- technical form the major evaluation activities accomplished since the last progress report reports will activ- ities upcoming highlights of recent evaluation findings third, the value-engaged evaluator will seek opportunities for meaningful dialogues with stakeholders and especially opportunities for stakeholders to engage A VALUE-ENGAGED APPROACH 43 44 THEORISTS’ MODELS IN ACTION in dialogue with one another about Resources permitting, a Spanish version of all progress and annual highlights reports will be prepared for the Spanish- speaking members of the community. responsive to the issues and concerns of all legiti- mate stakeholder groups requires an on-site presence and an ear keenly tuned to the multiple and diverse rhythms of lived experiences in this particular community provide spaces and places for thoughtful, data-informed reflections on practice (J: How do you measure this??) also fundamentally educative attend to the substantive and methodological dimensions of the evalua- tion, but also its relational dimensions to how the evaluator is present in the context at hand to evaluation itself as a moral and ethical practice (Schwandt, 2004). (Schwandt, 2004). enacted in three principal ways. ry to establish respectful, reciprocal, partnering relationships with all stakeholders Respect and reciprocity can be communicated, for example, by assuming that all stakeholders have something valuable to contribute to the evaluation and by listening well to each one (Greene, 2003). Second, the evaluation pro- cess will be an open and transparent one that invites participation by mul- tiple stakeholders in all phases, but especially at the front end, when the evaluation agenda is being established, and at the back end, when inter- pretations of results and action implications are discussed. inclusion of all legitimate stakeholder perspectives in the evaluation and anchoring of the evaluative work in the particularities of this context Less important is actual stakeholder partici- pation in the nitty-gritty activities of data gathering and analysis, although stakeholders would be welcome in these processes as well in dialogue with one another near the end of the two years of this evaluation project, a modest meta-evaluation will be commissioned for this value-engaged evaluation of the Bunche–Da Vinci Learning Academy Two well-regarded evaluators will be contracted to evaluate this evaluation. evaluator who advocates responsiveness and learning in evaluation practice evaluator with a different evaluative philosophy and practical approach evaluate this evaluation on the basis of 1) criteria intrinsic to this approach, (2) the widely accepted evaluation standards (utility, feasibility, propriety, accuracy), and (3) her or his own ideas about what constitutes “good” eval- uation practice
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