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How good is ‘good’? Critical evaluative thinking for schools

What are some useful ideas and tools for schools working to accelerate student achievement in literacy (and/or other areas), particularly for Maori and Pasifika students? This presentation was delivered to school leaders, literacy leaders and their literacy facilitators (external PLD providers) participating in the Secondary Literacy Project (with overall design and national coordination from the University of Auckland’s Woolf Fisher Research Centre).

In it, I share some thinking about:

  • interpretation of progress data from e-asTTle, using …
  • a range of comparisons that can be made depending on the evaluation question one asks
  • multiple perspectives on effect sizes and their interpretation
  • the use of evaluative rubrics for interpreting accelerated student progress and achievement, and
  • for inquiring into key drivers of student progress such as effective teaching, educational leadership and school culture, case management and implementation, and many more

Click to download a PDF of the presentation (including several slides that were omitted from the actual session).

Feedback/comments welcome!

Credible evidence of effectiveness for Maori learners

As part of this week’s National Professional Learning and Development Facilitator Training (held in Auckland and sponsored by the Ministry of Education), Nan Wehipeihana and I presented a workshop for PLD providers:

This is an introduction to some of the rubrics developed for the Measurable Gains Framework, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of Ka Hikitia, the Ministry’s strategy for Maori learners.

Click the image above to download a PDF copy of the presentation.

And, click here for the Measurable Gains Framework rubrics themselves (and accompanying documents).

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Strategic Policy Evaluation – anzea session handout

In May 2010, Nan Wehipeihana and I did a presentation for the anzea Regional Symposium in Wellington. Here are the slides from the session (see link at the bottom), for those who may be interested.

Strategic Policy Evaluation: Answering macro-level cross-project questions

Abstract:

Policy-relevant, strategic evaluation asks (and answers) questions that go beyond the evaluation of a single initiative. It addresses such questions as: (1) What is the value of a particular policy initiative as a contributor to strategic policy outcomes? (2) How well does each policy initiative fit with and complement the other initiatives that make up the strategic policy mix? Are there any unnecessary overlaps? (3) What is the collective value of the suite of initiatives that have been deployed to achieve a particular strategic outcome? (4) Have we got the right mix to deliver on the key outcomes? (5) Which approaches to achieving key long-term outcomes are working most cost-effectively for whom, under what conditions, and why? This session uses a current case (evaluation of Ka Hikitia, the Ministry of Education’s Māori education strategy, to outline some specific strategies to help ensure evaluation delivers high quality, truly useful information to calibrate macro-level policy – and to incisively inform Ministers on policy effectiveness.

Click to download a PDF copy of the workshop handout.