Elementary-Angela Ortiz wk11-st8

1.            Describe the purposes for and various stages of formative evaluation of technology plan.

A formative evaluation, also known as process or implementation evaluation, is performed to examine various aspects of an ongoing program in order to make changes/improvements as the program is being implemented. This type of evaluation attempts to document exactly what is transpiring in a program. Data are collected and analyzed at a time when program changes can be made to ensure that the quality of the program implementation is maintained throughout. For example, the technology program has been introduced in a school district, it is important to know to what extent the program will be implemented as designed (Wall, 1994).

The purpose of a formative evaluation should be to establish the outcomes or value of the technology plan provided and to find ways to improve this plan. This evaluation permits the designers, learners, and instructors to monitor how well the instructional goals and objectives will be met. Its main purpose is to catch deficiencies so that the proper adjustments can take place that allows the plan to be successful (Clark, 2010).

According to Flagg (1990), there are four phases of program development and four parallel phases of program evaluation:

Phases of Program Development	Phases of Evaluation
Phase 1: Planning	Needs assessment
Phase 2: Design	Pre-production formative evaluation
Phase 3: Production	Production formative evaluation
Phase 4: Implementaton	Implementation formative evaluation Summative evaluation

 Effective program evaluation is a carefully planned and systematic approach to documenting the

nature and results of program implementation. The evaluation process described below is

designed to give information on the program and what it is doing for students, teachers and community. The process will help us think through the evaluation in a thorough

manner before we begin to implement the program. It will help us document the impact of the

program and use the results for program improvement. The evaluation process

contains nine steps:

1. Define the purpose and scope of the evaluation

2. Specify the evaluation questions – what do you want to know?

3. Specify the evaluation design

4. Create the data collection action plan

5. Collect data

6. Analyze data

7. Document findings

8. Disseminate findings

9. Feedback to program improvement (Wall, 1994).

2.            Describe your instruments used in a formative evaluation.

During my formative evaluation I used focus groups or meetings with administrators, face-to-face interviews with school staff members, observations in classrooms and meetings, revision of district technology plan and surveys like the STaR chart and questionnaires for teachers.

Focus groups: They are used when you want to explore factors in depth, such as how and why. This technique can be effective at gathering information if run well.

Focus groups usually involve small numbers of people and can take a long time to conduct. Questions should be written and carefully structured.

Interviews: This technique is used to probe more deeply about certain attitudes, behaviors, feelings, or why actions are taken.

Observations: This technique can be used to get answers to questions that deal with “what and how many.” Observers need to be trained to be consistent.

Surveys: These techniques can be used to answer “what, how and why” questions.

Essay or open-ended questions may be better for the “why” types of questions.

Questionnaires may be best for collecting objective information from many individuals (Wall, 1994).

3.            Collect data according to a formative evaluation plan for a given set of technology plan or instructor presentation.

My school collects data with STaR chart. Texas districts and charter schools are required to submit the Campus STaR Chart prior to submission of the technology plan in the Texas e-Plan System. Technology plans help districts to efficiently and effectively utilize technology to assure students, educators, administrators and support personnel have the tools necessary to achieve tasks.  As such, technology plans should support the district improvement plan and be aligned with the Texas Long-Range Plan for technology (TPESC,n.d.). Using this chart, the following data was collected and all key areas were Developing Tech under STaR Classification:

Using the interviews, I will collect data such as technology hardware and software available for teachers and students. For budget, I reviewed the school budget and allowed budget for technology equipment purchase.

During teacher interviews, I will collect data about what type of technology they have in their classrooms and how they use them, what technology trainings they have taken and training delivery method, how often they use technology for instruction and how often students work with technology.

Observations will be performed during instruction and the teacher portfolio will be reviewed to collect data of technology integration to curriculum.

References

Clark, D. (2010). Types of Evaluations in Instructional Design. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/isd/types_of_evaluations.html

Flagg, B. (1990). Formative evaluation for educational technologies. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9656381

TPESC (n.d). Texas e-plan. Retrieved from http://tpesc.esc12.net/eplan/default.html

Wall, J. (1994) Program evaluation model 9-step process. Retrieved from http://www.home.earthlink.net/~sagesolutions/9%20Step%20Evaluation%20Model%20Paper.pdf