7. Implementation

 

Putting the Evaluation Plan to Work

Just as a project management plan is key to implementing an education project, an evaluation management plan must be in place to guide the evaluation of the project. While the project plan and evaluation plan must be complementary, they are separate pieces of work and may be managed by different people.

Forming an Evaluation Committee

It is useful for any internal evaluation effort to be guided by an evaluation committee. This organizing structure should be composed of individuals from throughout the local community, school, and district - if the project is implemented and evaluated at that level. This committee should work collaboratively with the appropriate technology planning and/or leadership committee, and must be representative of the interests and concerns of all stakeholder groups. It does this work by...

• Developing any or all of the evaluation elements described in these pages
• Managing data collection, storage, and analysis
• Reviewing data and findings
• Monitoring progress toward project Goals
• Approving evaluation reports for external use

It is also important that the evaluation committee membership represent a variety of stakeholder perspectives - not, for example, only those held by individuals who are considered to be advanced technology users, or those in technology leadership positions. Bear in mind that project evaluations are designed to answer questions about technology implementations and their impact on teaching and learning. Therefore, experience in teaching and learning is at least as important as being well-versed in technology itself.

 

A district-level evaluation committee might number 12 to 15 members and include district-level staff, a board member, and principals, as well as classroom teachers and technology specialist from all grades. A school-level evaluation plan might be coordinated by a team of 4 to 7 staff members, including teachers, administrators, parents, media or technology specialists, and even students.

It might prove handy to use the Evaluation Committee Composition Matrix (from SERVE's Planning into Practice) as a worksheet when planning your evaluation committee.

Managing the Evaluation Plan

A formative evaluation is by its nature an involved, lengthy process that must be actively managed. After reviewing this Example Management Plan (PDF), the Evaluation Committee might use the SEIR*TEC- developed Management Plan Template (DOC) to document the timeframe, person responsible, and resources required to implement each necessary evaluation activity.

It might also be helpful to review the accompanying Evaluation Management Plan (PDF), to be sure that all possible evaluation activities have been considered.

Finally, once the evaluation plan and the plan to manage the evaluation effort have been created, the entire effort should be checked one last time, against the Evaluation Plan Checklist (PDF). This tool examines critical aspects of both plans and the relationship among their parts.

Next > 8. The Report: Communicating the Results

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This page last updated 6/23/05