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Before you launch into Public Achievement,
think about how you can use evaluation to answer specific questions
about what your students are doing and learning in Public Achievement.
On going evaluation can provide you with information that is
useful and practical.
Everyone can do evaluation. It can be
as simple as asking, “What
happened today and how could we do things differently?” or
more complex, such as, “What skills do students demonstrate
after participating in Public Achievement?” Your evaluation
plan should be designed around the questions you want answered.
Your evaluation plan will also be influenced by the resources
you have to carry it out. The ultimate goal of evaluating Public
Achievement is to strengthen the work and deepen the learning.
Planning evaluation
Here are some questions to consider as you think about planning
evaluation.
- What do you want to learn about Public Achievement
this year?
- Was there anything you wish you knew about Public
Achievement last year but didn’t ask? How might those
questions be answered this year?
- Are there stakeholders
in the school who might be interested in knowing something
specific about Public Achievement?
- What resources are
available to carry out the evaluation?
- Who will do it?
- Are there questions you can ask that are
relevant to state standards?
- How can you ensure the results
will be used?
- How will you share the information with the
site, Center for Democracy and Citizenship and the Public
Achievement forum?
The role of evaluation in Public Achievement
- Evaluation gives young people an
opportunity to learn and practice valuable skills.
- Evaluation
facilitates relationship building among team members.
- The
process of engaging in evaluation is empowering – knowledge
gained is power to change the course of direction
or reinforce what is working in the team.
- Evaluation is
a democratic means to hear what each team member
has to say about the process, project, or issue.
- Young
people can be encouraged to share their results with peers,
teachers, school staff and administration.
Public presentation of the work makes visible the accomplishments of the group.
- Young
people will be ready to respond to the question: what are
you learning in public achievement?
- Evaluation is a way
to learn about and see accountability.
- It requires individuals
to think critically about what has been done, personally
and collectively as
a team.
Evaluation
improves the quality of your team’s work.
- It provides a means for checking in to see if you
are keeping in line with your mission statement and goals
of your team.
- It provides the team with an opportunity to
identify or name what is being learned.
- It is an opportunity
to reinforce the core concepts and skills being developed
in the team.
- It provides the team with a documented record
of your team’s
progress.
As a teacher, you are in a prime position to gather important
information about what young people are doing and learning
in Public Achievement. There are many different tools you can
use to gather the information. The curriculum “Democracy
in the Classroom,” includes material ready for you to
use. Take time to become familiar with the curriculum. Specific
evaluation tools can be found in the Toolbox sections: Sustaining
Evaluation and End of the Year Evaluation.
The link for the curriculum is here.
Share
your evaluation ideas and experiences with other teachers
at your site and at other Public Achievement sites. The
learning that is taking place will be more evident if evaluation
is
carried out on a regular basis. |
