Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
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Why evaluations fail
To achieve meaningful results, address these common challenges
By Joellen Killion
April 2017
Vol. 38 No. 2
Evaluation is “a systematic, purposeful process of studying, reviewing, and analyzing data gathered from multiple sources in order to make informed decisions” about professional learning (Killion, 2008, p. 8). Standards-aligned professional learning requires the use of data for continuous formative and summative evaluation to measure its processes and progress toward identified short- and long-term outcomes and to make data-informed decisions about midcourse adjustments to increase the likelihood of positive results. Evaluation of professional learning illuminates the interactions that occur in the implementation of planned learning experiences and the necessary supports designed to improve professional practice and its effects on students. It investigates how a set of actions designed to achieve defined short- and long-term outcomes occur over time and how they strengthen professional practice and
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Joellen Killion (joellen.killion@learningforward.org) is senior advisor to Learning Forward.
References
Bradley, J., Munger, L., & Hord, S. (2015, August). Focus first on outcomes. JSD, 36(4), 44-47, 52.
Killion, J. (2008). Assessing impact: Evaluating staff development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Oxford, OH: Author.
Joellen Killion is a senior advisor to Learning Forward and a sought-after speaker and facilitator who is an expert in linking professional learning and student learning. She has extensive experience in planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality, standards-based professional learning at the school, system, and state/provincial levels. She is the author of many books including Assessing Impact, Coaching Matters, Taking the Lead, and The Feedback Process. Her latest evaluation articles for The Learning Professional are “7 reasons to evaluate professional learning” and “Is your professional learning working? 8 steps to find out.”
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