e-valuation

Just announced is an edited monograph on systems approaches to evaluation, which can be purchased from Edgepress or downloaded from the Kellogg Foundation website.

View book cover
Defending Public Schools (Praeger Perspectives)
by E. Wayne Ross (Editor), David A. Gabbard (Editor), Kathleen R. Kesson (Editor), Kevin D. Vinson (Editor), Sandra Mathison (Editor) Review
“These volumes both summarize and provide detailed examples of how NCLB is affecting children, teachers, and communities…..Essential. All levels. Anyone interested in defending public schools.”–Choice

“Always thought-provoking and sometimes controversial, this balanced look at a vast and complicated system addresses upper-level undergraduates through faculty and is recommended for academic libraries or circulating collections.”–Library Journal

“Defending Public Schools is a four-volume set that does not have to be read all at once. With that caveat in mind, the set is valuable in total also allows the busy administrator to read sections of the books on an as-needed basis.”–The School Administrator

“The articles of this four-volume work present an urgent and sobering case for the destructive impact on American education of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act.”–Reference & Research Book News

Review
“This timely series critically addresses the educational debates resulting from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. From the perspective of national security to classroom assessment, the series analyzes the impact of this revolutionary legislation and other current educational proposals on democratic schooling and classroom practices. A thumbs up to the editors for their careful work in assembling this great series.” – Joel Spring, Professor Queens College City University of New York

“A collection for learning how the attacks on public education are being waged–and how to plan a defense against those that would destroy our educational system.” – David C. Berliner, Regents’ Professor Arizona State University

We judge programs, curricula, interventions to assist in finding remedies to problems, to contribute positively to learning what is good and right. But is that the way it actually plays out? In Massachusetts, schools are being overwhelmed by evaluation. The demands for accountability are strong and come at schools from local, state and federal angles resulting in a stunning evaluation burden on school personnel and students. John Brucato, high school principal in Milford, Mass talks about this burden as his school underwent a regional accreditation review and a comprehensive state review at the same time. See Assessment Teams Hog School Time.

Another MA principal summed up the scenario:

“The corridors are crowded with assessing authorities, evaluation teams, accreditation people and a host of others, all intent on monitoring a myriad of federal and state programs to improve our education system. While testing, measuring progress and accountability are recognized as necessary to the educational system, we have reached a point where measurement activities are getting in the way of real education.”

How should we judge when the demands for accountability seriously impede the very thing being held accountable? Perhaps the experiences of MA schools is a starting point.