In giving the Board of Education the latest quarterly report on the Curriculum Management Audit, Interim Superintendent Donna Hargens discussed strengthening program evaluations.
Prior to the audit, Evaluation and Research staff had a strong program evaluation component and was recognized nationally for their work. The auditors recommended ways to strengthen this area that fall under the audit’s recommendation 5: “Formalize comprehensive assessment procedures to provide data for decision making at all levels of the system. Establish a formalized process for selection, implementation, and evaluation of programs utilizing data that will be used as feedback for revision or continuation of programs and practices.” (p. 361).
Assistant Superintendent David Holdzkom says the auditors recommended that all academic programs be evaluated, that evaluations include cost benefit analysis, and that the response to program evaluations be reported.
Since that time, Evaluation and Research has:
- Inventoried all the programs in the district, both Central Services-generated programs and school-generated programs;
- Trained staff to perform cost benefit analysis; and
- Created a response system to program evaluations.
Assistant Superintendent David Holdzkom and Nancy Baenen talk about the audit and program evaluation.
Click to listen to Audit Strengthens Evaluations of Academic Programs
This is a 9.5 minute mp3 file.
More on Audit Response
Nancy Baenen and the E&R Program Accountability team have inventoried all academic programs. The inventory will be updated every other year to keep track of all academic programs.
Baenen and the E&R staff have worked with Dr. Ryan Bosworth, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at NC State University, to create in house training for cost benefit analysis. They have organized a professional learning team centered on cost benefit analysis for E&R and other school system staff.
Program Accountability staff created a process where a response to the program evaluation is requested and then discussed with the program staff. The evaluation response will then be included online with the program evaluation.
Baenen notes that the audit encourages everyone to evaluate and monitor the success of their efforts. She says her staff has conducted training and developed online training on monitoring program efforts to help other school system staff with that.
Program Accountability staff want to help others think about including evaluation in the design of programs and develop data systems that track needed information to allow evaluation across years and across data sources.
You can read more about the Curriculum Management Audit here.