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Chapter 4: Evaluate The Results Of The Compact
After you get your
compact up and running, the next question is: "How do you know
whether or not your compact is working?" Many times, when we make a
change, we are eager to see the results immediately. With the compact, you
can chart long-term changes and improvements. That's why evaluation is so
important. Evaluation can show you important continuous improvement.
Evaluation also sends a
signal that your school is serious about making its family-school compact
work. You need to know more than whether a compact is in place. You need
to know more than whether it's working. You need to know what's
working. Evaluation will help you pinpoint your progress. Your school
needs this information to help all members of the partnership--school,
families, students, and community members--reach their potential.
Data can be a powerful
catalyst for change. When Milwaukee Public Schools instituted a new math
assessment that required students to apply math concepts, think
analytically, and show their work, 70 percent of the first high school
students to take the test failed. Instead of just blaming the test, some
school and community leaders shouldered the responsibility. Teachers began
changing their classroom habits. High schools started after-school and
Saturday tutoring sessions in math. Churches and businesses donated school
supplies and volunteered tutors. Attendance at PTA meetings rose. With
that kind of support and coordinated effort, more than 80 percent of the
next Milwaukee high school class to take the test passed it.
Indicators
of success
You don't have to be a
professor or a statistician to use and understand data. The following
tables display three useful indicators you can use--namely, continuous
improvement, comparative performance, and absolute performance.
Continuous
improvement marks the progress of doing better than before.
Although school start at different levels of achievement, all can set a
goal of improvement. Improvement requires having a baseline and comparing
information over time. This chart shows a steady increase or continuous
improvement between 1990 and 1996 in the number of fourth-graders in the
United States who perform at the basic level or above in math.
 Comparative
performance shows whether you are doing as well as or better than other
schools. Some
common forms of comparison are (1) with schools in your state or in the
whole country that serve children from families with similar
characteristics, such as similar income; (2) with schools of similar size;
or (3) with schools located in similar settings--urban, suburban, or
rural. You can use the results of the comparison to gauge your own
school's relative performance. This chart benchmarks regions against one
another and against the nationwide average for fourth-grade reading
achievement.
 Absolute
performance indicates whether you're doing as well as or better than your
school's desired level of performance.
This chart shows what the national goal of all children reading at the
basic level or above is and how fourth-graders in 1994 compared with this
goal.
How to get data
To initiate your
evaluation process, you will need to collect "baseline"
information information on how your school is doing now. This information
provides a starting point from which to measure your progress. To do this,
you'll need to consult current and various sources of information that
report the results you've agreed to measure. No one source will give you
all the information you need. Some possible sources of data include:
School
profiles. The
new Title I law requires the creation of school profiles so that parents
and members of the community know how well your school is performing in
areas such as student achievement, support for learning at school and
outside school, communication, and training.
Administrative
records.
Using existing records is time- and cost-effective because much
information is routinely collected through normal recordkeeping (for
example, records of student test scores, student absenteeism and
attendance, family attendance at school events, and disciplinary
actions). Such data, however, may not be the most appropriate for
current needs. To prevent errors, be sure to review records for
completeness and accuracy.
Surveys.
You can survey school staff, families, and students on their perceptions
and experiences--information that is critical to the success of the
compact. Make sure that your survey responses are representative and
that you have an adequate completion rate (professional surveys aim for
7 responses out of every 10 questions asked or a 70 percent response
rate). You may want to ask the central district office to collect the
information so that you can guarantee anonymity to survey participants.
Focus
groups.
Schools and organizations use these small group discussion sessions to
test family involvement materials--pamphlets, videos, parent handbooks
for potential use and to explore issues in depth, such as barriers to
family involvement. Focus groups can provide greater insight into your
areas of concern, uncovering the reasons and motivations behind the
numerical data you collect. It may be difficult, however, to find a
representative group of participants who can give you the information
you need.
Lessons
for using data*
* Adapted from the
Education Trust's Community Data Guide (1997).
Use
the process of collecting and analyzing data to bring educators and
community members together.
Use
data to focus attention and community action on real, not assumed,
problems.
Beware
of a picture painted in a single stroke.
No single piece of information can provide enough information to
understand how to change schools. A combination of well-selected
indicators is essential to painting a complete picture of the needs of
students or the status of school performance.
Beware
of data that mask achievement gaps.
Attending to achievement gaps and disparities between groups of students
requires data that are broken down by race, ethnicity, income, and
proficiency with English. While it is sometimes difficult to get this kind
of data, the importance of such data makes the effort worthwhile.
Report
local data strategically.
Once the data are analyzed, identify the problem you want to highlight and
then report only the data relevant to that problem and its solution. Too
many numbers can overwhelm and confuse your intended audience.
Double-check
data . . . then check data again.
Data-driven change can be misdirected, and reform efforts can
collapse if the data are inaccurate. Even a simple typographical error can
undermine months of hard work and planning. Have a team of data checkers
comb through data before you report or use the data in decision making.
Keep
data simple but exciting.
Data that are communicated in clear and accessible terms are powerful
tools for engaging the support of the community for school improvement.
Collect
and use your own data
Agree on the results to
measure. Because measurement takes resources and time, you may not want to
measure all aspects of your compact each year. Identify for formal
measurement those areas of student achievement and of the compact that
your team believes are critical to the success of the school and its
students at present. The two basic questions to answer are as follows:
- Are students
learning to high academic standards?
- Has the fulfillment
of compact commitments helped to improve student learning?
It's not enough to look at
whether the compact commitments are being fulfilled. If students are not
learning and achieving to high academic standards, compact partners need
to rethink the nature of their commitments. To answer these questions, you
need two kinds of data--data on student performance and data on key
indicators of success.
 Always
disaggregate your data
Disaggregation
shows how different populations in your school are doing.
Disaggregating data will help you target your efforts toward those
who most need your help. This chart disaggregates by parents'
education level. It shows that a greater percentage of students
whose parents have a college education read at the basic level or
above. Depending on your needs or concerns, you may disaggregate
by this or other means, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and
family income.
Student performance
If the core of the compact
is student learning, the focus of your evaluation should be student
achievement.
You need to know how
well students perform on assessments in reading, math, science, and other
core subjects. The school profile may include this information. If not,
the school or the district should be able to provide the data to the
compact team. Activity
Sheet D: Student Performance will help you record and use student
performance results. Use the techniques found in the earlier tables to
interpret the data. Here are some key questions to ask about student
performance with reference to the indicators of success:
Continuous
improvement: Do
the student performance results show continuous improvement? How does
performance this year compare with that in previous years?
Comparative
performance:
How do the student performance results at your school compare with the
data for other schools in the district? With the statewide average? With
the national averages?
Absolute
performance:
What do the student performance results show in relation to your school's
desired level of performance? How far is the school from its current
goals?
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