Measuring Professional Learning Impact
Measuring the impact of professional learning requires an evaluative leadership approach, and seeking validity and reliability through the use of a range of high quality data is key.
Evaluating professional learning to measure its effectiveness and impact on student learning is an important process for school leaders and facilitators of educator learning. Indeed, you can’t improve what you don’t measure. But to be practical, evaluation needs to be timely, use accessible data collection methods and produce easy to understand results. In the pursuit for excellence, developing a positive data culture is a necessity for all schools.
So, how can we know professional learning is having a positive impact?
Taking a backwards design approach to understand the impact of professional development provisions, Guskey’s five-level model offers a powerful framework, ranging from participants’ reactions to the ultimate impact on student outcomes. Each level builds upon the previous, and from a school’s perspective, necessitates data collection across multiple stages.
“The five levels in this model are hierarchically arranged, from simple to more complex. With each succeeding level, the process of gathering evaluation data requires more time and resources. And because each level builds on those that come before, success at one level is usually necessary for success at higher levels” (Guskey, 2014).
What are the five levels in Guskey’s model? And, what are the types of measures we can gather?
Level 1: Participant reaction - Gather data on participants’ reactions to the learning provided on key areas of presenter, content, and context.
Level 2: Participants’ learning - Gather data on participants’ learning, such as observations, coaching conversations and learning log reflections.
Level 3: Organizational support and change - Data gathered will vary depending on professional learning goals, and can range from looking at school records or examining meeting minutes, to various community questionnaires.
Level 4: Participants’ use of knowledge and skills - Data gathered on the extent to which professional learning is enacted will vary depending on professional learning goals. It can range from questionnaires to reflection logs and professional portfolios.
Level 5: Student Learning Outcomes - Gather a range of data from multiple sources to provide valid and reliable data for evaluating the effectiveness of professional learning on student learning. Consider observational data, numerical data, and perceptions gained from discussions with key stakeholders.
What kind of data would you collect to measure professional learning impact at each level?
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FURTHER READING:
Gusky, T. R., (2016) Gauge Impact with Five Levels of Data. Learning Forward.