14007 Evaluation in Education: Theory and Practice

Credits: 4 graduate credits in Education: Technologies and Learning Systems or in Educational Administration, Policy and Leadership

Prerequisite: Research Methods in Education

The course is based on Standards-Based and Responsive Evaluation, by R. E. Stake (Sage, 2004); on School-Based Evaluation: A Dialogue for School Improvement, by D. Nevo (Reches, 2001, in Hebrew); and on two readers (in Hebrew and English) edited by Sarah Guri-Rosenblit and David Metzer.

The course deals with the development of theoretical and practical thinking in evaluation theory over the past fifty years, and examines its unique concepts. It presents varied approaches to the evaluation of programs, projects and achievement, and examines selected models on the planning, development and implementation stages. It focuses on school-based evaluation and on various aspects of curriculum evaluation in technology-rich environments.

Objectives: To develop awareness of the importance of evaluation in education and the development of its theoretical and practical thinking; To acquaint students with up-to-date approaches, methods and tools for evaluating goals, plans of action, processes and products, that are used or implemented in schools and on other levels of the education system; To enable students to gain experience in initial planning and implementation of evaluation activities with respect to a specific topic or process.

Topics: Definitions and key concepts in evaluation, the role of evaluation and the objects of evaluation, an overview of the development of the field; Information types, evaluation criteria, evaluation clients, audiences and stakeholders, the evaluation process, external vs. internal evaluation, methods of inquiry in evaluation; Alternative approaches to the evaluation of programs and educational projects; Planning and implementing evaluation activities; Evaluating evaluations; School-based evaluation – programs, projects and materials; teachers and learners; Selected ethical and value issues in evaluation.