Evaluating Professional Learning

Thomas R. Guskey, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s renowned Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis (MESA) program, he began his career in education as a middle school teacher, served as an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, and was the first Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, a national educational research center. He is the author/editor of twenty-seven books and over three hundred articles published in prominent research journals as well as Educational Leadership, Kappan, and The School Administrator. Dr. Guskey served on the Policy Research Team of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and on the task force to develop the National Standards for Professional Development. He was named a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Association’s prestigious Relating Research to Practice Award. He was also awarded Learning Forward′s Outstanding Contribution to the Field Award and Phi Delta Kappan′s Distinguished Educator Award. Perhaps most unique, in the 158-year history of his undergraduate institution, Thiel College, he is one of only three graduates to receive the Outstanding Alumnus Award and be inducted into the Thiel College Athletic Hall of Fame. His most recent books include Implementing Mastery Learning (2023), Instructional Feedback: The Power, the Promise, the Practice (with Smith & Lipnevich, 2023); Get Set, Go! Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems (2020), What We Know About Grading (with Brookhart, 2019), and On Your Mark: Challenging the Conventions of Grading and Reporting (2015). He may be contacted by email at guskey@uky.edu, Twitter at @tguskey, or at www.tguskey.com.

• Foreword by Frederick BrownAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorCHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTIONWhy Is Professional Learning Important?Why Is Evaluation Important?Why Are Most Professional Learning Evaluations Inadequate?What Issues Will We Not Address?What Issues Will We Address?ConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 2. THE PUZZLING RESULTS IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING RESEARCHWhy Are Many Summaries of Professional Learning So Discouraging?Why Do Positive Results Remain Puzzling?What Explains the Inconsistencies in Results?How Can We Get Better ResultsConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 3. WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING?What Is Professional Learning?What Are the Different Models of Professional Learning?How Do the Different Models Compare?Is There Consensus on the Features of Effective Professional Learning?What Are the Standards for Professional Learning?ConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 4. WHAT IS EVALUATION?What Is Evaluation?How Does Evaluation Differ From Other Related Activities?What Are the Principal Models of Evaluation?What Are the Purposes of Evaluation?What Are the Standards for Good Evaluations?ConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 5. PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING PROFESSIONAL LEARNINGHow Should We Begin Thinking About Evaluating Professional Learning?What Is the Relationship Between Professional Learning and Improvements in Student Learning?What Are the Critical Levels of Professional Learning Evaluation?What Are the Implications of the Five Critical Levels?What Is the Difference Between Evidence and Proof?ConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 6. LEVEL 1: PARTICIPANTS’ REACTIONSWhat Questions Are Addressed at This Level?How Will Evidence Be Gathered?What Is Measured or Assessed?How Will the Evidence Be Used?ConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 7. LEVEL 2: PARTICIPANTS’ LEARNINGWhy Is It Important to Assess Participants’ Learning?What Questions Are Addressed at This Level?What Types of Learning Are Assessed?How Will Evidence Be Gathered?What Is Measured or AssessedHow Will the Evidence Be Used?ConclusionQuestions for ReflectionCHAPTER 8. LEVEL 3: ORGANIZATION SUPPORT AND CHANGEWhy Is It Important to Assess Organization Support and Change?What Questions Are Addressed?How Will the Evidence Be Gathered?What Is Measured or Assessed?How Will the Evidence Be Used?Questions for ReflectionCHAPTER 9. LEVEL 4: PARTICIPANTS’ USE OF NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLSWhy Is It Important to Assess Participants’ Use of New Knowledge and SkillsWhat Questions Are Addressed?How Will the Evidence Be Gathered?What Is Measured or Assessed?How Will the Evidence Be Used?Questions for ReflectionCHAPTER 10. LEVEL 5: STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESWhy Is It Important to Assess Student Learning Outcomes?What Questions Are Addressed?What Types of Learning Are Assessed?How Will the Evidence Be Gathered?What Other Assessment Issues Should Be Considered?What Is Measured or Assessed?How Will the Evidence Be Used?Questions for ReflectionCHAPTER 11. PRESENTING EVALUATION RESULTSHow Do We Begin the Evaluation Process?Why Is Flexibility Essential?Who Is Responsible for Evaluation?How Is Evaluation Evidence Best Presented?How Should Evaluation Reports be Organized?What Additional Aspects of Evaluation Must Be Considered?Where Do We Go From Here?Questions for ReflectionREFERENCESINDEX