Questions That Focus on the Value of the Program

Guskey and Sparks (1991a) suggest that evaluators ask the following questions when planning a professional development program:

• "Is the staff development program driven by clearly stated, measurable district or school objectives?

• Is a systemic view of the change process expressed in the program's plans? That is, is it recognized that change in one part of the system affects all other parts?

• Are all appropriate parts of the organization contributing to the change effort? For example, is there parent involvement? Curriculum revision? Changes in supervisory practices?

• Is the staff development program's content sufficiently grounded in research to ensure that if properly implemented it will produce the desired changes in student outcomes?" (pp. 17-18)

References