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Symposium - Evaluating the Quality of Professional Development: Implications for Districts and States. Professional Development Activity Log: Comparing Teacher Log and Survey Approaches to Evaluating Professional Development. AERA Annual Meeting Montreal, April 1 1 , 2004. Kwang Suk Yoon
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Symposium - Evaluating the Quality of Professional Development: Implications for Districts and States Professional Development Activity Log: Comparing Teacher Log and Survey Approaches to Evaluating Professional Development AERA Annual Meeting Montreal, April 11, 2004 Kwang Suk Yoon Reuben Jacobson American Institutes for Research
Overview • Comparisons between teacher logs with survey • Teachers’ experience with logs • Lessons learned • Next steps
Professional Development Activity Log (PDAL) • The PDAL is a web-based, self-administered, longitudinal data collection tool for teachers to record their professional development experiences in detail with the assistance of a series of structured prompts • Teachers log on to their password-protected web account and fill out their PDAL at regular intervals • Visit www.PDAL.net for more information
PDAL Entries • Name of activity • Number of hours spent on each activity and its duration • Whether the activity is a one-time or continuous event (e.g., recurring over a number of months) • Type of activity (e.g., workshop, summer institute, study group) • Purpose of activity (e.g., strengthening subject matter knowledge) • PD quality features (e.g., active learning, coherence, collective participation) • Content focus (e.g., algebraic concepts: absolute values, use of variables, etc.) • Instructional practice – instructional topics covered in each activity (e.g., use of calculators, computers, or other educational technology)
Why PDAL? • Collects disaggregate information about specific PD activities – Increases the level of specificity of PD data and reduces bias introduced by gross data aggregation • Gathers accurate, reliable, and time-sensitive information – Minimizes recall problem with retrospective reports • Tailors technical assistance to teachers based on their response patterns • Allows teachers to review their own logs – Teachers can reflect on their own PD experiences • Generates context sensitive questions
“Black Box” of Survey Data Hypothetical Data
Fine-grain log-level data on contact hours : Disaggregated by teacher by activity by time Hypothetical Data
Validation of Teacher Logs as an Alternative Data Collection Method • Comparing PDAL and exit survey results • Measurement properties • Correlations • Mean levels • Assessing the relative efficacy of teacher logs and survey
Method • Instruments • PDAL • Conduced over 15 months • Exit Survey • Follow-up questions about PD activities over the same period of 15 months • Questions about teachers’ experiences with PDAL • Sample • 4 Math-Science PartnershipProgram projects • Sample • 476math and science teachers mostly in middle or high schools • Participants • 326 teachers completed at least for a month in PDAL • 165 teachers participated in the Exit Survey
Agreement between Log & Survey Methods:Correlations between methods
Teachers’ Experience with or Opinions about PDAL:Results from the PDAL Exit Survey
Unique Benefits of PDAL • Rich, in-depth data with a high level of specificity • Differences in features between PD sponsored by MSP vs. other PD • Topic intensity (i.e., amount of contact hours per topic) • Time-dependent measures • Percent of months with PD • Average contact hours by month • Average span of activity • Can be used for on-going formative evaluation to continuously improve PD • Episode-specific comments and feedback
Lessons Learned & Implications • Complementary uses of logs & surveys for different purposes • Globally estimating the mean level of PD activities • Investigating the variability of specific PD elements and relating it to other outcomes • Improving PD design • Cost and benefits of different data collection methods • Improving survey method: Increase the level of specificity
Next Steps • Final phase of data analysis • Usingboth PDAL and survey data to assess change in teaching practice and assess their relative predictive validity • PDAL users focus group (May 2005) • PDAL usability study • Need for follow-up studies • Such as a new CCSSO-AIR study on improving evaluation of professional development in math and science at state and local levels
Contact Information Kwang Suk Yoon (202) 403-5358 ksyoon@air.org Reuben Jacobson (202) 403-6925 rjacobson@air.org Visit us www.PDAL.netwww.air.org