Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to identify how school principals can develop a culture of evaluation that will contribute to improving the quality of learning processes. If this goal is achieved, teachers, administrators and staff will respond more effectively to the needs of students and society in general. The chapter provides an overview of how the role of school principal has changed substantially during the last decade, demanding more rigorous assessment practices and accountability. The authors also discuss the nature and purposes of evaluation, emphasising the importance of integrating evaluation, planning, and decision-making. They describe common problems and attitudes that may impact the effectiveness of evaluations; in contrast, the chapter proposes several conditions that will allow the development of a culture of evaluation in schools. In order to demonstrate how these criteria work, a case study illustrates how they were applied by a school principal to resolve specific evaluation issues. The authors recommend that effective evaluations require cooperation between the school administration and teachers with open communication and active participation. This will not be possible without financial support and adequate training. It is the authors belief that if school principals put these recommendations into practice, it will be possible to develop a culture of evaluation within each educational community.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Álvarez García, I. (1997). Theory of evaluation: Some practical examples (Teoría de evaluación: Algunos ejemplos prácticos). In Cuadernos de Filosofía y Letras (10). UNAM, 1985. Re-edited by UNESCO/CREFAL.
Álvarez García, I. (Ed.). (2008). Planning and development of educational and social Projects. (Planificación y desarrollo de proyectos sociales y educativos) (9th ed.). México: Limusa.
Álvarez García, I., & Romay, M. L. (2013). Challenges for a culture of evaluation in educational institutions (Desafíos para una cultura de evaluación en las Instituciones Educativas). Mexico: Limusa-Noriega (Eds.).
Berk, R. A. (1999). Thinking about program evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Bohte, J., & Meier, K. J. (2000). Goal displacement: Assessing the motivation for organizational cheating. Public Administration Review, 60, 173–182.
Bridges, E. M., & Groves, R. (2000). The micro and macro politics of personnel evaluation: A framework. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 12, 321–337.
Calonghi, L., Gianola, L. P., Groppo, M., Perucci, G., & Reguzzoni, M. (1991). The evaluation issue (El problema de la evaluación). Madrid: ITER Editors.
Chen, H. T. (1990). Theory-driven evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010a). Common Core State Standards for English Language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Retrieved from http://www.orestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010b). Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf
Cronbach, L. J. (1982). Designing evaluations of educational and social programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Decoo, W. (2002). Crisis on Campus: Confronting Academic Misconduct. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Erwin, D. T. (1991). Assessing student learning and development: A Guide to the principles, goals and methods of determining college outcomes. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Flagg, B. N. (1990). Formative evaluation for educational technologies. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fullan, M. (2008a). The six secrets to change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fullan, M. (2008b). What’s worth fighting for in the principalship? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Glatthorn, A., Boschee, F., Whitehead, B. M., & Boschee, B. F. (2012). Curriculum leadership: Strategies for development and implementation (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.
Guerra-Lopez, I. (2008). Performance evaluation: Approaches for improving program and organizational performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Heilig, J. V., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Accountability Texas-style: The progress and learning of urban minority students in a high-stakes testing context. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 75–110.
Hill, H. C. (2009). Evaluating value-added models: A measurement perspective. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 28, 102–109.
Kemmis, S. (1989). Seven principles for programs evaluation in curriculum development and innovation. (pp. 117-140). In E. R. House (Ed.), New directions in educational evaluation. Lewes, VA: Falmer Press.
Kennedy, M. M. (2010). Teacher assessment and the quest for teacher quality: A handbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ladson Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. Schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3–12.
Leithwood, K., Lewis, K. S., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). Review of research: How leadership influences student learning. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, Center of Applied Research and Educational Improvement.
Lincoln, I. S., & Guba, E. G. (1981). Effective evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Madaus, G., Scriven, M., & Stufflebeam, D. (1990). Evaluation models: Viewpoints on educational and human services evaluation. Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff.
Martínez Slanova, E. (1980). Principles of evaluation (Los principios de la evaluación). Madrid: ICE/UPM. Retrieved from http://www.uhu.es/cine.educacion/didactica/0092principiosevaluacion.htm
Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development & Aurora: Mid-continent Research for Education Learning.
Mathison, S. (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia of evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McNeil, L. (1986). Contradictions of control: School structure and school knowledge. London: Routledge.
McNeil, L. (2000a). Contradictions of school reform: The educational cost of standardized testing. London: Routledge.
McNeil, L. (2000b). Creating new inequalities: Contradictions of reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(10), 729–734.
McNeil, L. M., Coppola, E., Radigan, J., & Heilig, J. V. (2008). Avoidable losses: High-stakes accountability and the dropout crisis. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 16(3), 1–45.
Munro, J. H. (2008). Educational leadership. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education.
National Governors’ Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) & Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). (2012). Common core state standards initiative. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/
Nelson, S., & McGhee, M. (2004). Time-off task: How test preparation is siphoning instructional time for students of colour and students of poverty. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Kansas City, MO.
Nelson, S., McGhee, M., Meno, L., & Slater, C. L. (2007). Fulfilling the promise of educational accountability: A unique perspective. Phi Delta Kappan, 88(9), 702–709.
Nelson, S., McGhee, M., Reardon, R., Gonzales, K., & Kent, C. (2007). Supplanting teaching with testing: Does it raise test scores? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Alexandria, VA.
Nevo, D. (1986). The conceptualization of educational evaluation. (pp. 15-30). In E. R. House (Ed.), New Directions in educational evaluation. Lewes, DE: Falmer.
Nichols, S. L., Glass, G. V., & Berliner, D. C. (2012). High-stakes testing and student achievement: Updated analyses with NAEP data. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 20(20). Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1048
Owen, J. M. (2006). Program evaluation: Formative approach (3rd ed.). New York: The Guilford.
PARCC. (2013). Partnership for assessment of readiness for College and careers. Retrieved from http://www.parcconline.org/
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Peterson, K. D. (2009). Teacher evaluation: Comprehensive guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Porter, A., McMaken, J., Hwang, J., & Yang, R. (2011). Common core standards: The new U.S. intended curriculum. Educational Researcher, 40(3), 103–116.
Quick, P. M., & Normore, A. H. (2004). Moral leadership in the 21st century: Everyone is watching: Especially the students. The Educational Forum, 68(4), 336–347.
Radcliffe, J. (2010, March 4). Cheating allegations tighten TAKS test security: State switches exam essay topic, sends monitors to two HISD schools. Houston Chronicle.
Reeves, D. (2009). Leading change in your school. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Romay, M. L., & Crispin, B. M. L. (2000). Self-evaluation and faculty development. In Faculty evaluation (Evaluacion de la Docencia) (Chapter 14, pp. 341–364). México: Paidós.
Rossi, P. H., & Freeman, M. (1992). Evaluation: A systematic approach (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rueda, R. (2011). The three dimensions of improving students’ performance. New York: Columbia University Press.
Schemo, D. J., & Fessenden, F. (2003, December 03). A miracle revisited: Measuring success; gains in Houston Schools: How real are they? New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/us/a-miracle-revisited-measuring-success-gains-in-houston-schools-how-real-are-they.html.
Schmoker, M. (1999). Results: The key to continuous improvement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Scriven, M. (1967). The methodology of evaluation. In R. W. Tyler, R. M. Gagne, & M. Scriven (Eds.), Perspectives of curriculum evaluation (pp. 39–83). Chicago: Rand McNally.
Scriven, M. (1991). Evaluation thesaurus (4th ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Leviton, L. C. (1991). Foundations of program evaluation: Theories of practice. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Shawn, I., & Greene, J. (2006). Handbook of evaluation: Policies, programs and practices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Slater, C. L., McGhee, M., Nelson, S., & Meno, L. (2011). Lessons learned: The promise and possibility of educational accountability in the United States. In C. F. Webber & J. Lupart (Eds.), Leading student assessment (pp. 41–58). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (2013) retrieve from http://www.smarterbalanced.org/
Spaulding, D. T. (2008). Program Evaluation in practice: Core concepts and examples for discussion and analysis. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Stake, R. E. (1990). Responsive evaluation. In H. G. Walberg & G. D. Haertel (Eds.), The International encyclopaedia of educational evaluation (pp. 75–77). Oxford, NY: Pergamon Press.
Stufflebeam, D. L., et al. (1971). Educational evaluation and decision making. Itasca, IL: Peacock.
U.S. Department of Education. (2009a). Title I — Improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.htm
U.S. Department of Education. (2009b). President Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan announces national competition to advance school reform. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/07/07242009.html
Weiss, C. H. (1992). Evaluation research: Methods to determine efficiency of programs (Investigación Evaluativa: Métodos para determinar la eficiencia de los programas). México: Trillas.
Whitaker, T. (2003). What great principals do differently? Larchmont, VA: Eye on Education.
Wholey, J., & Newcomer, K. (1994). Handbook of practical program evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wildy, H., & Clarke, S. (2008). Charting an arid landscape: The preparation of novice primary principals in Western Australia. School Leadership and Management, 28(5), 469–487.
Winerip, M. (2011, July 18). Cracking a system in which test scores were for changing. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/education/18oneducation.html?_r=0
Wohlstetter, P., Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2008). Creating a system for data-driven decision-making: Applying the principal-agent framework. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(3), 239–259.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Romay, M.L., Magee, C., Slater, C.L. (2016). Principal Leadership and Challenges for Developing a School Culture of Evaluation. In: Scott, S., Scott, D., Webber, C. (eds) Assessment in Education. The Enabling Power of Assessment, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23398-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23398-7_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23397-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23398-7
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)