As I get older, it never fails to amaze me how so many of the professional experiences in my past have guided me in ways that cause me to pause and reflect.  Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but it is reassuring that these past experiences have served to prepare me for what lies ahead, even when the path is different than I had ever imagined. One of these experiences is that of being a classroom teacher. While teaching high school mathematics, I never envisioned that I would return to graduate school to pursue a career in program evaluation. During my years as a classroom teacher, when I thought I was doing most of the teaching, I now realize that I was learning valuable lessons that shape how I approach evaluation.

Certainly, being a former teacher allows me to bring some contextual understanding of what it means to work in a school system. This background knowledge has enabled me to avoid snags that waste time and resources during the data collection phase of an evaluation. In some circumstances, earning the trust of teachers has been easier because they know I have walked in their shoes. My experience as an educator has also shaped the way I think about evaluation questions. I constantly think about what my former principal and fellow teachers would have wanted to learn. But above all, remembering many of my students, I am reminded to check my assumptions, to listen carefully (especially to the quiet ones, as they also have a story to tell), and to be careful when making recommendations, because it is difficult to understand the full context necessary to provide wise guidance. 

In the past year, GRG has had the opportunity to evaluate two hands-on science curriculum packages that are connected to public TV series for preschool-aged children: PEEP and the Big Wide World and Sid the Science Kid. The PEEP Explorer's Guide offers six thematic units, with in-depth, hands-on activities meant to encourage exploration, rich science learning, and fun for preschoolers. The newer Sid Summer Science Camps curriculum, to date, offers one week-long curriculum tied to one of the show's weekly episode cycles. Based on the preschool science curriculum, Preschool Pathways to Science, the Sid curriculum builds on children's natural sense of curiosity and encourages kids to think, talk, and work like scientists.

Each curriculum integrates video from the series, hands-on exploration for children, and hands-on training for teachers. The PEEP Explorer's Guide includes Family Science Letters and book and activity suggestions for parents. GRG's recent evaluation of the PEEP Explorer's Guide focused on teachers' attitudes and behaviors after using at least four of the six PEEP units over the course of a school year. Teachers reported in their inquiry-based teaching the quality improved and the quantity increased, and they were more comfortable conducting science activities and investigations in their classrooms.

GRG's current evaluation of the Sid Summer Science Camps curriculum in Head Start and preschool programs focuses on the extent to which children's science knowledge and process skills change. Preliminary findings indicate that children show increased sophistication in the ways they use and talk about science tools, that they see Sid as a role model, and that they see themselves as scientists.  

GMU Teachinghistory.org 

GRG has been evaluating Teachinghistory.org this past year for George Mason University's Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to analyzing website data, GRG assessed visitors' patterns of use, the site's perceived value, and the usefulness of the website's resources in helping them teach American history. Based on the information we've learned this past year, GRG will continue to evaluate this site, gathering feedback from social studies methods professors, pre-service teachers, and non-users of the site.