Vol 5 . . . No 4 . . . December, 1995
Self-Assessment Instruments
Surveys are one sound strategy to measure progress. Staff and students rate their levels of competence with regard to various skills using rubrics. This was a primary research approach for the Making Connections OTA Report.
While such instruments may inflate the actual skill levels because participants tend to provide socially desirable responses, in the case of educational technology there is little risk that students will report high skill levels and frequent technology learning opportunities where they do not exist.
The Bellingham Schools owe a debt of gratitude to Doug Johnson and the Mankato (MN) Public Schools (Go by Web to Mankato WWW Site) for their Technology Scale developed several years ago to measure staff progress on technology-related competencies. This scale has been modified to assess progress by both staff and students.
The Bellingham Schools began administering the Mankato Scale to all staff members at a site level in June of 1994. This instrument is now repeated at least once each year to see how staff is moving along on its journey and to provide a basis for the planning of adult learning.
The 1995-96 Bellingham version of the Mankato Scale for staff is available for downloading and use from the district's WWW site at http://www.bham.wednet.edu/policies.htm (Go by Web to Bellingham Public Schools).
A student version of the Mankato Scale has been created for each level of the district (elementary, middle and high school). These are also available for downloading and use from the district's WWW site at http://www.bham.wednet.edu/policies.htm (Go by Web to Bellingham Public Schools).
The Sad and Sorry State of Technology Program Assessment---Hypotheses for the Sad and Sorry State---Why Bother? What's the Pay-Off?---The Centrality of Clear Goals and Outcome Statements---Assessment for Navigation---Self-Assessment Instruments---Performance Assessment Instruments---When all is said and done---Resources
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