Join our mailing list and receive updates about our activities.

Your Name:
Your E-mail:

Seven Steps to a safer School

 

 

 

 

 STEP 6: MONITOR AND EVALUATE

• Use formative evaluations for monitoring progress, integrity, and making necessary adjustments with the Program Integrity and Support Scale
• Graph authentic data (e.g., office referrals) on a weekly basis
• For summative evaluation, use the outcomes that were articulated in the initial Goal Attainment Scaling ratings to gauge the effectiveness of the program
• Multiple Goal Attainment Scaling ratings can be summed and a converging evidence score obtained for an overall picture of progress.
Expanded Explanation:

A critical aspect of any potentially effective violence prevention program is that of monitoring its progress and evaluating its outcomes.  Many schools are full of well-meaning “programs” that have never had to undergo any scrutiny regarding effectiveness, and this is a mistake. There is not enough time and money for such a luxury, and when it comes to school safety, the issue is too important to ignore. This process is probably considerably easier than most educators anticipate. Unlike researchers, school personnel are less interested in complex statistical significance testing and much more interested in authentic, observable results:  “Are we seeing the change that we want to see?”
Formative Evaluation:

Formative evaluations are for assessing “how things are going.”  Formative evaluations are for monitoring progress, integrity, and making necessary adjustments. A simple self-report feedback scale such as the Program Integrity and Support Scale can provide the School Safety Planning Team or administrator with useful information to judge progress and needs for additional support. In instances of a new prevention curriculum, administrators or a School Safety Planning Team member can supplement this information with a classroom observation, designed to be supportive rather than purely evaluative.  Additionally, the authentic data articulated earlier in the GAS rating section of the Problem-Solving Worksheet and Guidelines can be graphed to illuminate any emerging trends.
Summative Evaluation:

At some point, often at the close of the school year, it is essential to assess the effectiveness of the program.  “Did we achieve our intended outcomes?” If those outcomes were articulated in the initial GAS rating in observable, measurable terms, then this exercise is comparatively easy.  Outcomes on the “plus” side of the GAS rating indicate progress and may be an indicator that the program was successful (One has to account for other, unaccounted for variables that contributed to the score).  Multiple Goal Attainment Scaling ratings can be summed and a converging evidence score obtained.  For instance, if the Problem-Solving Worksheet was used to obtain Goal Attainment Scaling ratings on student fights, bullying, in-school suspension referrals, and literacy test scores, each of these outcome ratings could be summed and a mean rating found.  This rating can provide a general index of progress.  All of the summative evaluation results should be subsequently communicated to all of the stakeholders so that planning for the next period can progress in an informed manner.
This web site has been produced by The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment to provide research-based school violence prevention procedures for educators. The web site has been made possible with the generous support of the Robert and Renee Belfer Foundation and other supporters.
The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment to provide research-based school violence prevention procedures for educators
Terms and Conditions