Literacy Collaborative Program Evaluation

At the school/district level:

At the school/district level, administrators, literacy coordinators, and teachers analyze and present their own data to locally demonstrate the effectiveness of Literacy Collaborative.

All Literacy Collaborative schools are responsible for developing a school-level evaluation plan--and for collecting, analyzing, and presenting student outcome data according to that plan. The responsibility for coordinating school program evaluation rests with the School Leadership Team, which typically consists of the school principal, the literacy coordinator, a classroom teacher from each grade level and others who provide literacy teaching.

The Process

During the literacy coordinator’s initial training year, s/he works with their School Leadership Team to develop a school-level evaluation plan that will allow them to track student progress and guide their implementation assessment.

At the beginning and end of each subsequent year, the School Leadership Team reviews their school’s data, assesses progress and sets goals for professional development and instruction based on results. Each spring, they develop and write an annual school report that presents an analysis of their data, their implementation status and a list of future goals. This report is submitted to the university training site, and schools receive feedback on their reports from Literacy Collaborative staff. Consecutive annual reports provide a record of implementation and student achievement over time.

Download a flowchart describing the process.

Download a table describing the process.

Participation in National Literacy Collaborative Studies

Schools/districts are also encouraged to participate in national Literacy Collaborative studies. These studies are conducted by internal Literacy Collaborative researchers or outside evaluators. Schools/districts are contacted about possible participation by Literacy Collaborative research staff and are also encouraged to contact their university training site if they are interested in participating. Individual schools can obtain useful information about the effectiveness of their Literacy Collaborative implementation through their participation in national studies.

Formative Evaluation

Finally, we encourage formative evaluations of school program implementations to provide schools with insight into how they might improve their implementations. Although formative evaluation is not a Literacy Collaborative requirement, we anticipate a greater emphasis on formative evaluation in the future.