Posted by Laura Herring at Thursday, May 5, 2022 10:35:51 AM
As an early childhood educator, it is my responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of my teaching strategies. As a leader, I hope to positively impact those around me by setting an example and leading evaluation initiatives. It is vital that schools perform evaluations to ensure their program is meeting expectations. According to The National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force (2013), “states should use standardized observational tools to gauge what is often called the ‘dynamic attributes’ of program quality: classroom environments, teaching practices, and learning opportunities provided to children,” (National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force, 2013, p.33). The goal is always to positively impact students. I believe leaders should encourage meaningful and reflective program evaluation to ensure that programs/schools are meeting expectations.
I think a barrier might be engagement. To truly conduct a thorough program evaluation there must be engagement from all stakeholders. I believe this might be a barrier as there are many factors that affect stakeholder engagement. To overcome this barrier, I believe leadership should help explain the steps in the process. Family and faculty meetings will help to overcome this barrier. Leadership should encourage teachers and families to report accurate data that truly reflects current practices. Using that data collected, all stakeholders should work as a team to set goals. Leadership should always create a warm, welcoming, positive environment for all stakeholders.
Reference
National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force. (2013). The report of the National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force: Taking stock: Assessing and improving early childhood learning and program quality. http://policyforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Taking-Stock.pdf
Response 2
Linda Pritchett at Wednesday, May 4, 2022 10:59:22 PM
Blog: Scholar Practitioners Who Impact Future Change
Explain your responsibility, as a scholar-practitioner, to lead evaluation initiatives.
As a scholar-practitioner, I would use my personal and professional experiences to lead an evaluation initiative. This course has provided me with an opportunity to understand the program evaluation process, as a way to increase children learning and understanding through a series of rigorous assessments to improve the learning experiences of young learners. I believe my responsibility is to ensure that directors understand the benefits of having their programs evaluated. As a scholar-practitioner, I will use my professional knowledge and understanding to lead evaluation initiatives. The main focus of this task is the ability to make decisions regarding the early childhood program. It is important to engage all stakeholders in the process of program evaluation. I would disseminate the literature about the decision-making process of program evaluation to the staff members to positively impact their desire to participate. According to Rodd, there are two categories of decision making programmed and nonprogrammed. The program decisions consist of making choices that involve the daily operation of the program, however, the nonprogrammed decisions are mostly common sense choices, judgment, intuition, and creativity Rodd, 2013.
Explain what might be your greatest barrier and/or most important downfall to avoid when leading program evaluations and why.
The greatest barrier to program evaluation is the leaders’ style of leadership can impact how staff members make decisions Rodd, 2013. Basically, it is important for me to understand the personality and professional knowledge of the staff members in order to receive adequate support for the program evaluation, as well as to be an active listener in staff meetings.
Describe how you might minimize this barrier and/or downfall to ensure that evaluations are effective.
As a scholar-practitioner, I will review the professional code of ethics with the staff members. This will ensure the decisions we make are based on ethics and respect Rodd, 2013. It is important to conduct professional training to support staff members that are working on the program evaluation.
References
Rodd, J. (2013). Leadership in early childhood: The pathway to professionalism (4th ed.) Leading Decision Making: Transforming Vision Into Action. 126–143. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
