NAME:WEI XIAOYAN

MATRIC NO.:20182001867

PHONE NUMBER:0175458267

CHAPTER11

SUMMARY
 THE SUMMARY OF CHAPTER11 CURRICULUM EVALUATION

Curriculum evaluation is essential to curriculum development, implementation, and

maintenance. However, ideally, evaluation determines the value of some action or
program, the degree to which it helps students meet standards, and its importance .
Implicitly and explicitly, evaluation reflects value judgments about previous curricula
and instructional designs. Evaluation critiques" previous documents, plans, and
actions. We believe that assessment (evaluation) involves value judgments as to merit
and worth. These judgments affect which data we gather and how we view that data.
Further complicating curriculum evaluation are the explosions of knowledge
regarding how the brain functions, how people learn, how the political realm affects
schooling, how new pedagogies can address the needs of diverse student populations,
how curricula can be created using various modern and postmodern approaches, and
how assessment devices can be created and modified to get at the essences of learning.
However, we fail to get an accurate picture of the depth and breadth of students,
knowledge and cognition. They do not adequately address student creativity,
compassion, commitment to action, and enthusiasm, and not a "view of how, say,
students' understandings and skills evolve. It does not necessarily indicate the amount
of learnings. Adding to the difficulty of evaluating the curriculum, is the increasingly
voiced demand that assessment fair and appropriate for diverse students. Evaluators
gather and interpret data to determine whether to accept, change, or eliminate aspects
of the curriculum, such as particular textbooks. Curriculum evaluation is necessary
not only at the end of a program or school year but also at various points throughout
the program's development and implementation. Process of Reasoning from Evidence
in Curriculum Evaluation Placing curriculum at one corner of the top of the hourglass
with cognition at the other corner The neck of the hourglass represents the observation
stage of reasoning.

The base of the hourglass represents interpretation. The curriculum organizes

subject matter in terms of scope and sequence Educators must make evaluative
judgments regarding the worth of the subject matter being considered and organized
as well as the political and social climates within which the curriculum will exist. And
is consistent with curriculum theory?

Cognitive theories inform us in our data gathering. Assist teachers in shaping

their instructional approaches and evaluating students' learning

Observation includes all the means by which data are gathered, it may involve
written tests, reviews of students' work (e.g. their portfolios), observation includes
questionnaires, checklists, inventories, interview schedules, and video performances.
It also includes data on teachers-for example, from observations of teachers.

In the interpretation stage of curriculum evaluation, draw on their assumptions

about curriculum and cognition. They process data into evidence regarding the
curriculum's success. At the classroom level, interpretation tends to be informal and
qualitative, including interpretation regarding teachers, instructional approaches.
Interpretation implicitly draws on theories of testing, statistical models of data
analysis, and theories of decision making.

Evaluation must remain connected to the totality of curricular activities.

Evaluators investigate the appropriateness of a particular assessment procedure or
form of assessment. Evaluation focuses on the effectiveness of a school environment.
However, most evaluation focus on curriculum and/or instruction.

Harriet Talmage posed five types of questions that educators can consider when
evaluating curricula; questions of intrinsic, instrumental, comparative, idealization,
and decision value. 1. Intrinsic value addresses the curriculum's goodness and
appropriateness. It deals with both the planned curriculum and the finished (delivered)
curriculum. They perceive the curriculum in light of the purpose of education that
they see as paramount. (Should we stress critical thinking, citizenship, or preparation
for employment?) They also see curriculum in terms of their preferred learning theory.
2. The question of instrumental value asks, "What is the curriculum good for, and who
is its intended audience? "attempting to link the planned curriculum with the
program's stated goals and objectives. It also addresses which students will
accomplish what is planned in the curriculum and to what extent. Evaluation efforts
should identify the types of students who are likely to benefit the most from the
planned curriculum. 3. People faced with possible new programs often ask the
question of comparative value. Is the proposed new program better than the one it is
supposed to replace? Usually, new programs are created because people feel that the
existing program is inadequate. 4. Idealization value addresses ways to improve a
curriculum. They consider information on how the program is working and ask
themselves if there are alternative ways to make the program even better. They
continually reconsider how they might fine-tune the program's content, materials,
methods, and so on, so that students will optimally benefit. 5. Decision value deals
with the vital role that the previous four questions play in the evaluation process. The
evaluator and the curriculum decision maker should now have evidence documented
in such a manner that they can decide whether to retain, modify, or discard the new
program.

Blaine Worthen and James Sanders define evaluation as "the formal

determination of the quality, effectiveness, or value of a program, produce, project,
process, objective, or curriculum." Evaluation includes inquiry and judgment
methods”. Abbie Brown and Timothy Green define evaluation as the process of
judging, based on gathered data, the success level of an individual learning or product
effectiveness.Daniel Stufflebeam has defined evaluation as "the process of delineating,
obtaining, and providing useful information for judging decision alternatives.
Collin Marsh and George Willis indicate that evaluation permeates all human activity.
It deals with questions such as these; Is something worth doing? How well is it being
done? Do I like doing it? Should I spend my time doing something else? Most
evaluators maintain that while the presence and importance of values cannot be
ignored, they can only be considered within a particular context. We judge whether a
program reflects its values and if those in charge of a curriculum have made their
values explicit.

Measurement as assigning numerals to objects or events according to rules.

Measurement describes a situation or behavior in numerical terms. We make
observations and then assign numbers to aspects of the observed phenomena.
Measurement enables educators to record students' degrees of competency,
Evaluation assigns value and meaning to measurement. For example, an evaluator
might decide that a score of 70 percent correct answers means "passing" or successful
performance.“

However, educators must do something with the gathered data. They must decide
whether a student who spells 18 of 20 words correctly should get an A, an A, or some
other grade. Measurement always precedes evaluation Approaches to Evaluation
How people, process data is influenced by their philosophy and psychology. Those
who take a behavioristic, prescriptive, or sequenced approach to evaluation tend to
specify specific behaviors or content learned as a result of curriculum and instruction.
They like clearly stated objectives, precise indicators of whether their students have
achieved the program's intended outcomes. Those who take a humanistic approach are
more interested in whether the planned situations have enabled students to improve
their self-concepts.

In general, evaluation enables educators to (1) decide whether to maintain,

revise, or replace the existing curriculum; (2) assess individuals (primarily teachers
and students) in terms of instruction and learning; and (3) decide whether the existing
managerial organization of the school and its program should be maintained or
reformed. Also, part of the evaluation focuses on the school environment and the
community environment within which the school exists. Scientific versus Humanistic
Approach.Scientific evaluators tend to concentrate on the learners. They use data,
frequently in the form of test scores, to compare students' achievement in different
situations. Data are quantitative, so they can be analyzed statistically. Program
decisions are based on the comparative information gathered.

There is growing interest in humanistic approaches. Nontraditional evaluation

procedures to obtain more complete pictures of curricula. The humanistic approach
emphasizes naturalistic case studies and rejects experiments. Humanists prefer to
study programs already in place, not programs imposed by evaluators. Naturalistic
evaluators ask different questions of different programs. Benefits are described, not
quantified. Observations are opportunistic and responsive to the local scene, not
prestructured. Humanistic evaluators analyze qualitative data, such as impressions of
what they observed.

They describe actual incidents. Data gained from interviews and discussions with
participants are included in the evaluation. Analysis uncovers patterns among many
observations. Five major humanistic approaches have been identified: interpretive,
artistic, systematic, theory driven, and critical-emancipatory. 1. The interpretive
approach, the evaluator considers the educational scene and interprets the meaning
and significance of people's actions. Attention to social context is essential. The
evaluators are people directly involved with the curriculum, especially teachers and
students, the evaluator engages in aesthetic inquiry, observing classes and other
enactments of curricula and then publicly announcing what is good and bad about the
curriculum. This approach relies on individual intuition honed by experience. The
evaluator focuses on the quality of the relationships between teacher and students 3.
The systematic approach is most familiar. Evaluators try to be as objective as possible
in their descriptions, employ logical analysis and base their judgments on fact. 4.
Theory-driven approach. These calculators apply philosophical, political, and/or
social theories when judging the quality of curricula. 5. Critical-emancipatory
evaluators tend to be the most radical. They judge a curriculum's quality and
effectiveness, according to how well the curriculum counters social forces that impede
individual development and fulfillment. These evaluators draw heavily on Jurgen
Habermas's work on the construction of knowledge and meaning. They also draw on
critical theory, especially Marxist theory.

Utilitarian versus intuitionist Approach Evaluation can be classified as either

utilitarian or intuitionist. The utilitarian approach is closely linked to the scientific
approach, whereas the intuitionist approach is tied to the humanistic approach.
Utilitarian evaluation operates according to the premise that the greatest good is that
which benefits the greatest number of individuals. Attention is on total group
performances. Programs are judged by how they affect the school's overall student
population.Intuitionist evaluators gather data to judge the program’s impact on
individuals or small groups. Program participants, not outside evaluators, consider the
program's quality. Everyone affected by the program can make judgments about it.
Intrinsic versus pay-off approach Intrinsic evaluators study the curriculum plan
separately. The evaluators are merely trying to answer the question "how good is the
curriculum? Intrinsic evaluators study the particular content included, the way it is
sequenced, its accuracy, the types of experiences suggested for dealing with the
content, and the types of materials to be employed. They determine if the curriculum
has value. Once a curriculum's basic worth has been assessed, evaluators must
examine the effects of the delivered curriculum. This is pay-off evaluation. Pay-off
evaluation receives the most attention from educators because it indicates
curriculum's effects on learners in terms of stated objectives. This evaluation approach
may involve judgments regarding the differences between pre- and posttests. However,
the results reported in pay-off evaluation studies are usually short-term results of a
curriculum. Little attention is given to a program long-term outcome. Formative
evaluation encompasses activities undertaken to improve an intended program-that is,
optimize student learning carried out during program development and
implementation. They gather data, often in classrooms, that inform their decisions as
to how to modify these program elements before they are fully implemented. During a
curriculum's developmental and early piloting stages, formative evaluation provides
frequent, detailed, specific information. Formative evaluation allows educators to
modify, reject, or accept the program as it is evolving. It can be used to judge the
effectiveness of teachers' pedagogical approaches and the productiveness of
students‘ learning processes. Primarily, formative evaluation focuses on the degree of
student learning.

Various procedures can be used in formative evaluation. Walter Dick, Lou Carey,
and James Carey have developed one, especially useful in curriculum development.
The procedure has three basic phases; one-on-one, or clinical; small groups; and field
trial. In the first phase, the purpose of this phase is to challenge assumptions regarding
what goals and objectives to address, what content to include, and what instructional
strategies and educational materials to incorporate into the new curriculum being
considered. In phase two, curriculum evaluators enact various procedures to
determine if the selected (and the tried) curriculum components actually have value,
worth and merit. The final phase of Dick, Carey, and Carey's approach is field-trial
evaluation. Evaluates test the new curriculum as it is actually taught. They evaluate
the data gathered in the previous phase to determine if results attained with a small
sample of teachers and students actually work with the total teacher and student
communities. Summative evaluation is aimed at assessing the overall quality of a
product and then taught curriculum. Data are gathered to ascertain the new program's
worth and effectiveness. Such summative evaluation informs educators that students
have met the school's or state's educational standards. It also indicates that teachers
have met the minimum accountability standards. An antecedent is any condition that
exists prior to teaching and learning that may influence outcomes. Transactions occur
between students and teachers, students and students, and students and resource
people. Transactions also include students, interactions with curriculum materials and
classroom environments. Outcomes are the program's results, including student
achievement and, sometimes, attitudes and motor skills; impact on teachers'
perceptions of their competence; and influence of administrators' actions.Humanistic
evaluators recognize that individuals have different values, abilities, and experiences
and, therefore, different perceptions of "reality" They argue for a more holistic
approach to evaluation, one that provides detailed portraits of the situations being
evaluated. The approach focuses more on human interactions than on outcomes,
and more on the quality than the quantity of classroom or school life.