Title Page

Highlights of the Evaluation Report 1995-2000

Table of Contents

Introduction 

Overview of the SURWEB Evaluation

Chapters:5

1| 2| 3| 4| 5

References

Additional References

Appendices:

A | B | C | D | E
F | G | H | I | J

Contacts:

SURWEB
Dr. F. Lynn Bills
Director
435-637-1173

Media, Analysis & Practice
Kathleen Tyner 
About the Author

The SURWEB evaluation plan is the product of an open planning process between WestEd, the regional educational laboratory in San Francisco; a cadre of professional educational technology evaluators; the Southeast Educational Service Center SURWEB team; the SURWEB Advisory Board members, a consortium of educational technology stakeholders.  In addition, extensive formative evaluation was provided to the project on a quarterly basis in order to respond to evidence and feedback gathered and analyzed in the course of the SURWEB evaluation.

The SURWEB evaluation was structured around the original goals proposed by the project in 1995.  The project has met and exceeded the original goals to:

·                    link resources to standards and encourage authentic assessment 

·                    build local capacity for educational technology in a model that values local culture 

·                    encourage resource-based teaching and learning through telecommunications 

·                    develop resources that are student-centered, integrated, and encourage problem-solving 

·                    to encourage interactive communication with experts and peers in any geographic location 

·                    provide connectivity to enhance opportunities for information access 

·                    provide teacher and student training to strengthen the use of telecommunications in the K-12 classroom 

·                    mobilize local community agencies to use telecommunications to actively participate in local school improvement efforts 

·                    pilot and scale up the project to improve educational technology capacity across the state of Utah 

The SURWEB evaluation plan was designed in 1996 as a portfolio of evidence about SURWEB intervention, including the use, attitudes and relative educational effectiveness of SURWEB programs, projects and products.  The portfolio was organized to gather evidence about Student Outcomes, Professional Development Outcomes, Organizational Outcomes, Consortium Building Outcomes and Dissemination/Scale Up Outcomes.   

SURWEB places a high value on responsiveness to evaluation data.  Toward that end, the project takes advantage of quarterly evaluation reports that provide timely, formative evaluation data and analysis.  Both quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed to guide the SURWEB project.  Evaluation activities include survey administration and analysis; site observation; convening of focus groups and other stakeholders, and interviews with SURWEB users. Quantitative results about SURWEB effectiveness were obtained from teachers and students through questionnaires; on-line traffic data; and analysis of the effect of the SURWEB intervention on student achievement.