IEQ: Continuous Assessment and Algebraic Thinking - Year 2

In keeping with the evaluation plan for the CAAT project, formative and summative evaluation activities to this point in the project's first year focused on gathering baseline data, documenting the quality and outcomes of the project's professional development activities, and looking for indicators of early influence on participants. The 40 project participants include 14 elementary, 12 middle school, and 14 high school teachers. Responses on the baseline teacher questionnaire indicate that most came into the project with characteristics indicating they could benefit from the project's targeted mathematics focus. Because the teachers have been participating in the project for only a few months, insufficient time has passed to look for substantive changes in their content knowledge or instructional practice. Consequently, the results presented reflect participants' perceptions of how they have benefited from the project thus far, and their expectations for how their teaching will change. The summative evaluation will compare assessment and questionnaire data near the end of the project to the baseline data collected at the beginning, conducting a more objective analysis that documents any statistically significant changes. Evaluation of the CAAT project will continue to follow the evaluation plan described in the original project proposal. Dr. Michael Howard will continue to serve as the project's external evaluator. During Year 2 the focus of the project's formative evaluation will be similar to Year 1, documenting the nature and quality of the project's activities and gathering participants' perceptions of their experience in the project and its impact on their teaching. As before, evidence will be collected through participant feedback questionnaires and focus groups, observation of activities by the external evaluator, and examination of participant artifacts and project records.