Social Construction of Reality - Bad Request

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CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS Introduction The School District had not yet determined how to implement program evaluations that are routinely capable of maximizing the use of stakeholder time, overcoming geographic constraints, and providing anonymity where necessary while still promoting organizational knowledge creation. The School District needed a program evaluation model that balances organizational knowledge creation with cost effectiveness, efficiency, and compliance issues. The purpose of this study was to provide a Utilization-Focused Evaluation (Patton, 1997) of The School District’s program evaluation process. The study provided The School District a site-specific process and model for program evaluations in the future. This evaluation was designed to provide a program evaluation model for The School District. The model provided the district with a transportable process, one which can be used on future program evaluations to support several non-exclusive outcomes: compliance with federal, state, and local mandates, process analysis, and organizational knowledge creation. As such, this study may have an impact on future programming within The School District. Because the model is transportable, this evaluation might also be of benefit other organizations within the K-12 arena. A qualitative case study methodology was used. According to Merriam (1998), a case study can provide a detailed examination and understanding of one setting, a single subject, or a particular event. Denizen and Lincoln (2000) note case studies can be a disciplined force in setting public policy and in engendering reflection on human 57
experience. The topic for this case study was selected in the hope that the result would inform The School District’s policy and methods regarding program evaluation. This case study was differentiated from other research in that it was developed via The School District’s unique paradigm. This was accomplished using Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE) principles (Patton, 1997) to provide the basis for the evaluation of The School District’s program evaluation model. The UFE paradigm suggests that for evaluations to be useful, and thus utilized, stakeholders must be involved as much as possible with all facets of the evaluation. Utilization-Focused Evaluation involves the primary intended users in the selection of the most significant content, methods, theory, and applications based upon contextual reality. The UFE was initiated via an interview (Appendix D) of the primary intended user, the superintendent, to determine the specific direction of the study and the program’s greatest need. Questions were framed in terms of vision and anticipated outcomes to allow for rich, thick description as recommended by Merriam (1998). In keeping with the UFE paradigm (Patton, 1997), questions for the interviews with other stakeholders (Appendix E) emerged from this opening encounter. The other stakeholders for this study were identified as the Superintendent’s Cabinet, which includes the eight district administrators who lead the district’s services: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; Elementary Education; Secondary Education; Human Resources; Community Relations; Finance; Special Education; and Technology and Operations. This study was based upon qualitative data. The qualitative data came from current and archival sources. Content analysis was performed on federal, state, and local documents; data were reduced using an affinity diagram. Data from The School District’s 58
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UTILIZATION-FOCUSED EVALUATION OF T
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The undersigned, appointed by the D
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The lessons I have
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fearlessness, and reminded me of wh
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Research Questions Research Methods
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LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Strong
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UTLIZATION-FOCUSED EVALUATION OF TH
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process-use within future evaluatio
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One leader trained by this program,
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Objectivation. Objectivation is the
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Page 23 and 24: logical or sequential links among r
Page 25 and 26: Figure 1. The School District’s p
Page 27 and 28: Objectivation. This is the process
Page 29 and 30: evaluation in general) is evaluatio
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE In
Page 33 and 34: Objectivation Legitimation OVERVIEW
Page 35 and 36: the profession: systemic inquiry, c
Page 37 and 38: 5. Eclectic Evaluation (1 approach
Page 39 and 40: however, it is important to remembe
Page 41 and 42: Figure 3. The Utilization-Focused E
Page 43 and 44: eginning an evaluation this way ser
Page 45 and 46: producing commonly understood evide
Page 47 and 48: Institutionalization. A second proc
Page 49 and 50: Legitimation. Legitimation, the thi
Page 51 and 52: evaluation report was made to the s
Page 53 and 54: experiences in finite provinces of
Page 55 and 56: played into the use of electronic s
Page 57 and 58: interaction and particular context:
Page 59 and 60: to achieve federal compliance (Ross
Page 61 and 62: as a valid, legitimate contribution
Page 63 and 64: principles (Patton, 1997) in order
Page 65 and 66: with other stakeholders (Appendix E
Page 67 and 68: Short interviews. Development of qu
Page 69 and 70: multidirectional thinking to integr
Page 71: Summary The School District had not
Page 75 and 76: study; each signed an agreement of
Page 77 and 78: hoped the model would provide a pat
Page 79 and 80: according to page number, section,
Page 81 and 82: The School District’s vision, mis
Page 83 and 84: Figure 8. Step 1- Important concept
Page 85 and 86: Figure 10. A picture of “outgoing
Page 87 and 88: Short Stakeholder Interviews The ne
Page 89 and 90: This stakeholder went on to say tha
Page 91 and 92: (Budget Training Manual). A stakeho
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Page 95 and 96: This argument, the focus of years o
Page 97 and 98: published meeting schedule. Another
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Page 101 and 102: Figure 12. An organic reporting too
Page 103 and 104: explained, “that was all I knew
Page 105 and 106: CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION WITH CONCLU
Page 107 and 108: Discussion of Findings Three resear
Page 109 and 110: Figure 13. The level of involvement
Page 111 and 112: 5. Organizational culture can be ch
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Page 115 and 116: Table Two. The research findings ca
Page 117 and 118: 3. The School District should compl
Page 119 and 120: 2. A follow-up study of the impleme
Page 121 and 122: The chief research question was whe
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Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (200
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Nelson, M. & Eddy, R. M. (2008). Ev
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Starratt, R. (2003). Centering educ
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22. Accreditation and certification
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Researcher’s Name: Laura Nelson R
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The Campus Institutional Review Boa
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Short Interview Protocol Appendix E
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Second Long Interview Protocol Appe
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Appendix I Affinity Diagram 124
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Appendix K NCLB Content Analysis Di
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Appendix M School District Vision,
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Appendix O Examples of Programs- Da
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Interviewee Effective (ness) (effec
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Interviewee Perceive perception Sup
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Program Mission CSIP Value Appendix
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VITA Laura Nelson earned a B.A. in
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Social Construction of Reality - Bad Request

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