Below are excerpts from the summary of the Informal Report (i.e. no tables, figures, graphics). A PDF of the complete informal report can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
Principles and Practices of Place-based Education Workshop Evaluation
Prepared for the Center for Place-based Education and Community Engagement
Informal Report
Prepared by Sharon Plumb, Andrew Powers, and PEER Associates, Inc.
June 13, 2007
Introduction
Every summer since 2003 the Center for Place-based Education and Community Engagement, in partnership with A Forest for Every Classroom (FFEC) have offered the Principles and Practices workshop at Shelburne Farms. The three day workshop is designed to provide formal and nonformal educators, land managers, community members, and others a practical framework for using their local community and environment as an integrating context for teaching. The training is an introduction to place-based education and offered as a stand-alone professional development opportunity. Follow-up support or communication is not part of workshop design. Since its inception, 70 people from around the country have participated in the workshop.
This evaluation was designed to determine the program’s impact on participants and provide recommendations for program improvement. Program staff was interested in learning more about what workshop participants did with the information, skills, and ideas they gained. Of particular interest was whether participants were returning home to their schools, environmental education centers, or agencies prepared, and whether they actually initiated place-based education curricula subsequent to the workshop. Staff were also interested in learning the extent to which the optional afternoon workshop impacted participants; the current level of and potential future use of the materials handed out during the workshop; and whether or not participants would find some version of the workshop useful for gaining support for place-based education in
their own community.
This informal report summarizes the results of a survey designed and administered in spring 2007. Survey questions aligned with evaluation goals and were designed in collaboration with program staff. Where appropriate, evaluation questions from the PEEC cross-program evaluation were included. Because program staff are interested in the possibility of eventually including Principles and Practices evaluation results in PEEC cross-program data, select Forest for Every Classroom (FFEC) survey questions were also included. Likert scale, single response, and open-ended questions were used in the survey.
The survey was posted on Survey Monkey. Program staff emailed participants, directing them to the Promise of Place website (www.promiseofplace.org) where they filled out the survey. As an incentive, they were offered the chance to take part in a drawing for a gift certificate to Shelburne Farms.
Out of 70 participants solicited, 21% filled out the survey. This report includes discussion and analysis of these results. Recommendations are based upon outcomes and participant feedback.
Summary
Principles and Practices appears to have a meaningful impact on participants. Participants leave more enthusiastic about place-based education, more frequently use local lands as a resource for their curriculum, and some go on to initiate place-based education curricula, partner with local organizations, or seek grant monies to support their initiatives.
Participants had a more difficult time achieving goals that require greater time and initiative, such as developing a partnership with a community partner or implementing a service-learning project. This may be partially because the workshop did not focus adequate time on helping participants understand the value of these “best practices” of place-based education.
Participants leave inspired, but may get distracted and busy with other demands upon their return home. Educators often find it difficult to turn their enthusiasm into action. This is not surprising: many teachers have packed schedules, face multiple demands on their curricular time, and must compete with a high stakes testing environment.
Because of inherent challenges in the education system, and the relative “newness” of place-based education, workshops of this duration that do not include follow up programming cannot be expected to create dramatic changes. Substantial evidence in the literature points to the need for ongoing and sustained professional development in order to achieve powerful results. Educators who attend trainings that do not provide ongoing support may find these barriers insurmountable. Programs like A Forest for Every Classroom that include multiple workshops held throughout the year provide collegiality, resources, and a place for educators to test ideas. Workshops that do not offer this ongoing support run the risk of losing participant enthusiasm as the participant become overwhelmed by barriers that are numerous, deep, and
well entrenched in traditional school settings.
The afternoon workshop appears to have added value for participants, because it gives participants a chance to use the skills they have gained to more thoroughly develop curricular ideas they have been mulling over throughout the workshop. These motivated participants likely come to the workshop at a higher level of readiness. However, the workshop also provides the additional time to plan more thorough place-based education curricula with the added benefit of experts on hand to provide feedback. This may be what participants need to truly envision their project as doable and bring them to fruition.
The manual was of mixed use to participants. This may be because participants attended the workshop but had no sustained contact with program staff or other participants. Participants likely had difficulty anticipating using a manual that they have not yet seen. They are also busy people and without further incentive or collaboration with others, may have difficulty motivating or finding the time to lead such a workshop. The workshop is a valuable foray into place-based education but may have limited impacts until coupled with additional professional development and support.
Recommendations
The workshop might increase its impact if it included or augmented current activities to address the barriers identified by participants. Lack of preparation and curricular time, adherence to NCLB, and lack of funding and transportation are cited again and again as challenges to place-based education practitioners, not just by those who have taken this workshop. This workshop is designed to be an introductory workshop, as opposed to a full-blown Institute or ongoing professional development model. Recommendations to improve outcomes within the framework of an introductory model are provided below. Recommendations are based on a combination of survey data and evaluator’s observations.
v Offer some kind of personal follow up. Carve out program time to initiate regional conference calls, follow up phone calls, or email check-ins. Participants were thoroughly impressed by workshop staff; a phone call may be just the thing to motivate a participant to wipe the dust off their plans.
v If the workshop is offered in partnership with another organization, that organization could offer regional gatherings or refresher courses, keep educators posted about place-based education resources, etc.
v Increase the number of staff members who can provide the trainings. This training is rather unique and currently depends upon two staff members for successful delivery. Consider training a handful of contract staff who can deliver numerous effective workshops throughout the year. They could offer the trainings at schools, community organizations or state agencies.
v Combine the workshop with a second workshop that will then be used for an entire school/organization/community. The existing workshop fires teachers up about place-based education. Use that energy to then go into their schools and co-host the workshop. Screen possible participants to see who might be the best candidates for such an approach. Team up with a regional organization or program to co-host the workshop. Perhaps this entity could later provide ongoing professional development.
v Develop resource lists and curricular ideas unique to each site. Educators lack the time to develop their own resource lists. If the training goes to a regional format, partner with local organizations to develop regional resource lists and ideas for projects.
v Offer the workshop regionally. This will increase the likelihood that more teams of teachers can attend, which increases the likelihood for whole-school participation in developing place-based education curriculum.
v Encourage teachers to attend in teams. This might be challenging, but offering additional incentives to teams of teachers could help. Grant opportunities, money toward additional professional development opportunities, or a free workshop in their own school are just a few ideas.
v Offer the workshop as a whole-school in-service. Work with a school to develop a training that is unique for their school and community.
v Develop a version of the workshop designed to train educators to lead or co-lead a training. If an intended goal is to create a greater base of people who feel qualified to lead workshops, tweak one version of the workshop to do just that. Perhaps this model is targeted towards non-formal educators or administrators. Train them how to do the workshop in their own community. Offer incentives for people to return to their own community to lead the workshop (funding, grants, etc.). Acknowledging that not all participants want to become trainers, it would make sense to continue to offer both versions.
v Offer the workshop multiple times throughout a year.
v Reduce the number of activities in a day. A packed schedule makes it difficult for people to stay focused. Regional workshops may help to alleviate the packed schedules by allowing for the inclusion of half days.
v Focus more workshop time on service-learning. Service learning is a significant goal of place-based education, yet some participants did not feel that this was adequately addressed and it can be difficult to achieve. More workshop time or ongoing support in this realm may increase the likelihood that educators delve into service-learning.
v Design the upcoming manual to be used as a train the trainer model. While participants wanted take home resources, and some did use the manual, if the intended use is for participants to lead trainings of their own, the training itself should be designed as a train the trainer model and that goal made more explicit. Materials that are most relevant to practitioners could be given as single handouts or a smaller, more accessible booklet.
v Include workshop elements tied specifically to desired outcomes. For example, if grant writing, service-learning, and training teachers to engage in place-based education are desired outcomes, provide adequate instructional time to these goals.
In summary, the Principles and Practices workshop appears to be effective at offering an introduction to place-based education and can offer the stimulus and skills to begin to generate positive changes in educators practice. In order to ensure that educators fully implement their ideas, the workshop would be more effective if participants were supported with additional resources and professional development opportunities, and if the workshop was targeted to individual communities.
Ongoing evaluation of the workshop will help to determine if changes to workshop implementation yield stronger or different outcomes.
| 