BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE BUYING, ADMINISTRATORS ADVISED

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BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE BUYING, ADMINISTRATORS ADVISED
by Anne C. Lewis for America Tomorrow

SAN DIEGO--The growing movement to seek out "best practices" to improve student achievement is admirable, but as buyers, beware, school administrators were advised here during their annual conference.

Tom Corcoran, co-director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, hammered on the theme of evidence, evidence, evidence. Demand it, he said. Too much of the evidence that program providers give, especially for professional development, is weak because it often is "incomplete, inconclusive, based on a cottage industry, has few links to education practice and is poorly done."

A program must meet district or school goals/needs as well as show that it is effective, Corcoran said. He listed 13 questions that should be asked about programs before adopting them:

Is it aligned with the standards we have to meet?
Does it have evidence of sustained effects?
Are the effects disaggregated so we can tell if it will work with different kinds of students?
Is there evidence of it being successfully replicated?
If it failed anywhere, what were the causes?
How long does it take to get effects?
Are there prerequisites (for example, a math program might require elementary teachers to have sophisticated knowledge of math)?
What are the initial and recurring costs (for example, a program based on technology use will require replacement of hardware about every four years, a school/district with high teacher turnover rates will need to build in retraining costs)?
What support is provided to the program (if it is expanding, make sure you get the experienced staffers)?
Can we develop local capacity to sustain the program and will we receive support to do so?
Does it fit with other initiatives we have?
Is the program complete or under development?
What are the opportunity costs, that is, would using discretionary money for this program for three years prevent us from doing something more important?

Many such decisions are being pushed down to the school level, Corcoran said. However, district offices, as in Philadelphia, or state officials, as in Kentucky, believe their role is to set criteria for programs and help districts/schools choose appropriate ones.