Evaluation in Education (EDUC90933)

This subject will introduce students entering, or already in, the education sector to the many ways that evaluation is used in education. The subject will begin with an introduction to the origins and the political and social contexts of evaluation as well as the nature and logic of evaluation. Subsequent weeks will focus on the applied fields of evaluation set in the context of education. There are six applied fields of evaluation that will be covered: 1) performance evaluation (student assessment; teacher reflective practice); 2) product evaluation (curriculum effectiveness); 3) program evaluation (school accreditation; organisational/systems-level evaluation); 4) personnel evaluation (teacher performance appraisal; principal performance appraisal); 5) policy evaluation (policy to practice and practice to policy studies); 6) proposal evaluation (assessing grant-making applications for funding). The subject will culminate with a look at meta-evaluation (evaluating evaluations).