Unit 2 The rationale for monitoring and evaluation

Introduction
This unit explains why monitoring and evaluation are necessary tools in determining school effectiveness. Many school heads do not use these tools as much as they should do. They often merely look at examination and test results but ignore, for example, the progress children need to make from one given point in time to another in order to achieve good results. They may see external examinations and tests as evaluation and consider the results as the end of the process.

Evaluation involves reviewing the whole school process to find out why certain things have happened or what should be done to improve performance. School heads need to be aware that they are accountable not just to the Ministry of Education but also to pupils and parents, as well as the community which is served by the school.

Individual study time: 3 hours

Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit you will be able to:

list reasons for establishing standards of accountability
identify the main functions of monitoring and evaluation and the difference between the two
outline the place of monitoring and evaluation in effective school leadership and management
understand the importance of monitoring the curriculum and especially Learning and Teaching
understand the types of evidence used in the monitoring process
be aware of the potential of target setting for raising achievement

Accountability
Earlier, we defined accountability as accepting the responsibility for providing the conditions and learning experiences which will promote the development of the students to effectively participate in the development of the society in Guyana.

The broad aim of formal education is to produce people who are able to appreciate the benefits of education and contribute to the development of the community in different spheres of life, be it political, moral, social, economic or technological. The government of Guyana sees education as an important investment and therefore devotes huge sums of the taxpayers’ money each year to the provision of education at all levels. The government spends money on infrastructure, such as school buildings, on the payment of teachers and other personnel and on the provision of materials. There is, therefore, a serious need for the government, through the Ministry of Education, to ensure that the money provided for education is wisely spent. In other words, that there is value for money.

The Ministry of Education also needs to know that the aims of education are being achieved. It needs to know, through constant evaluation, where there are areas of strengths and weaknesses which need to be built upon or corrected so that the goals of education can be achieved. In addition, as schools draw their pupils from the community they are accountable to the community in many ways including, for example, the kind of curriculum which is being operated, the quality of examination results, and the health and safety of the children.

We will look further at the various functions in due course but first let us develop our understanding of monitoring and evaluation as a leadership and management tool, building on ideas introduced in Unit 1.

Effective school leadership and management
In Unit 1, monitoring and evaluating were identified as important school management functions, necessary for ensuring effective and efficient schools.

Activity 2.1
1) From what you have learnt so far, what do you understand by an efficient and effective school?
2) What steps should the school head take to ensure efficiency and effectiveness?


Comments
You will no doubt have looked back over unit one and identified some broad areas in which schools might be judged about their effectiveness. Furthermore, you will have started to think about the means of evaluation that you would use to ensure efficiency.

This section recalls some of the points made about effective schools in Unit 1 and introduces other issues relating to efficient leadership and management. As you read through, check whether these notes provide a full list of everything which may contribute to the efficient management of a school.

This simple model shows the hierarchy in the school authority which must be maintained for discipline. A school without discipline cannot be efficient or effective. To each of the offices there are specific duties attached and failure of one officer will affect the effective administration of the school.

We are unable to show this model in text format. Please see the PDF version for all pictures and diagrams.

Every school has an allocation of staff and it is the responsibility of the headteacher to ensure that this is used in the most effective way. The senior staff and middle leaders will be made up of headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior teachers, level heads and heads of department. How these are organised will depend on the size of the school. In a large school, for examples, HODs may form part of the middle leadership, whereas in a smaller school, where there is no deputy and fewer senior teachers, they may be part of senior leadership.

A school may be organised as a hierarchical structure or a flat structure. The former is the norm in Guyana and the latter applicable only in small schools.

Senior Leadership Teams
Every school must have a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) which will be appointed by the Headteacher and approved by the REDO. The size of the SLT will be according to the size of the school and will consist of a minimum of 2 members in a small school.

· The Headteacher will lead the SLT and the Deputy Headteacher will automatically be a member.
· In Grade A and B schools, there will be a minimum of three members and a maximum of 5 according to the number of pupils on roll. In Grade C, D & E schools, there will be a minimum of two members and a maximum of 3.
· The third member of the Team in Grade A and B schools will be chosen from the Senior Middle Managers (SMs, HODs, Level Heads). The second member in Grade C school will selected from any SMs, HODs or Level Heads. The second member in a Grade D or E school will be chosen from the remaining staff.
· The selection will be based on a combination of competence (proven professional ability) and years of service. However the former will be the deciding factor.

When the school’s SLT has been appointed, these members will be responsible, along with the middle leaders (HODs, Level Heads etc) for monitoring key areas of the school to ensure effective delivery of the curriculum and other areas which allow the school to function efficiently. To do this, every member of the team must have defined responsibilities and it is these areas for which he / she will be accountable. It is the responsibility of the headteacher to agree these areas of responsibility with the staff.

Under normal circumstances, each level will monitor the areas for which he / she is responsible. Those working at higher levels will ensure that the monitoring is taking place and will validate the findings.

Activity 2.2
Take another look at the hierarchical staffing structure you have just studied above. Imagine one of the HODs is responsible for the teaching of Spanish.

1) What do you think his / her responsibility will be in the monitoring process?
2) What will be the responsibility of the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and Senior Teacher in the monitoring of Spanish teaching?
3) What will be the responsibility of the classroom teacher of Spanish?

Comments
The person responsible for standards in the Spanish Department is the Head of Spanish. He / she must be fully accountable for the success of the learning of the pupils studying Spanish. There can be no excuses (staffing, resources etc.) only challenges. The Head of Department must demonstrate that the standards in the classroom are the best they can be. This will be done by observing lessons, scrutinising pupils’ work and ultimately, coaching staff to ensure they reach the necessary standards.

The senior teacher will have an overview of the departments for which he / she is responsible. Comparisons will be made about the learning and results of individual children and groups of children taught by different teachers / departments. He / she will ensure that the HOD does the monitoring and will be available to support the HOD in the evaluation of the findings and, in due course, the implementation of any improvements that need to be made.

The senior teacher will be responsible to the Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher who will have an overview of the whole school.

The classroom teacher will be involved in self evaluation on a lesson by lesson basis. This system need not be bureaucratic if each person understands his / her role in the process, carries it out and accepts full responsibility. However, herein lies the problem. It is the responsibility of the headteacher to make clear the role of each individual and to ensure that it is carried out.

The curriculum
In Guyana, there is a national curriculum which is prescribed and must be followed by schools. However, creative teachers will adapt and develop this to meet the needs of their pupils and to emphasise their own strengths and interests, thus providing a diet for the children which is broad, balanced and develops their creativity.

The head must provide the wherewithal in the school for effective teaching and learning to take place. He / she must ensure that textbooks, stationery, furniture, games equipment and library books are ready for when they are needed. Of course, this will be delegated to the appropriate persons but, nevertheless, it must be done. Syllabuses, schemes of work, curriculum and ‘scope and sequence’ guides for all classes and subjects must be available and, with the assistance of the SLT, teachers must be helped to prepare appropriate schemes of work and lesson plans. The SLT will monitor those persons who have the responsibility to make these things happen and take action when they don’t.

The head and SLT should ensure that notes of lessons are made daily and that teachers teach according to them. Pupils’ work, assignments, tests and examinations should be marked and recorded promptly and corrections done where necessary. Teachers should do corrections with their pupils so that they can understand their mistakes. There is no place for marking in the classroom unless it is done with the child. A teacher sitting at a desk marking whilst children work is not teaching and is wasting valuable time for improving the learning of the students. Monitoring such issues will ensure that bad practices are eradicated and will ultimately help to improve effectiveness in teaching.

Learning and Teaching
Arguably, the most important factor in whether a child learns successfully is the skill, dedication and commitment of the classroom teacher. All three are essential. Without any one of them, the children will be short-changed. Monitoring and evaluation, therefore, is not just about ascertaining whether effective teaching is taking place, but also about motivating teachers to develop their skills, to dedicate themselves to the learning of the children and be committed to the children’s success.

To ensure the effectiveness of the learning process, one must look at a number of key factors:-

The level of preparation by the teacher in the learning process
The appropriateness of the methodologies used by the teacher to the age and ability level of the children
The pupil response to the teaching
The end results – what has been learnt in terms of knowledge, skills, understanding and evaluation techniques.

These areas will be monitored in a variety of ways:-

By looking at the teachers’ records – notes of lessons, planning file, self evaluation notes.
Observation of lessons to ascertain whether the methods used are appropriate based on the experience of the observer. This will form a dialogue for future development.
Observation of lessons to watch the response of the pupils to what they are being taught. Are they motivated? Do they understand? Are all pupils being catered for?
By looking at pupils’ work in their exercise books and assignments.
By scrutinising assessment scores and calculating the improvement from the baseline assessment over a period of time. See Module 4 for information on formative and summative assessment.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
The head should ensure that PTA meetings are held at least once a term. It is essential that there is a cordial relationship between parents and teachers for the effective running of the school. If parents are properly approached they can help in easing some of the financial burdens in a school. In many areas, PTAs have assisted schools with transportation, building of classrooms and even assisted in the children’s feeding programme.

Staff meetings
Staff meetings (of the whole staff, departments and special committees) should be held regularly to review the running of the school. Heads should adopt a democratic system by listening to teachers and understanding their personal and professional concerns.

School records
Headteachers are required to keep many records and to make them available to the Department of Education Officers and the MERD Team or whosever may need them in an official capacity. However, this can often be burdensome and, in some cases, the bureaucracy involved may seem overbearing and could affect the head’s priorities. You will learn more about these records in Module 9 ‘School Records and Documents’.

He / she should ensure that complete and accurate records, covering those for pupils and staff, asset registers and other records which provide a full picture of the life of the school, are kept up to date. However, it is perhaps important to differentiate between those records which will have a direct impact on the quality of learning and teaching and those which merely support the process. We are not saying here that the latter are less important but that this differentiation may help a head to prioritise his / her own workload or decide what should be delegated to others.

The attendance book for teachers which clearly shows the extent to which teachers make themselves available to do their job is a valuable record when discussing with a teacher their willingness to be present in the classroom and thus the impact on results. We use these terms advisably knowing that teacher attendance at the time of publication is around 72% and this we are certain is not all about sickness.

Teachers’ notes of lessons show that they have thought about their teaching and have evaluated its impact. To keep these records up to date will encourage teachers to be proactive about the learning process.

School accounts
The head should keep proper accounts of income and expenditure and bills and receipts must be accompanied by vouchers. These are required in the auditing of the school accounts as well as promoting the principles and practice of accountability and evaluation in the school. Auditors will inspect the account books for the school to ensure that the financial resources given to the school are properly spent and accounted for.

Monitoring visits
There may be a number of different kinds of external monitoring visits that the school may experience at different levels:-

A subject specialist may observe lessons and offer advice to individual or groups of teachers and / or the head.

Visits may be made by the District Education Officer (DEO) assigned to the school or the Regional Director of Education (REDO). Observation of the school ethos, lessons, teaching and learning will take place as well as the scrutiny of pupils’ work and teachers’ records.
Formal inspection by the MERD Unit. Currently, it is the region that is inspected and some school visits will be made to validate the judgements of the regional staff. Likewise, the focus will be on teaching and learning and the main process will be the observation of lessons and appropriate feedback.

The head must keep a record of all inspection reports and discuss these with the staff so that recommendations with regard to how the system can be improved and developed may be implemented.

Activity 2.3
1) Make a list of some essential features you would expect to find in an inspection report. (either regional or national from the MERD Unit)Describe how you presently use inspection records to contribute towards improvements in your school and the mechanisms for implementing change.

Comments
You will probably have included a range of features in your list including observations of lessons which focus on the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. The important point, which we wish to highlight here, is that inspection records, together with the data contained in various school records and reports, should provide information for the school head which he or she may use as a means of institutionalising changes in schools. If this is done then evaluation and monitoring become major tools for effective leadership and management.

Let us now look at the functions of evaluation more closely.

Functions of monitoring and evaluation
It is through monitoring and evaluation that we learn to what extent the school is being effective. It enables us to review the process of learning and teaching in all its various forms and to devise new measures for its improvement and development. We have described below four main functions of monitoring and evaluation.

Firstly, remind yourself of what we mean by the terms “monitoring” and “evaluation” by looking again at the definition we provided in Unit One. Draw conclusions about the relationship between the two.

Comments
Monitoring is about collecting the information and evaluation is the use of it to identify strengths and weaknesses which will enable future development.

Evaluation is not possible without data, usually from the monitoring process or hard data such as baseline and / or formative and summative assessments.

Collecting of evidence
The first stage in the process of M & E is the collecting of evidence. This is mainly of two types:-

Quantitative – that which is based on solid data that is quantifiable or measurable such as test results over a period of time, final examinations or the number of times certain things happen e.g. teacher punctuality, number of questions asked to boys rather than girls, number of suspensions, regularity of financial virements. These can all be identified and compared with results in a different period of time or with a different group of children.

Qualitative – that which is based purely on observation formed by the experience and skill level of the observer. This is often considered to be more subjective but need not be so. We must accept that trained observers will be capable of making judgements about what they see, hear and experience. An excellent classroom teacher will be able to identify good practice in teaching methodology and that which requires attention. Although, it may not always be purely objective, it will form the basis for discussion about the quality of what has been seen.

Both types of evidence are acceptable and compliment each other. Pure reliance on test results will dehumanise the process and be demotivating for teachers.

Diagnosis
The process of M & E can be used to discover or locate strengths and weaknesses in the system, both in terms of the quality of educational provision and also by identifying the individual needs of your pupils. Diagnostic testing will enable you to decide whether some of your pupils, for example, may have special educational needs, perhaps a learning difficulty or disability. (See Unit 9, Module 4) and hence need teachers to cater for their needs.

Pre-tests given at the beginning of a class or series of lessons are good for determining what the pupils already know and what they do not know. For instance, at the start of an English lesson, you may ask for the meanings of some words to find out if your pupils have come across those words. You may then have to explain the meanings of such words even before the passage is read. This is to facilitate the reading exercise. This is a form of diagnostic evaluation – you have got some information by which you have judged the knowledge of the pupils and finally you have taken action to remedy the situation.

At a higher level, whole groups of children might be tested to discover their reading ages so that progress can be measured at the end of the course and reading intervention.

Prediction
It is possible to predict future performance of pupils by administering diagnostic tests at an early age. This is useful in that it can be used to predict the potential of individual or groups of children, enabling the teacher to develop appropriate teaching strategies and set challenging targets. Such tests are usually non verbal in that they test intelligence rather than the ability to read and write or specific skills and knowledge. The downside is that such tests are expensive and require great skill to interpret the results.

Optimum use of resources
Through monitoring and evaluation we learn where additional and better resources – human, material and financial – are required. This results in less wastage and better resource management. An analysis of the curriculum will allow us to identify specific skills required of our teachers and hence, their precise training needs. It enables the Teaching Service Commission to identify the exact staffing needs of the school and to appoint the right persons. Likewise, curriculum planning and evaluation will enable us to purchase specific rather than general resources. You will recall also from Module 5 Financial Management, the way in which the budget is constantly monitored to provide greater financial efficiency.

Grading
In Guyana, pupils and schools are ranked and graded in order of performance and pupils are matched to schools according to an evaluation of their performance in national tests. This grading between schools in terms of test / exam results and other performance criteria provides parents and the public with a measure of choosing which school to send their children to and also an understanding of the effectiveness of each school.

Target setting
Having identified the ability and potential of individuals and groups of children, schools are increasingly using target setting to challenge their pupils and teachers to achieve better results. When we are not fully aware of the potential of a child, it becomes so easy to have low expectations and thus lower results. Baseline testing enables us to identify current performance and set targets for future performance over a period of time. In target setting, you need to have a specific objective (or target) you want to accomplish, a plan as to how you will achieve that target and then evaluation procedures to indicate whether it has been achieved. Targets work best when they are applied to individual children. Weaknesses are identified and a programme of remediation can be implemented. You might like to look again over Module 4, Unit 6, Assessment and Record Keeping.

Target setting might apply equally to teachers and children. In the case of the former, it may be decided that a teacher does not have the necessary skills to carry out his / her job effectively. This might be through lack of qualifications, experience, aptitude or even motivation. Rather than simply complaining about the teacher’s underperformance, the situation needs to be evaluated and appropriate targets set. These might include an upgrading programme whereby the teacher will be trained at CPCE or, in the case of a senior leader, on this very Education Management Programme.

For example, you may have many unqualified teachers in your school who can adversely affect the quality of education. You may decide that you need to encourage them to obtain training through CPCE, UG or some other accredited programme. You will need to set a time limit for this upgrading programme and also decide what method of upgrading will be most appropriate. After setting the time target, you will need to plan your approach. As teachers already working in the school, their upgrading programme has to be an in-service course. You then need to decide the period of time over which they will be trained as too many teachers training together will affect the quality of education because, for them, it is an onerous task. The final step in the process is to decide on criteria for evaluating whether the objective has been achieved – that is whether the quality of education improved and to ensure that the results of any evaluation are utilised to plan the next development.

In the case of children, it is essential to have some information about their capabilities, potential and performance. Baseline assessment or pre-tests will assess their current capabilities; diagnostic tests will assess their potential; challenging targets and formative assessment will encourage students and teachers to work towards that potential and their performance will be measured by summative assessment techniques such as Grade 6 Tests and CSEC.

Give some thought for a moment about how any particular curriculum programme in your school might be enhanced by monitoring its performance, evaluating the findings and initiating further development.

Comments
In fact, there is no programme in your school which would not benefit from some scrutiny by middle or senior leaders. Even if it is totally successful, the evaluation should be used to say so and congratulate those responsible for it.

However, in essence, one might start with those programmes where one feels or one has evidence for underachievement. It is essential, of course, that once the evaluation has been completed, further development takes place.

Summary
In this unit you have studied the reasons why monitoring and evaluation are essential characteristics of effective school leadership and management and particularly for establishing standards of accountability. The major functions of M & E have been identified. In particular, you have linked the process of the collection of quantitative and qualitative evidence to the analysis and evaluation of the data which has been collected. This, in turn, is used for further development and is the critical part in the agenda for raising achievement.

The process falls into two main categories:

to assess the extent to which goals are being achieved in order to improve performance;
for accountability purposes in order to justify the school’s performance to others.

We have stressed that the principle function of a school is about learning and teaching and, therefore, it is essential to monitor every aspect of curriculum provision and delivery in the classroom to identify strengths in order to build upon them and give credit where it is due and also to recognise weaknesses so that a programme of development can be implemented.

Your attention has been drawn to the potential of target setting both to improve the performance of teachers and to give children realistic goals to work towards which are within their capabilities.

M & E is about asking appropriate questions, observations, analysing data and gathering information. Attention has been drawn to both the quantity and quality of information which the school head needs in order to help improve school effectiveness.