Evaluating Gifted Programs: Why and How?

Introduction And Rationale

Evaluation of gifted programs is a central aspect of program development that allows stakeholders to assess the efficacy of the program in relation to the program’s goals. Many school districts have evaluations to get a sense of how programs are received by stakeholders, what results they are producing for gifted students, and how effective and efficient their procedures for identification, learning assessments, and curriculum are (Speirs-Neumeister & Burney, 2019). Evaluations can be conducted internally which is generally more informal or externally, through the use of an expert in the program area needing an evaluation. While several sources of data are used to make judgments about programs, such as classroom observations, review of materials, and best practice audits, all districts have a strong preference for including the viewpoints of relevant stakeholders, specifically the teachers who work in the program, the administrators who are in charge of running it, the students who participate and purportedly benefit from it, and the parents of those students who gather perceptions from a more distal vantagepoint (Callahan et al., 2016). The purpose of program evaluations in most gifted program evaluations is to answer the question: To what extent is the program perceived to be effective by relevant stakeholders? Most districts want to know if their gifted program is well-thought of by the people who should benefit from it (ie. students and parents) as well as by those who have the responsibility for managing it. Moreover, they want to know how their program stacks up against national standards for best practices (www.nagc.org). A comprehensive evaluation collects both formative and summative data, using qualitative and quantitative data points . The goal of the evaluation is to provide recommendations to school districts to improve policies and practices. As a result of a well done evaluation, decision makers will get information on programmatic strengths and limitations, and guidance in making changes that will enhance services offered to gifted students. According to VanTassel-Baska (2019) there are four key beliefs that should undergird any gifted program evaluation as follows:

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  The fundamental role of evaluation and review is to provide information that can be used to improve and advance gifted programs and services,

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  Evaluation and review is a collaborative enterprise among various stakeholders in the school district (and the consultant),

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  The use of multiple data sources helps to illuminate the complexity and salience of programmatic issues that need to be considered, and

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  Rational decision making is predicated by values.

In addition, the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (Yarborough, et. al. 2011) described basic attributes that define a quality evaluation, as follows:

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  Utility/Responsiveness/Accountability

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  Feasibility

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  Propriety

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  Accuracy, Fairness, and Impartiality

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  Respect for all Involved

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  Adequate Funding

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  Timeliness and Relevance

Yarborough, et al (2011) attributes compliment and undergird VanTassel-Baska’s beliefs so both should exist in tandem; one at the macro level and the other at the micro level. Therefore, evaluation work by its very nature requires a mixed methods comprehensive approach and is influenced by the social and political variables at work in any given context. So while the facilitation and administration of processes of an evaluation may be constant across districts (eg classroom observations, focus group sessions, interviews, surveys, student data collection, artifacts review, etc) no two evaluation reports will ever be the same.