Project Title: Identifying and responding to evaluation needs in college foreign language programs
Principal Investigator: John M. Norris, University of Hawaii
For a complete introduction to project activities and details, click here to download a brochure.
Here is a brief overview of the project:
I. Introduction and funding
The U.S. Department of Education, through its Title VI "International
Research and Studies" grants, has funded a three-year project (2005-2008)
that seeks to articulate useful program evaluation practices and resources
with the actual needs of college foreign language educators. The project
is hosted at the University of Hawaii, and it involves a diversity of collaborators
and participants. Primary constituents of the project are all tertiary-level
foreign language programs in the United States.
II. Need for the project: Why worry about program evaluation?
Foreign language programs in U.S. colleges are expected to meet critical
educational, societal, and national needs for the development of learners
capable of using languages other than English for a range of professional,
academic, cultural, and other valued purposes. A key component of the effectiveness
of any educational program is the inclusion of on-going evaluative processes,
which enable educators to understand, improve, demonstrate, and ensure the
quality of services and outcomes. Unfortunately, FL programs may not be
prepared to incorporate evaluation processes into their practices, despite
increasing impetuses-even requirements-to do so. Further, available guides
for evaluation practice may lack meaning and utility in response to the
specific needs, contexts, and constraints of actual college FL programs.
III. Purpose of the project: Building capacity for meaningful and useful
evaluation
The Foreign Language Program Evaluation Project responds to apparent needs,
gaps, and concerns related to evaluation at the tertiary level. Fundamentally,
we seek to build the capacity of FL educators to engage with a variety of
program evaluation demands in meaningful and useful ways. However, in order
to achieve meaningfulness and usefulness, we must first understand the actual
roles to be played by evaluation in the real contexts, and in light of the
real constraints, of college programs. In other words, rather than producing
generic models, tools, or mandates on 'how to' evaluate, we seek to understand
the 'why' of evaluation first and foremost. Based on a sound empirical understanding
of the actual purposes and contexts for evaluation, we then develop and
disseminate a range of strategies and resources that are tailored to priority
needs of real language programs. Finally, we investigate, revise, and improve
these capacity-building strategies and resources through case studies of
their meaningfulness and usefulness in representative college FL programs.
IV. Project activities, objectives, and timeline
In order to respond in useful ways to the actual program evaluation needs
of college foreign language educators, this project is proceeding through
three phases of work over an initial three-year timeline. In Phase I, Needs
Analysis (2005-2006), we identify the demands and uses for evaluation across
a variety of college FL programs. In Phase II, Resource Development (2006-2007),
we produce strategies, models, and tools that will help educators respond
to priority evaluation needs. In Phase III, Field-Testing (2007-2008), we
try out and revise evaluation resources, and we demonstrate their use and
usefulness.
V. Resources
The project will produce and disseminate a variety of resources
to help build and maintain program evaluation capacity. The project web
site serves as a clearinghouse for resources and as the main point of interaction
between project personnel and constituents.
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