Hello -

It is nice to be communicating with you in this manner. Let me answer your questions in the order they were presented:

Has there been either formal or informal evaluation of the technology training in the district and/or Wildwood JHS?

To my knowledge there has been no formal or informal evaluation of this nature conducted at Wildwood. In other words, none has been done by me, nor have I been consulted on any. There have been informal assessments of technology training in the district, however.

If so, when did it such evaluation begin? How was it funded? Who did the evaluation, what method(s) were used and what were the findings?

These informal evaluations have occured after staff training. They have consisted primarily of satisfaction indicators. I am planning, however, a more formal evaluation (district wide) to start in September of 1998. This evaluation will look at the following four issues surrounding successful implementation of learning technologies: access (hardware, software, and for students with visual disabilities); learning effectiveness; student and instructor satisfaction; and cost effectiveness. The methods will involve both quantiative (pre- and post-measures, analysis of grades, and surveys) and qualitative (focus groups of both students and teachers as well as individual interviews - I am considering also conducing a case study, but this is not yet definite. We are also interested in learning more about past evaluation of teacher and administrator training impacts of training made possible by the past ISBE and the current NEF technology grants.

How have each of these grants impacted teacher and administrator training, both broadly in the district as well as specifically at Wildwood?

Again - to my knowledge this type of evaluation has not been conducted.

David - I hope my answers have helped. Please feel free to contact me with any additional information that I could provide.

Judy Frank