Evaluation in an In-Service Education Program

UNTO teachers as you would have them do unto children" has been the underlying philosophy of the Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, Schools' in-service education program since 1955. This program has attempted to increase the effectiveness of learning experiences offered teachers in their continuing edu cation by making available to these learn ers the opportunity to assume responsi bility for their own in-service education experiences. An analysis of the earlier plan for inservice education seemed to indicate that it was failing to affect the experiences teachers were providing children because the program itself was set up along a pattern not consistent with modern edu cational thought. We were lecturing to teachers and not giving teachers an op portunity for genuine dynamic partici pation in the program. If our program of in-service education was to be of real worth we believed it should embody these principles: (a) The program should help each individual per son to acquire skills or solve problems that are of importance to him; (b) The program should be presented in a way that would enable the participant to work at his own level of understanding; (c) The program should provide help to the participant in constantly evaluating his need for experiences of a particular type (d) The program should provide for con tinning evaluation by the learner of the value of his own learning experiences ir terms of his objectives; (e) The progran should be periodically evaluated in terms of its value to the level of educational efficiency within a district. Using these general premises as basis, a type of in-service education pro gram was instigated for Bristol Township that we felt would hold more promise for increased effectiveness of the professiona staff in the execution of their duties Since three of the five principles underly ing the program involve evaluation in one aspect or another it becomes evident that evaluative processes form the backbone of this program.