District Case Studies Evaluation Design
Abstract
This paper discusses the design of the case studies of the effects of the SCALE partnership on district policy and organization. (See Appendix A. for an overview of SCALE). Part I discusses the SCALE theory of action -- how the partnership goes about producing change -- which then becomes the focus of evaluation. Part II discusses research methods. But first what are the case studies?The case studies are intended to study the effects of SCALE on district policy and organization, especially instructional guidance. (See Appendix A. for description of the SCALE research and evaluation). This is an area "downstream" from the focus of the Building a Partnership (BP) team, which examines partnership dynamics and the formation of partnership initiatives. And it is "upstream" from the focus of targeted studies and indicators, which examine outcomes of SCALE interventions on instruction and student achievement. Like BP, the case studies use mainly qualitative methods in tracking organizational change and dynamics, but like targeted studies and indicators, they are mainly concerned with effects inside the partner school districts."
The paper and its accompanying slides are both available in PDF format. Click on the file links above.