The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the largest teacher-based, nonprofit organization in the field of educational technology. ISTE's mission is to help K–12 classroom teachers and administrators share effective methods for enhancing student learning through the use of new classroom technologies.

    MSU is addressing needs in these areas with a program of professional development, curriculum development, new technology, and outreach to both K-12 schools and other technology-using agencies and companies.

ISTE has been contracted to evaluate:

(1) goals and outcomes—to determine if activities are effective, and

(2) the process—key decisions, strategies, and resources—to provide other institutions with guidelines for replication.

If the Missouri response to dealing with local instances of national problems is effective, it may provide strategies for addressing these issues nationwide.

    ISTE will provide both formative and summative information.  The former, gathered through participant surveys, interviews and observations of activities meant to serve the needs of direct participants (faculty, students, K-12 schools, and community partners) in conducting the activities to be funded under this grant.  The summative evaluation, based on activity records and on qualitative differences evident in student and faculty products, will be addressed to policy makers who need to make decisions about selecting and implementing program components.

Three Types of Data Analysis

    Document analysis will look for congruence vs. inconsistencies between established plans and guidelines (such as the technology plan, the grant proposal, and portfolio assessment rubrics) and products of the grant such as technology installation records and lesson plans.

    Qualitative data from interviews and open-ended survey items will be analyzed for themes relating to the evaluation questions.  In cases where some sections of students have different preparation (i.e., revised technology-based courses vs. traditional courses), ISTE will attempt to define group differences.  QSR qualitative analysis software will be used to facilitate this work.

    Quantitative data such as survey rating scales and numbers of participants will (depending on the evaluation question) be analyzed for  descriptive statistics, correlations or other measures of relationship between variables, or significant differences between groups with difference teacher education experiences.  SAS software will be used for most statistical calculations. 

Reporting 

    ISTE will provide end-of-school-year formative evaluation reports to MSU and an end-of-project summative evaluation on a schedule to coincide with progress reports to the U.S. Department of Education.  Additional information will be submitted to MSU as needed for dissemination purposes or to inform critical program decisions.