Response to Request for Proposal

Evaluation of Determining Instructional Purposes (DIP)

Submitted to:

Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development

Submitted by:

EPIC - Educational Program Inspection Center

Introduction

This document serves as a response to the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development’s request for proposals, dated September 2014, to evaluate their Determining Instructional Purposes training program; Units and Coordinator Handbook.

Determining Instructional Purposes(DIP)

The DIP training package is designed for the purpose of training school administrators and graduate students in educational administration in skills related to planning of effective school programs.

The package contains a Coordinator’s Handbook that provides guidance to an person who takes on the role of coordinator after having completed the training units independently. The handbook provides guidance on the organisation, guidance and monitoring of activities that are undertaken by participants in the program.

The package consists of 3 units: Unit 1 - Setting Goals, Unit 2 - Analyzing Problems, Unit 3 - Deriving Objectives. The units are stand-alone or can be taken in any combination. The units are expected to take between 10-15hrs of study for Units 1 and 2, and 12-18hrs for Unit 3. The materials are in print formats of 155-259 pages in length.

Evaluation Method

This evaluation will provide data and recommendations to Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development as to whether they should continue to plan for a marketing strategy for their DIP program, or strategically abandon the project in its entirety or to some degree. Data and evidence will be gathered and provided to the client that can be used in marketing materials for the attention of school administrators.

The materials have yet to be tested in a real or simulated environment. EPIC will identify 10 local district schools of various age ranges and catchment within which to perform a test of the materials. Identified volunteer early adopters will eventually take on the role of coordinator.

Phase 1: Instructional Design

An Instructional Designer at EPIC will analyse and evaluate the design of the program and how the learning outcomes of the learning objectives are to be met. The pedagogical approach taken in the design of the program will be examined to evaluate if it meets the needs of an individual doing self-directed learning, or if the group activities have been designed effectively to take account of peer support and social constructivist approaches to learning.

Phase 2: Coordinator Attitude and Performance

After a pre-program survey linked to the objectives of the program materials and the experience of the trainee, including their experience with self-directed learning, the Unit 1 program materials will be given to trainee coordinator to work through. A post-program survey will assess whether the learning objectives were met and how the coordinator rated the program design and experience with regard to the learning objectives, and their confidence to coordinate the program.

EPIC will perform site visits to interview the trainee to order to illicit more anecdotal qualitative information that may be missed by the survey tools.

Phase 3: Formative Evaluation

An analysis of the Phase 2 responses will generate a report for the client as to whether to continue with the Phase 4 implementation and evaluation of the program materials with small groups of administrators and the coordinator.

Phase 4: Participant Attitude and Performance, Coordinator Performance, Format analysis

A small group of trainees within each school will be surveyed as in Phase 2. The post survey will also target whether the support of the coordinator was valuable. Survey tools will be designed to identify the best format: individual or group.

EPIC will perform onsite visits to interview the trainees. Interviews with the program administrators will also be made to identify what was felt would entice them to pay for the program and what needs altering to make it more appropriate.

Phase 5: Summative Evaluation and Report to client

A summative report of the findings will be generated with delivered in the format desired by the client.

The report  will include a whether the client needs to offer coordinator training as part of the initial program offering.

Task Schedule

The evaluation will take a maximum of 24 weeks, or 6 months. The program and evaluation will aim to complete its initial formative evaluation before the Spring break; this will provide the client with the evidence they need to prepare for a Fall/September release and start to design their marketing materials. The summative evaluation will be completed by the end of the Summer semester allowing the client to make a final decision on whether to commit to the marketing strategy.

Project Personnel

The EPIC team is made of industry specialists in their fields. Mr T. Stark was a head teacher and educator for 20 years and was the founder of EPIC in 2005; Mr Stark is a data analysis and statistics expert. Our Instructional Design expert, Dr B. Banner, has worked both in schools and in the instructional design industry since 2000. Ms J. Grey and Mr S. Summers make up our interview and contact specialists and perform analysis roles within the team; both are industry trained evaluation experts.

Proposed Budget