Boundless Readers      5153 North Clark Street, Suite 206     Chicago, IL 60640     p. 773.989.8582   e. info@boundlessreaders.org
© 2009 Boundless Readers
Evaluation Approach
By systematically evaluating our work, we understand the impact of our various strategies and their contribution to our targeted outcomes for teachers and students.  This enables program staff and participants to reflect more systematically on their work, make needed improvements, and allocate time and resources to the most effective strategies.  Investing in evaluation is a means of building our “knowledge infrastructure,” that is, the data and analytical tools that will enable us to make better decisions.
 
For six years Boundless Readers has conducted rigorous self-study and evaluation with the help of external evaluators.   We have used a multi-method, pre/post design to measure teaching and learning impacts in the following domains: improved literacy instructional practice, professional community and capacity, and deepened student comprehension.

Examples of evaluation methodology:
  • Student test score analysis: Assess change in ITBS scores during year students are in program classrooms, relative to a matched comparison group of non-program classrooms.
  • Student surveys: Measure changes in student attitudes toward and frequency of reading in a sample of program classrooms and matched comparison classrooms.
  • Teacher surveys: Measure changes including participation levels, attitudes towards reading and literacy instruction, implementation of targeted classroom practices, extent of collaboration with colleagues, leadership skills, perceived changes in students in attitudes toward and frequency of reading and implementation of program literacy strategies. Also allows comparison on these variables based on teachers’ years of experience with Boundless Readers programming.
  • Teacher feedback on professional development: Measure perceived quality and utility of all program components.
  • Classroom observations: Measure quality of classroom discussion that occurred in a subset of program classrooms by evaluators and program staff (coded according to a rubric that measures qualities such as teacher questioning, quality and equity of student participation, use of text);
  • Principal surveys and interviews: Assess extent of and challenges to program implementation, perceived impacts on teachers, students, and school-level professional culture and approach to literacy.
  • Retrospective case study: Assess program impact in a “high implementation” context. Case study focused on a school where teacher teams have been in place for a number of years and there is a dense concentration of BR teachers. Includes interviews and test score analyses.

For more evaluation data, please contact Mary Hicks at mhicks@boundlessreaders.org or 773-989-8582.
Boundless Readers believes that a focused investment in evaluating the quality and impact of our programs is the most productive way to enhance our organizational capacity, our ability to learn and grow effectively, and ensure accountability for results to our supporters and beneficiaries.