Beyond CREATE: The beginnings of a new national organization for educational accountability and teacher evaluation
✍ Scribed by Carl Hanssen
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 252 KB
- Volume
- 10
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1874-8597
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
There is a thirst among educators for new and better ways to use evaluation to improve instruction and learning in our elementary and secondary schools. Pressed by educators and the public, Congress, led by Senator Harkin of Iowa, mandated that a federal research and development center be created to bring sustenance to those seeking improved evaluation in the schools. As a direct result, CREATE was funded for five years (1990-1995) to conduct research and evaluation of teachers, administrative personnel, and schools.
In 1992, in its second year of funding, CREATE conducted its first National Evaluation Institute (NEI) to inform educators across the nation of its plans, to disseminate its preliminary findings, and to gain feedback and new ideas from educators. That first institute stimulated substantial interest and involvement by educators across the United States and from several foreign countries. The NEI has been conducted annually since 1992, and has grown significantly across the years. This growth suggested increased activity by individuals and groups who are addressing personnel and program evaluation issues in elementary and secondary schools across the United States.
The institutes have made a significant impact by providing new ideas and materials for improving evaluation, supporting and encouraging those engaged in improving teaching and schooling for our youngsters, and establishing a network with others who share common objectives. The result has been a strong push for more institutes and conferences at state and local levels, and for continuing the annual NEI. As a result, when it became apparent that the federal government would not continue to support CREATE beyond October 1995, institute participants and CREATE supporters actively sought means for continuing the work started by CREATE.
At the 1994 NEI in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, an institute session was devoted to exploring participants' interest in continuing CREATE's work through a new national organization. Participants at the meeting strongly advocated the development of a new organization and encouraged CREATE to take a leadership role in this development. A follow-up survey to the NEI participants substantiated the expressed interest of persons