Adult Education

Yearly Evaluative Staff Meeting

Revised 09/23/18

“You do not have to be perfect to be good, but to continue to be good you have to work toward perfection.”

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get, what you’ve always got.”

“People do not argue with what the help create.” Ron Froman

Dr. Lennox L. McLendon

McLendon & Associates
llmcl422@gmail.com
804.314.6747
https://llmcl422.weebly.com/
 THE YEARLY EVLAUATIVE STAFF MEETING

The Yearly Evaluative Staff Meeting (YESM), held in the spring of each program year, is
an opportunity for the entire adult education staff to evaluate the various program
components and plan for program improvements. That evaluation involves identifying
program components that are not working well, prioritizing those that would have the
most impact in improving your program services and identifying alternatives to pilot test.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the YESM are as follows:

1. To involve all program management, support, and instructional personnel (paid and
volunteer) in evaluating program activities and planning for program improvements.
2. To examine each program component, determine which ones are working well, and
which ones need attention.
3. For each component that needs attention, to identify the current strategies and
determine if each strategy needs to be 1) revised or 2) replaced.
4. To prioritize the five most critical program components that need attention.
5. To identify options to locate, pilot test, evaluate, and integrate alternatives for each
ineffective program component.
6. To identify measures that will let you know if the alternative strategy is
accomplishing what you want it to.
7. To use the evaluative information to plan a) individual professional development
plans and b) program improvement plans for the coming year.

ALSO, if you, your teachers and tutors have engaged in professional development plans
during the year, the YESM is a good opportunity for each of you to present 1) what you
learned as a result, as well as, 2) the resources you found helpful.

THREE SOURCES:

There are THREE SOURCES FOR IDENTIFYING PROGRAM COMPONENTS

THAT NEED IMPROVEMENT:
1. Your Performance Report (Data)
2. Research
3. Self-Assessments

Data Analysis: From your performance report for the previous year, you may identify
program components that need attention.

Research: Email you staff asking for research they have found or conducted that
provides insights into program components that need to be addressed.

Self-Assessments: Your sources for program improvement ideas include a variety of

self-assessments for teachers, yourself, and your partner organizations. Here are some
examples. Examples are found of each in the accompanying self-assessment document.

IMPORTANT NOTE: With any

Teachers Self-Assessment: Reflecting on their
past year’s work, each instructional staff member,
paid and volunteer, should assess her/his
such instrument, it is critical that
you have your staff review and
edit this draft to ensure it fits
your program and they agree
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with the elements.
People do not argue with what they help
create. Ron Froman
 competencies prior to the YESM. A part of that assessment is to consider which
competencies might be included in the next professional development plan.

YOUR REQUEST: Ask your teachers to complete the self-assessment

and identify one, two or three topics for they next year’s professional
development plan. SEE THE PD plan template at the end of this
document.

NOTE: Your colleagues have found it helpful to

convert the self-assessment to an online survey
and send your teachers the link. This format
makes it much easier to complete, protects
confidentiality, and makes analysis easier.

Program Manager Self-Assessment: Reflecting on their past year’s work, each

program management staff person should assess her/his competencies prior to the
YESM and to make tentative plans for the next professional development plan.

YOUR REQUEST: Ask each of your program management staff to

complete the self-assessment and using the PD plan template below,
develop a PD plan for the coming year.

Program Self-Assessment: Our instructors have really good insights as to what

parts of our program services are working and which need some attention. The
“Super Duper Delineation of Program Planning Functions” in the attached
packet has that title to ease stress of a “program evaluation” often brings. The
rating system (mentor, competent, shaky and help) is used for the same reason.

NOTE: Again, it is helpful if you can convert these

two instruments to an online survey for two reasons: 1.
It makes it easier for your staff to share their thoughts
and 2. It makes it easier for you to tabulate and analyze
the results.

Partner Assessments: More than
ever adult education programs
must partner with other agencies
and organizations to provide all the
services our students need. In the
attached packet are samples of
partner assessments you may want
to tweak and edit to fit your
relationships.
We all come into adult education SIDEWAYS—
from some other profession. Ergo, we are not always clear on all that
is involved in adult education programming.
The Super Duper helps detail the many facets of adult education
programming. It will help your staff understand all that is involved.
You influence people’s behavior by the questions you
ask. Ron Froman

RESULTS: So, once you analyze the results, you end up with the following:

1. Possible program areas that need improvement

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  From the program self-assessment, a list of program components that your
staff thinks needs attention
 From your data analysis, program areas that need attention
 From research, strategies that hold promise for improving program services
2. From the instructor and manager self-assessments, PD plans for each of your staff
 It is important to provide opportunities for staff to report on progress related
to the PD plans.

TASK: Prepare an ANALYSIS SHEET that includes

 the top five to ten program components from the program self-assessment,
 the top three to five components from your data analysis, and
 briefs on research findings that hold promise.

TASK: Email the analysis sheet to your staff asking them to reflect on the identified
program components and prioritize them in preparation for the upcoming YESM.

Continuous Improvement Structure and Process

Fall small groups of staff review and tweak the self-assessment
December administrative assistant converts the program and teacher self-
assessments to Survey Monkey
January 10 email link to program survey to staff
January 31 email link to teacher self-assessment to teachers along with the
PD planner asking them to prepare a PD plan for the coming
year.
February 15 analyze your previous year’s data and highlight five areas of
concern
March 1 complete the program manager self-assessment (AND/OR send
link to teachers to complete
March 15 survey staff for any research they have conducted or discovered
during the year
April 1 analyze the program self-assessment responses and highlight the
five top areas of concern.
April 15 conduct a staff meeting to review program improvement areas

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These Yearly Evaluative Staff Meeting Working Papers: Reviewing this information will
help prepare staff members for the activities.

The Yearly Evaluative Staff Meeting

Leader’s Guide

You know your colleagues. Feel free to rearrange these components to complement your
group’s culture and expectations. Revise the handouts to match your program and
curriculum frameworks.

PART I. Assessing Program Components

Review YESM Goals 1. Review the YESM objectives (page 1) and discuss the
and Objectives need for everybody’s thinking about how to improve our
services.
Identify fractured 2. Pass out the YESM Program ANALYSIS
Program Components A. Review Program Components identified on
the ANALYSIS
Individually B. Ask Staff Members INDIVIDUALLY to
1. Review each component that is not
achieving the desired results
2. Identify the current strategies for each
and determine if is should be:
a. revised, or
Consensus b. replaced
And C. In SMALL GROUPS, compare notes,
Priorities discuss for clarity,
1. PRIORITIZE deciding which
components are most critical to fix
2. Decide how many of the priorities the
staff can work on.
3. RECORD ON FLIP CHART the agreed
upon fractured components and report to
large group.
4. Using large post-it notes, write ONE
PRIORITY on a post-it.

Consensus D. In large group,

Post-its
1. Ask anyone for one of their post-it notes
2. Ask others “Who has one like this one.” And
stick those together in a bunch.
3. When that topic is exhausted, ask anyone for
another item
4. And so forth until all post-its are on the board.
DOTS—provide each participant with five colored
adhesive dots
1. As each person to place a dot or dots by the
cluster that should be a priority.

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Sources for E. Assign each priority to two SMALL
Alternatives GROUPS, and ask them to plan a program
improvement plan by
1. Identifying possible sources for
alternative strategies.
2. Determining how the staff could measure
the success of the new alternative
“I know this new strategy works
when ………”
Planning for testing 3. Planning the pilot testing, evaluation, and
and integrating new integration of the new alternative
strategies 4. Determining what else is needed
(materials, training, technical assistance,
funding, etc.) to test and integrate an
alternative strategy.

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 YESM Agenda (SAMPLE)

“You do not have to be perfect to be good; but you should strive for perfection.”

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the YESM are as follows:

1. To involve all program management, support, and instructional personnel (paid

and volunteer) in evaluating program activities and planning for program
improvements.
2. To examine each program component, determine which ones are working well,
and which ones need attention.
3. For each component that needs attention, to identify the current strategies and
determine if each strategy needs to be 1) revised or 2) replaced.
4. To prioritize the five most critical program components that need attention.
5. To identify options to locate, pilot test, evaluate, and integrate alternatives for
each ineffective strategy.
6. To identify measures that will let you know if the alternative strategy is
accomplishing what you want it to.
7. To use the evaluation information to plan a) individual professional development
plans and b) program improvement plans for the coming year.

1. Welcome and Introduction of New Staff Members

2. Overview of Our Structure and Process

1. Revise the self-assessments
2. Review our performance data and identify areas that need attention
3. Seek promising research findings from staff
4. Complete the self-assessments
a. For teachers
b. For managers
c. For the program
5. Compile and analyze the results and prepare analysis sheet
6. Yearly Evaluative Staff Meeting

3. Review the YESM Objectives Above

PART I -- Identify Program Improvement Priorities

How do we get better?
1. TASK #1:
a. Review the ANALYSIS SHEET that identifies the top ten program
improvement components from the program self-assessment, the
performance data review, and research.
b. Prioritize the list based on the improvement of each could have the most
positive impact on current services
c. Determine how many of those priorities it is reasonable for us to address
in the coming year.
d. For each priority, discuss
i. Our current strategy
ii. Does our current strategy need to be tweaked or replaced with
something new.
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 2. TASK # 2 – TABLE TALK

a. Discuss the lists and come to consensus on priority order

b. Determine how many of those priorities it is reasonable for us to address in
the coming year. (DRAW A LINE on the priority list)
c. For each priority, discuss
i. Our current strategy
ii. Does our current strategy need to be tweaked or replaced with
something new?
iii. Record the results of your discussion on a flip chart page.
iv. Using the large post it notes, write each of your priorities on one post
it note.

3. TASK # 3 – The DOTS

a. You have five colored dots.
b. Help us identify our program improvement priorities for the next year by
voting with your dots.

4. TASK # 4 – TABLE TALK: How do we fix it? (Each priority is assigned to TWO
small groups)

a. Identifying possible sources for alternative strategies.

b. Determining how the staff could measure the success of the new alternative
a. “I know this new strategy works when ………”

b. Planning the pilot testing, timeline, evaluation, and integration of the new
alternative
c. Determining what else is needed (materials, training, technical assistance,
funding, etc.) to test and integrate an alternative strategy.

5. TASK # 5 – LARGE GROUP

a. Briefly report back your recommendations

6. Next Steps
a. Develop the pilot tests and pilot test timeline and report the results to you.
b. The purpose of the pilot is to:
1. Determine if the alternative strategy works
2. If so, use the pilot to:
a. Develop the professional development needed to implement
b. Determine any policy changes needed to implement
c. Determine the budget needed to implement

Part II – Professional Development

We have all completed a self-assessment to identify items for our own professional
development plan. (COMPLETE Worksheet #2 below)

Sources: If you need sources for the learning you would like to do, please feel free to let
me know and I will help you locate those
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Wrap up and Thanks

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 TASK #1 and #2:
1. Review the ANALYSIS SHEET that identifies the top ten program improvement
components from the program self-assessment, the performance data review, and
research.
2. If you have not already done so, INDIVIDUALLY prioritize the list based on the
improvement of each could have the most positive impact on current services
3. Discuss the lists and come to consensus on priority order
4. Determine how many of those priorities it is reasonable for us to address in the
coming year. (DRAW A LINE on the priority list)
5. For each priority, discuss
a. Our current strategy
b. Does our current strategy need to be tweaked or replaced with something
new?
6. Write each Priority on a large post-it note

Priority Tweaked Replaced

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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TASK # 4 – TABLE TALK: How do we fix it? (Each priority is assigned to TWO small
groups)
a. Identifying possible sources for alternative strategies.
b. Determining how the staff could measure the success of the new
alternative
c. Planning the pilot testing, timeline, evaluation, and integration of the new
alternative
d. Determining what else is needed (materials, training, technical assistance,
funding, etc.) to test and integrate an alternative strategy.
e. COMPLETE Worksheet #3 below.

Priority Sources for Pilot test Resources needed

alternative strategies recommendations for pilot test
(who, where, when,
how? timeline)

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 Worksheet # 2
The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Professional Development Plan

Name:   ___________________________________________________________________________

Home Address:  ____________________________________________________________________

Class Site: _________________________________________________________________________

Home phone: _______________ Work phone: __________________ E­mail: ___________________

Signature:___________________________________________________ date:__________________
 This is a Group Plan; a list of all participants’ information is attached.

1.  Learning objective or the question I will pursue is:

2. The strategies and target dates to meet my objective are: 

Strategies Target Dates
3. The resources I will use to meet my objective or to answer my question are:

4. Ways that I will document or demonstrate my learning (evidence of accomplishment): 

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 Worksheet # 3
Program Improvement Plan

Names of Workgroup Members: _____________________________________________________________

 _______________________________________________________________________________________

Team Leader:  _______________________________________________

Team Signatures:_________________________________________________________________________

Date:__________________

1.  Program improvement objective or the question we will pursue is:

2. The strategies and target dates to meet our objective are: 

Strategies Target Dates

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3.  The resources we will use to meet our objective or to answer our question are:

4.  How we will pilot test the alternatives we find

5. Ways that we will document or demonstrate the success of the alternative (evidence of 
accomplishment): 

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6. How we will integrate the new alternative into our system:

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