Resource Evaluation Form

Teacher __________         Subject ___________         Grade Level _______

Select a resource to evaluate.  Look at each standard you are required to teach.  How good a resource is this for standard #1?  Give a score 1-5 (5=Best).  Repeat for standard #2, and so forth.  If the resource does not address a standard at all, record a 0.  Figure the average rating for each resource; the one with the highest score does the best job of addressing your standards overall.  In the sample below, the teacher examining materials has twelve standards for this subject area and grade level.

Curriculum and Instruction

Subject Area Committee (SAC) Action Agenda

YEAR ONE

SAC PREPARES DRAFT CURRICULUM DOCUMENT AND SUBMITS IT FOR APPROVAL

            A.        Prepares all remaining document pages and assembles final document

B.        Submits document to Curriculum Coordinating Council (CCC) and School Board

SAC PLANS STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION PROCEDURES

            A.        Plans staff development related to the document

B.        Plans staff development related to instructional design and specialized training

            C.        Plans validation procedures

YEAR TWO

SAC IMPLEMENTS STAFF DEVELOPMENT PLANS

SAC IMPLEMENTS INTERNAL VALIDATION PROCESS

SAC ADJUSTS DOCUMENT AND COLLECTS RESOURCE SAMPLES

            A.        Revises curriculum according to feedback

            B.        Contacts publishers and distributors for sample resources

SAC PRESENTS FINAL DOCUMENT

            A.        Requests final approval of document from CCC and Board

            B.        Publishes final draft

YEAR THREE

SAC IDENTIFIES NEW RESOURCES

SAC PREPARES CORE ASSESSMENTS ACCORDING TO COUNCIL GUIDELINES

SAC PRESENTS FINAL REPORT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO COUNCIL;

SAC BECOMES INACTIVE UNTIL NEXT CYCLE

Selecting Resources 

1.         The curriculum coordinator or subject area chairperson contacts publishers and distributors to send sample resources for preview.  These materials are kept in the teachers’ lounge or a resource room for teachers to look at when time is available. A committee is appointed to make the actual selection of resources.

2.         Committee members leaf through textbooks, open kits of materials for examination, and view software or video selections.  They notice such things as general content, format, illustrations, instructions for teachers, activity and assessment suggestions, and so forth.

3.         Committee members converse, and finally settle on a resource selection based on   general appearance, format, and number/type of suggestions provided.

The problem with this typical procedure is that teachers are evaluating how well publishers have presented their own version of curriculum content.  That content may match quite well with the district’s new curriculum standards, or it may not match well at all.  A better way to review resource materials is to evaluate them according to the district’s local curriculum, standard-by-standard.

A simple form can be prepared that directs teachers to consider the standards from their own grade level/course curriculum, and then evaluate the materials for how well they support those particular standards. A rating scale is used to record the evaluation.

The teacher evaluates a single resource according to the first standard and gives it a score, then proceeds to an evaluation for the second standard, the third standard, and so forth.  Each standard receives a score and these scores are averaged to provide one total score for the resource in question, to show how well it actually supports the locally developed curriculum.  Space is also provided for comments - strong and weak points of this particular resource.  Comments are especially helpful if two or more resources end up with the same or similar scores.

Note that this process is called resource selection.  Subject Area Committee (SAC) members should look at more than just textbooks and workbooks.  The validation forms teachers filled out during implementation are extremely valuable during this process, because one validation question asks, “Did you have the necessary resources to teach this standard, and if not, what is needed?”  The SAC should have kept a running list of these items.  The role of the SAC now is to see that all necessary resources will be requested.  This may include such things as maps, microscopes, news magazines, videos, calculators, posters, sets of novels, or equipment for a weather station.

Some requested items will, of course, vary from teacher to teacher and unless the SAC believes these items are necessary for all teachers, they should be ordered by the individual teachers as supplemental resources.  But the SAC should address those items that will be needed by all teachers of a course or grade level, and particularly those costly items that exceed an individual teacher’s supplemental budget.

The following pages provide two samples:  a resource evaluation form, and a guideline for explaining the types of items selected by the SAC and those to be ordered by individual teachers.