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All Kinds of Minds uses ongoing program evaluation to document the consistency of participant reaction to the Schools Attuned Program across the world, teachers’ acquisition of new knowledge and skills learned in the program, and teachers’ perceptions of impact of the program on student outcomes, teacher practice, and the education system.
The Schools Attuned Program evaluation design is based on the premise that the first step in improving students' lives in school through the professional development of educators is to ensure that educators participate in a program that they value, find useful, and from which they gain knowledge and skills (Guskey, 2002; O'Sullivan & Page, 2000).
Guskey's research on how best to evaluate the impact of professional development on student achievement has resulted in a framework of five critical levels of program evaluation. Each of these five levels is important to providing data on the quality and impact of a professional development program.
The first level of evaluation involves assessing participants' reactions to the professional development experience.
The second level of the framework focuses on measuring participants' acquisition of new knowledge and skills.
The third level of evaluation relates to changes in the organization, procedures, and climate of schools.
The fourth level of professional development evaluation assesses participants' use of new knowledge and skills.
The fifth level of evaluation assesses the impact of Schools Attuned Program on students.
During the Schools Attuned Program Core Course and Practicum, All Kinds of Minds uses daily written reflections, survey questionnaires, and portfolio documentation to gather evidence of participant reaction to the course and its facilitators, to assess the knowledge and skills that participants gained as a result of the program, and to gather educator reports on the impact of the Schools Attuned Program at the individual student, whole classroom, and school wide levels. The results of these analyses inform the content, format, and organization of the Schools Attuned Program.
In addition to the use of ongoing program evaluation, All Kinds of Minds recognizes the importance of advancing evidence-based scholarship on the impact of our programs. Several research studies have been independently conducted related to the Schools Attuned Program. To further promote rigorous, high quality research, national studies are underway that examine the impact of the Schools Attuned Program on student outcomes, teacher practice and the special education system.
 Read more about the Research and Evaluation behind the programs of All Kinds of Minds.
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