This is a practical guide to evaluating professional development programs at five increasing levels of sophistication: participants′ reaction to professional development; how much participants learned; evaluating organizational support and change; how participants use their new knowledge and skills; and improvements in student learning.
The power of thinking in terms of the five evaluation levels is engaging teachers in the planning of professional development activities. Guskey describes the process for "working backwards" from Level 5 "the student learning outcomes that you want to achieve" and through each successive level to "what set of experiences will enable participants to acquire the needed knowledge and skills (Level 1)