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National Charter School Conference
Conference Evaluation Report
1999

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Workshop Evaluation Report

At the conclusion of each of the individual workshops at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Charter School Conference (March, 1999), respondents were asked to complete a workshop evaluation form. Conference participants completing the form were asked to give their affiliation, rate the workshop overall, and answer several yes/no questions regarding the workshop they had just attended.

This report summarizes the 1,938 forms that were submitted by conference participants attending one of 77 individual workshops. An average of 25 completed survey forms were submitted for each of the workshops. The actual number of surveys per workshop ranged from less than 10 for 25 percent of the workshops to 145 for the Special Education and Charter Schools. All discussions at the workshop level are for those workshops that received at least 10 completed survey forms.

Since each conference participant was asked to complete workshop evaluation forms for each workshop they attended, all discussions at the aggregate level in this report refer to the completed surveys, rather than the number of respondents. Discussions of results at the workshop level refer to conference participants, as this count is unduplicated. Appendix tables are attached that show the results of the workshop evaluation survey by each individual workshop.

Summary of Findings
Affiliation

The participants were asked to identify their affiliation from among 11 choices. Fifteen of the workshop evaluation forms did not have an affiliation marked. The detailed responses to the affiliation question are shown by workshop session in Appendix Table A-1 at the end of this document.

Seventy percent of the forms identified the respondent as affiliated with a school. Nine percent of the forms were completed by administrators at the local, state, or federal level. (See Figure W-1)

Two hundred and thirty-six forms (approximately 11%) had more than one affiliation marked on the form. All affiliations marked by the respondents are shown in Table W-1. This results in a total figure in that table that exceeds the total number of completed forms.

Table W-1

Respondent Affiliation
 
Overall Affiliation
 
Affiliation marked on form
Number of Respondents
Percent of Respondents
School (1,505)
School Developer
271
12.5%
School Founder
377
17.4
Principal
350
16.1
Teacher
286
13.2
Other School Staff
221
10.2
Professional/Technical (122)
Professional association official
48
2.2
Technical assistance provider
74
3.4
Administration (204)
Local district administrator
101
4.7
State administrator
65
3.0
Federal administrator
40
1.8
Other (336)
Other
336
15.5
 
Total
2,169
100.0%



Overall Workshop Ratings Participants completing the workshop evaluation form were asked to rate the workshop overall (from Excellent to Poor (or N/A)). This item was completed on 1,851 of the data collection forms. Overall, 74 percent of the respondents gave the workshop an overall rating of either excellent or very good. The detailed responses by workshop session are shown in Appendix Table A-2. (See Table W-2)

Table W-2

Overall Workshop Ratings
 
 

Exclnt
 

V. good
 

Good
 

Fair
 

Poor
 

NA
 

# Resp.
% VG or Exclnt
% Fair or Poor
OVERALL WORKSHOP EVALUATION
670
692
327
123
39
87
1,851
74%
9%


There were eight sessions that had a very high level of ratings with 90 percent or more of the respondents giving the overall workshop a rating of very good or excellent. These sessions were Alternative Approaches to Teacher Certification (92 percent), Charter School Associations (100 percent), Avoiding Burnout (92 percent), Charter Schools and the IRS (93 percent), Contracting with Education Management Companies (92 percent), Financial Planning (100 percent), Portfolios in Charter Schools (95 percent), and State Team Meetings (95 percent). (See Figure W-2)

For eight of the workshops, 50% or fewer of the respondents gave the workshop an overall rating of very good or excellent. These workshops were Accreditation in Charter Schools (36 percent), Charter School Finance: The Results of Recent Studies (41 percent), Federal Start-up Grants (38 percent), Policymakers (44 percent), Setting up the Business Office of a Charter School (41 percent), and Title I (26 percent). (See Figure W-3)


Answering Questions about the Workshops

The workshop participants who completed the workshop evaluation form were asked to answer five questions regarding the workshop they had just attended. The respondents were able to answer yes, somewhat, or no to each question. (See Table W-3)

Table W-3

Questions about the Workshop
 
Yes
Somewhat
No
NA
# Resp.
% YES
Did this workshop meet your expectations?
1,305
504
93
36
1938
67%
Would you recommend this program to colleagues?
1,457
311
116
52
1,936
75%
Will you be able to apply lessons from the program in your school or job?
1,323
441
100
74
1,938
68%
Do you feel the workshop was well-organized?
1,484
336
66
52
1,938
77%
Are you interested in staying in touch with workshop presenters and attendees?
1,173
374
234
157
1,938
61%



The question with the highest percentage of responses of YES was "Do you feel the program was well organized?" (77 percent). The question that elicited the smallest percentage of positive responses was "Are you interested in staying in touch with workshop presenters and attendees?" (61 percent). This still represents a positive response on almost two-thirds of the workshop forms.

Sixty-eight percent of the workshop participants indicated they would be able to apply lessons from the workshop to their job or school. (See Figure W-4)

For detailed information on the responses to all 5 questions by workshop, refer to Appendix Tables A-3 through A-7.


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