Going Full Circle With Teacher Feedback: Conducting Responsive Evaluations in Urban Pre-K Classrooms

Research on the evaluation of early childhood programs focuses mainly on its outcomes rather than its process with often little attention given to the role that feedback to teachers in pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs plays in the larger cycle of the evaluation process. This article provides a case example of a multiyear evaluation of community-based pre-k programs serving about 360 three-and four-year old children over a 5-year period in the District of Columbia. The Closing the Loop Evaluation Model proposed represents a responsive evaluation approach that illustrates the interconnected interactions between teacher feedback during the evaluation process and two supporting evaluation methodologies that emphasize social justice and utility. Findings from the case example highlight the responsive evaluation approach, feedback process, and ensuing conceptual and instrumental changes that occurred among stakeholders from whole-group feedback to small-group "report card" meetings with add-ons such as technical assistance, teacher-generated action plans, and teacher follow-up and feedback to close the evaluation loop. The authors discuss lessons learned about the evaluation process from the case example around aspects of feedback, including timing, audience, and function. Findings highlight the importance of feedback being timely and prompt, high quality in focus and content, non-punitive, collaborative, concise, and useful. The authors conclude that an evaluation process that includes teacher feedback, couched in social justice and utility, can have positive outcomes for all stakeholders and will likely lead to higher quality early childhood education programs.