This report summarizes the findings and recommendations prepared by The Public Good, Inc. in its evaluation of the 2002-03 school year of Colorado Online Learning. The time period represents Year 1 of a three-year grant awarded to COL from the Colorado Department of Education. The evaluation effort included collecting survey data on customer satisfaction from students and site coordinators; conducting two focus groups of COL instructors; conducting interviews with COL staff; and reviewing documents to gage the extent and quality of implementing COLs plan for delivering high-quality learning opportunities to Colorados high school students.
The Colorado Department of Education developed this resource guide to support schools and districts that engage external service providers as part of their school improvement process. A number of schools and districts are incorporating external expertise into their turnaround or transformation strategies with support from School Improvement Grants or Tiered Intervention Grant. Regardless of whether services are purchased with grant funds or per pupil revenue, spending public money requires the highest level of transparency and prudent decision-making when it comes to purchasing processes. This guide is designed to inform best practice when it comes to identifying potential providers, issuing a request for proposal based on identified needs, evaluating potential providers and their proposals, contracting with an external provider, and evaluating and monitoring the providers ongoing performance.
This final report presents the results of the external evaluation studies of Colorado Online Learning by external Consultant Dixie Griffin Good. The evaluation period covers three years, from the Fall 2002 though Summer 2005, coinciding with COLs three-year grant from the Colorado Department of Education. By most measures, COL can be considered a successful program. It expands opportunities for Colorado students through combining high-quality courses, highly-qualified instructors, and communications technology.
