Evaluation and Policy Courses (2001–2005)

Focus Areas

From 2001–2005, Teachers College (Columbia University, New York), in collaboration with OSI’s Education Support Program, offered a master’s-level course on program evaluation for international education projects. A collaborative course on international education policy was also offered. In both courses, classes combined Teachers College students and members of the OSI network. The courses were practical and small groups of students produced either an actual evaluation or a policy paper. Course content was tailored for students’ specific needs and the instructional design merged the advantages of face-to-face seminar interaction with distance learning on the web. In the evaluation course, in-country evaluations and field work contributed to and complemented the learning experience. The courses successfully integrated technology and distance-learning elements to enable communication between students from different parts of the world.

Evaluation of International Education Programs

The course aimed to enable Teachers College students to apply qualitative research methods in a real institutional setting and to contribute to building local capacity for evaluation and research. The evaluation reports produced on the course encouraged local organizations to make more regular use of evaluations to inform decision making, and to use local researchers to undertake this work.

A number of past students now teach the course in local universities with support and mentoring from ESP and Teachers College. The course is now offered in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

International Education Policy Studies

The policy course in the Spring of 2003 and 2004 introduced current debates in comparative policy studies and presented techniques for preparing education sector reviews. While the course pays special attention to EU policies and trends, it emphasizes the need for taking a critical stance in relation to their adoption elsewhere.

The course was offered in Autumn 2005. View the full course description.

The Future

The cosponsored courses Program Evaluation and International Education Policy Studies were adapted for changing contexts. Teachers College and OSI explored ways to involve other partners and to expand the reach and relevance of both courses.

For more information, please contact espassistance@osi.hu.