How Goalbook Measures Impact
Impact. A word that likely describes the professional WHY for most educators in answering the call to serve others. Learning imprints an impact from one learner to another, one community to another, and one generation to the next.
The value of impact within the context of an implementation or intervention is understood in the education community. However, effectively measuring impact is often challenging. Measuring what we care about — rather than what is easily measured — may, at times, seem impossible. HOW and WHERE might we begin?
1. Start With Foundational Research
Far too many education solutions or products are neither designed nor developed based on rigorous and empirical research about learning. Foundational research is just that — it is the bedrock for informed decision-making from which impact is then further studied. Without a solid research foundation, measuring impact is a futile endeavor. Educator and student success should not hinge on someone’s “good idea” for a solution or product but rather on strong, valid evidence supporting best instructional practice and positive learning outcomes.
Foundational research holds a crucial role in product development at Goalbook, particularly within the context of evaluating impact, as it has set the stage for a solution that is not only viable but also effective and reliable in addressing specific instructional needs. Foundational research involves an in-depth understanding of the target audience as well as the specific problem areas or needs to be addressed. In the realm of impact research, foundational research is indispensable as it helps to establish the theoretical and empirical bases that will inform the criteria for what makes a product effective, ensuring that the product isn’t just innovative but also grounded in evidence-based practices and theories.
In 2020, Goalbook was one of 13 education companies to first earn the distinction of a “Research-Based Design Product” using the rigorous criteria and competencies developed by Digital Promise. This certification isolates one critical aspect of a high-quality edtech product — whether a product is foundationally grounded in research. The premise sounds simple, but the case is clear: Few products are created with research in mind.
As an example of foundational research being used in practice, Universal Design for Learning was and remains part of the foundational research upon which Goalbook Toolkit was designed and upon which product-planning and decision-making continue. However, foundational research is not static. As technology and new research have emerged, our scope of foundational research has expanded to support the growth of Goalbook resources in such areas as:
- Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
- The Science of Reading
- Culturally Responsive Teaching & Learning
- Multilingual Learner (MLL) Best Practices
Foundational research ensures a product’s effectiveness can be consistently demonstrated and is reliable, thereby building user trust and compliance. It promotes a product development process that is rooted in verifiable data, replicable methodologies, and reliable outcomes. Foundational research is the key driver from which outcomes are precisely specified.
2. Specify Desired Outcomes
Measuring impact encompasses identifying and evaluating short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes. The outcomes at each stage must be precisely specified. Guskey’s Five Critical Levels of Professional Development Evaluation align to how Goalbook uses data from multiple measures across the continuum of a Goalbook Toolkit implementation — evaluating educator learning and practice shifts along the way, leading up to and including student outcomes.
At Goalbook, our impact research is rooted in our mission to empower educators to transform instruction so that all students succeed. Our mission serves as the basis of our theory of change. We believe student success is predicated upon empowering educators to transform instruction. Conversely, we believe student success fuels the ongoing motivation, agency, and empowerment educators need to continually meet the varied needs of learners. This theory of change, supported by research, serves as the compass for WHAT we research or WHAT we evaluate, and WHY. This theory of change is cyclical, not linear; it is continuous versus concluded.
Our mission and theory of change are further supported by these values/beliefs:
Commitment
- Impact at Goalbook is a continuous, ongoing effort aligned to our mission.
- Schools and districts are unique organizations with similarities and differences influencing Goalbook implementations. Therefore, we continually seek to understand impact across varied domains and contexts.
Connection
- Evaluating impact keeps us connected to our purpose which helps us understand how our work impacts educator practice and student outcomes — the WHY we do what we do.
- Connection via collaboration is a key ingredient of our impact research. Relationships with school and district partners, along with external research partners, reside at the heart of Goalbook’s research and evaluation efforts.
Community
- We belong to the education community of practice. Our mission resonates with district and school leaders — to empower educators to transform instruction so that all students succeed. We are united in common purpose and shared learning to ensure ALL students succeed.
- Our research and evaluation practice promotes learning and evolving beyond the status quo to better serve our learners and their learning communities.
3. Measure Impact
Educators and EdTech organizations both want to know whether products are effective in supporting teaching and learning. Impact evaluation assesses a program’s effectiveness in achieving its ultimate goals. Impact boils down to this question:
Are the intended results, the precisely specified outcomes, being produced?
Goalbook applies an ongoing research approach to answering this question. Goalbook continually seeks evidence of how and in what ways Goalbook Toolkit resources empower and support educators in weaving “the Golden Thread” — identifying present levels, developing IEP goals, and implementing IEPs with specially designed instruction — the fundamental best practices of the special education craft.
As Goalbook Toolkit improves and expands, measuring impact continues as an ongoing, embedded process. This process yields a compelling collection of evidence, aligned to ESSA Tiers of Evidence and The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), that highlights how and in what ways Goalbook Toolkit resources effectively support educator practice and student outcomes across different learning contexts. The actionable insights gleaned support a continuous learning and improvement cycle in collaboration with our 800+ district partners across 48 states.
Goalbook’s Efficacy Portfolio is a testament to Goalbook’s commitment to measuring efficacy and impact as part of a continuous improvement and learning cycle in connection with our school and district partners to better serve the special education community of practice, and most importantly, the students we collectively serve.
Goalbook is committed to supporting ongoing research and evaluation to deepen our collective understanding of how to improve instructional outcomes and promote continuous improvement.
Goalbook Toolkit meets the standards of research and evidence aligned to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) and What Works Clearinghouse (WWC).
