Managing Evidence: A CAEL Module

Become a more savvy consumer of school research and data.

Overview

In this era of evidence-driven reform, school leaders must learn to harness an array of data to drive improvement. In Managing Evidence, you will develop your ability to draw on multiple sources of evidence to inform policy and programmatic decisions. You will gain an understanding of key concepts in performance measurement, research design, and data analysis needed to become skilled consumers of education research and of qualitative and quantitative data generated within your own organizations.

Program Details

Managing Evidence takes place over 12 weeks, moving through a cycle of learning, application, performance, and demonstration. Throughout, you will engage in a range of activities online, plus exercises carried out in your professional context. The experience is designed to be both rigorous and flexible. The activities are asynchronous, meaning you can choose when within a given week you do them. Each week will require five to seven hours of work, with more guided, paced work during the “learning” weeks (weeks 2, 3, 4, and 8) and more job-associated practice and application during the other weeks of the module (weeks 5-7 and 9-12).

Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Evaluate the quality of empirical research and its implications for policy or practice.
• Apply key concepts in research design and analysis to system-level decision making.
• Identify opportunities to generate or participate in the production of high-quality evidence to inform future policy or practice.
• Strengthen the capacity of your system to make decisions based on high-quality evidence.

Who Should Participate

Current and aspiring leaders in preK-12 school systems, including:

• School or district leadership teams seeking to address a problem of practice
• Teams of education leaders seeking to improve their skills, collaborative capabilities, and impact
• Superintendents and district-level administrators
• Directors of charter management organizations
• Administrators at state agencies
• Experienced principals and teachers who aspire to system-level roles

Taking Managing Evidence Myself as a Graduate Credit Participant
Participants who have been admitted to complete CAEL modules for HGSE graduate credit should plan to complete their final projects during weeks 9-12. Participants should estimate an additional five hours of study during that period.

Taking Managing Evidence as a Team
Taking this course as a school-, district-, or organization-level team is a powerful way to enact a collective impact on learning in your system. You can tackle a more significant problem of practice by engaging and collaborating in this material as a team. By identifying unified goals and objectives together, you can collectively apply what you learn as you learn — not only enhancing your team's toolkit but also establishing a throughline and transformed learning culture.

Your team will work on a single, shared problem of practice across the 12 weeks, submitting a single midterm and final project that represents your collective effort. Along the way, you will also have the chance to submit individual assignments where you engaged in personal learning.

About CAEL

Managing Evidence is one of five online modules of the Certificate in Advanced Education Leadership (CAEL) program, which is based on the Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and designed for current and aspiring school system leaders. Please visit the CAEL program page to learn more if you are interested in pursuing the full certificate.

The five modules in the CAEL portfolio are:

• Developing Myself
• Driving Change
• Leading for Excellence and Equity
• Leading Learning (required module for the certificate)
• Managing Evidence

English Language Proficiency Requirements

English language proficiency is a requirement for application to and successful participation in this online course. All participants are expected to have fluency in English, including a basic knowledge of education terminology, in order to effectively engage with the content, complete assignments, and interact with other members of the learning community.

Fees & Policies

Tuition includes all instructional materials. Participants receive a certificate of competency as well as a letter confirming the amount of clock hours awarded per module (60 hours). CAEL does not provide course hour equivalents.

Full tuition is due by the indicated payment deadline, which you may find above or on the program’s community page. While a purchase order confirms enrollment, full payment is still required by the payment deadline. Please note that failure to pay by the payment deadline will result in your withdrawal from the program. Click here for more information on payment, refund, and withdrawal policies.

Tuition includes all instructional materials required for participation in the program. The Harvard Graduate School of Education reserves the right to change faculty or cancel programs at its discretion. The school is not responsible for any planning expenses incurred.

Tuition Assistance

Tuition assistance is available for this program on a need- and application-basis. Tuition assistance is granted based on participant and institutional needs. Requests for tuition assistance have no effect on an applicant's prospects for admission. You may access the tuition assistance application after you have submitted your program application.

Closed Captioning and Accessibility

This online course consists of a combination of both pre-recorded videos and live web conferences. The majority of our pre-recorded videos are closed-captioned and accompanied by PDF transcripts. For live events, we will arrange for captioning services upon your request. Please email us at ppe@gse.harvard.edu if you require these accommodations. If possible, requests should be made at least a week in advance. Please note: we will make every effort to secure services, but all are subject to availability.