Activity: "Why Am I Evaluating?" The U.S. Department of Education, with assistance from the American Institutes for Research, published An Educator's Guide to Evaluating the Use of Technology in Schools and Classrooms in 1998. This helpful guide is designed for educators who must evaluate technology initiatives in their schools or districts and who lack background or experience in evaluation. It is comprehensive and easy to read with step-by-step instructions, examples, and forms to guide even the novice evaluator through the process. Viewing options: view this guide online download the PDF file (While the entire handbook is available as a series of HTML documents, it is so valuable that you will probably want to download the PDF file to keep as a reference.) Read pages 1 through 5, the Overview and "Why Am I Evaluating?" The overview provides an excellent introduction to the purposes of evaluation and the interests of different stakeholder groups. Consider the stakeholder groups in your school or district. What do they want from an evaluation? Complete the "Why Am I Evaluating?" Worksheet and post your responses to the following question from that worksheet to the discussion area: Looking at what both you and other stakeholders want from an evaluation, what are two or three major reasons or purposes for doing your evaluation? Click the "Discussion" button on the top menu bar to view your response and the responses from other participants to this activity.