Capstone Project-Statewide Communities of Practice in Education Section 1: Purpose of Study

The purpose of this report is to determine the effectiveness of the first five years of the Statewide Communities of Practice in Education (SCOPE) program in meeting its objectives with an emphasis placed on determining whether SCOPE provided readiness for senior level positions within the educational environment. Although SCOPE has been in existence for five and a half years, a statewide evaluation of the SCOPE program‟s effectiveness has never been performed. After reading an evaluation of the program for a local school system, a request was made by Dr. Nancy Iverson, Assistant Dean for the University of Virginia‟s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, to conduct a statewide evaluation of the program‟s effectiveness. Dr. Iverson stated that she wanted the evaluation to be conducted in order to make informed decisions concerning possible changes/improvements to the program (N. Iverson, personal communication, June 7, 2010). Upon meeting with our client, Dr. Iverson