Description: Contextualized within: Interventions which have as their intention the development of student thinking infused into the school curriculum. Evaluation approaches in which the teacher/ teaching team is conducting the evaluation, from 'the inside'. Issues being addressed: In the context of pedagogical interventions which have as their intention the development of student thinking infused into the curriculum, which general principles should guide the design and conduct of the evaluation? Can these principles be applied more widely to pedagogical interventions which have a different intention? Which of these principles are still relevant when the evaluation is conducted on a larger scale from 'the outside'? Format of session: Mainly discursive, with some initial expansion on the ideas. Central ideas: Any intervention to promote the development of students' thinking ought to be properly evaluated, whatever the scale or form it takes. However when one reviews reports on such studies, one discovers instances of very short-term interventions, even amounting to one teaching episode. Furthermore, there is reliance on self-reports as evidence of the development of students' thinking, without any direct assessment of performances on tasks which engage the types of thinking that are being focused on. A further issue is that of 'scaling up'. Since most of the research has been conducted under ideal conditions, it is not clear how the effects can be transferred to everyday classrooms. The following is proposed as a set of pointers towards constructing a sound evaluation approach which can be applied to small-scale, classroom-focused interventions: Adopt ethical procedures to safeguard the interests of all participants Be strategic and systematic in your approach Be very clear about your goals Decide on what will be taken as firm evidence of success Adopt sound techniques to assess growth in student thinking Enlist the support of interested colleagues Draw on a range of perspectives Use efficient methods for data gathering Evaluate in an ongoing manner and over time Use valid comparisons Think beyond the immediate boundaries of the intervention Share what you learn from the evaluation with others One of the key purposes of this discussion session will be to amplify each of the above, and then to consider their value as a set of propositions which can address some of the known deficiencies of current evaluation strategies.