Evaluation of

Pets in the
Classroom Grant
Submitted to John Thompson
Submitted by Erin Hatfield
Fall 2014
EDTECH 505

SUMMARY
This evaluation is being completed for the program entitled Pets in the Classroom Grant.
This grant provides teachers with a subsidized classroom pet. The pets can vary and the teacher gets
the final say in which pet they would like to open their classroom to. The program states that it
provides students with the opportunity increase their responsibility, self-esteem, nurturing ability,
and provides an interesting element to the curriculum.
In evaluating this program the grant corporation can further know if their program is truly
living up to it's potential. If this program is truly beneficial, more educators may wish to apply for
the grant and incorporate a pet into their classrooms. In order to carry out this small scale
evaluation, the evaluation team choose one teacher who has implemented this program. After
several months of implementation, the evaluation window will open. Once open, it will take two
days for the evaluator to gather the necessary data.
Despite this small window, the effects of the program are quite evident. All but one of the
objectives was fully met in the classroom. The students truly enjoyed sharing about their pet, a
leopard gecko. The only objective not met during the evaluation window was the objective that
involved the teacher incorporating the gecko into the curriculum. However this does not affect the
overall success of the program.

DESCRIPTION

OF

PROGRAM

Program Objectives
There are many benefits to having a pet in a classroom environment. Many of these
benefits, however, are hard to measure within the time frame of the evaluation. In order to be
viewed as successful for the purpose of this evaluation, the program should:

Bring new ways to learn into the classroom

Encourage nurturing in the students

Increase student self esteem

Increase student responsibility in the classroom

Program Components
The Pets in the Classroom program involves bringing a live animal into the classroom
experience. The program believes that all ages benefit from a classroom pet, therefore, there is
no age limit or restriction on the students. Also, there are several animals offered that are
appropriate for the classroom. For this evaluation, a leopard gecko was introduced to a 4th grade
classroom. The students are aged 9-10 years old and have a variety of experience with caring for
animals.
The gecko was purchased from Petsmart using coupons provided by the program. The
coupons covered approximately 50% of the startup costs for the animal. The teacher was
required to provide the remaining monies. The gecko was then established in the classroom with
all necessary habitat requirements. Live crickets are also necessary and are purchased by the
teacher on a weekly basis.
Once the gecko was integrated into the classroom the daily activities surrounding the
animal's care fell on the students. They were responsible for changing the water daily, checking
and maintaining the temperature, and adjusting the humidity as necessary. In the classroom, there
was a system for choosing who was responsible for these activities each week. The classroom
job of 'Pet Monitor' changed each Monday and the previous monitor was responsible for training
the new monitor and answering questions.

EVALUATION METHOD
Participants
The majority of participants in the program evaluation are 4th graders from a local
elementary school. They range in ages from 9-10 years old at the time of the evaluation. They were
selected based on their assignment to Mrs. Erin Hatfield's homeroom roster. There are 24 students
on the roster and they consist of 12 boys and 12 girls. Due to the time constraints of the evaluation,
not every child was responsible for the gecko. Approximately half of the students have been the 'Pet
Monitor'. However, all students have had learning opportunities with the gecko in some capacity.
The instructor and local administrator of the program is the classroom instructor. Mrs. Erin
Hatfield received the Pets in the Classroom grant in August 2014. She has been a teacher for 6
years, however, this is her first year at this school building.

Procedures
During the evaluation window, the evaluator was on site for two days. During that time, she
observed the classroom environment and inclusion of the gecko in to the daily activities. There were
several interruptions to the normal daily operation of the classroom including visitors and
announcements. Despite these distractions, the students seemed to enjoy the addition of the gecko.
While there, the evaluator was responsible for observing student behavior related to the
objectives of the programs and administrating a survey to the students. The behaviors were tallied
on a behavior chart. One tally was used for each child demonstrating each behavior. The evaluator
observed the behaviors for 2 hours before lunch, and 3 hours after lunch each day.
The survey was administered at the end of the second day. Students were handed individual
copies of the three page survey and completed it in pencil. They were encouraged to add comments
to the end, but this was not required. At the request of the teacher, students were required to answer
every question to the best of their ability.

Data Sources
A survey was created by the evaluation company to evaluate the objectives of the program.
This is the primary data source for this evaluation. The survey included questions to measure
student perception of the benefits of a classroom pet. They were asked specifically about their self
esteem and how they felt about the responsibility of caring for the gecko using a five-point scale.
This survey can be found in Appendix A.
The evaluator also took anecdotal notes during the two day evaluation window. She
specifically observed the behaviors and attitudes of students when interacting with the gecko and
when interacting with each other. These behaviors were tallied when observed. The total is used to
support the survey results. The specific behaviors observed can be found in Appendix B.

RESULTS
Survey
The students have had the pet gecko in their classroom since September 15, 2014. During that
time they were responsible for caring for the gecko and it was incorporated into the curriculum. On
December 1, 2014 the students were administered a survey to ascertain if the program was meeting
the stated objectives. Based upon the data submitted by the students, they have met three out of the
four objectives.
Objective
Bring new ways to learn
into the classroom

Survey Item

Results

How often has your teacher incorporated the

gecko into learning?

38% (9/24) said at least once a

month
54% (13/24) said not very often

Why does the temperature and humidity matter?

91% (22/24) were able to correctly

identify the reasons.

Encourage nurturing in the How well do you like having a pet in the room?
students

42% (10/24) said they like it

58% (14/24) said they really like it

Increase student self

esteem

Increase student
responsibility in the
classroom

What is one thing that has to be done for the

gecko every day?

100 % (24/24) were able to

correctly identify these things

What is your favorite part of having a class pet?

Student responses were all positive

and students were able to list more
than one thing they liked about having
a class pet.

How do you feel about school since getting the

classroom pet?

91% (22/24) I really enjoy coming

to school
4% (1/24) I am scared to take care
of the gecko
17% (4/24) I don't really notice the
gecko is there
8% (2/24) I don't like coming to
school
83% (20/24) I like seeing the
gecko every day
100% (15/15) I feel important
when I take care of the gecko*

How would you rate your level of responsibility

since having the class pet?

83% (20/24) said I am now more

responsible
17% said I am the same as before

What is one thing that has to be done for the

gecko every day?

100 % (24/24) were able to

correctly identify these things

* not every student has taken care of the gecko as of the close of the evaluation window. Only 15
students have been the pet monitor.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS

Observation Sheet
The observation sheet was used in conjunction with the survey to support the information
provided by the students. When observed for a five hour school day, the students and teacher
showed signs of each objective. The evaluator tallied the number of times the behavior was
observed. Behaviors could have been by the same child or different children, they could also have
been all at once or over the course of the day. However, the data supports the survey results in that
only 3 of the four objectives are truly being met.

Objectives

Question

Results (tallies)
To consider it 'being met' the
behavior must have been
observed more than once an our
(or 5) times in the day.

Bring new ways to learn into

the classroom

Gecko discussed (in learning)

Referenced by the teacher (in

learning)

Encourage nurturing in the

students

Gecko cared for (nurturing)

Students helping each other

unprovoked (nurturing)

20

Gecko being observed

(nurturing)

18

Students stood up for

themselves (self esteem)

Students raised hand to answer

questions (self esteem)

52

Work completed and turned in

(responsibility)

49

Students asking each other for

help (responsibility)

24

Increase student self esteem

Increase student responsibility

in the classroom

DISCUSSION
This evaluation was preformed to measure the effectiveness of the Pets in the Classroom
Grant. The grant program believes it helps students to increase their self-esteem, increase their
feelings of responsibility, enhance their nurturing ability and bring new learning into the classroom.
Throughout the evaluation, the company found this to be true. In almost every case, students rated
having the classroom pet as beneficial. They also see themselves as being more responsible after
having to care for the pet for their designated week.
The survey showed that the program is successful in three of the four objectives. Overall, it
can be said that this program succeeds. The objective that was not met was the one that required the
teacher to incorporate the gecko into the learning environment. The students did not seem to
remember how often the teacher added the gecko to the classroom learning. However, this is
somewhat dependent on the individual teacher. More research into a variety of classrooms could be
done to see if this objective is truly being met.
Survey results were not the only source of data. The observation sheet also sought to support
the data collected by the survey. Children are not always as honest with themselves and act more
like they truly are. The data collected showed that the same three objectives were met as with the
survey. The outstanding objective was again the teacher incorporation of the gecko into the
classroom environment. This may have been done outside the evaluation window.
The only objective not met in both data sources was the one that required the teacher to
incorporate the pet into the learning curriculum. The idea is that students will be more engaged
since they have an emotional investment in the topic. The teacher could easily correct this by
tailoring daily or weekly activities to the gecko and his habitat.
Despite having one objective not met, the evaluation team feels confident in stating that the
program is overall successful. The missing objective could be corrected by the teacher once she is
notified by the supervisor of the evaluation results. The program seems to dramatically benefit
students and they seem to enjoy sharing their room with the pet.

PROJECT COST
This invoice covers the costs related to the evaluation of the Pets in the Classroom Grant
Program. For this evaluation, the evaluator spent two days on site observing the students
interactions with the classroom pet and each other. A survey was created for the students to measure
their perception of the class pet and how it has affected them.
Item

Cost

Survey Creation

$100.00

$100.00

Evaluator Daily Rate

$500.00

$1000.00

$25.00

$100.00

TOTAL DUE:

$1200.00

Mileage (Seattle to Steilacoom)

Quantity

Total

(44 miles @ 0.56/mile )

APPENDIX A
Questions from the Pets in the Classroom Survey
1. How well do you like having a pet in the room?
Hate it
Dislike it
Don't Care
Like it
Really Like it
2. What is your favorite part of having a class pet?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
3. How would you rate your level of responsibility since having the class pet?
I am now more responsible
I am the same as before
I am now less responsible
4. How often has your teacher incorporated the gecko into learning?
Almost every day
At least once a week
At least once a month
Not very often
5. What is one thing that has to be done for the gecko every day?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
6. Why does the temperature and humidity matter?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
7. How do you feel about school since getting the classroom pet? (check all that apply)
I really enjoy coming to school
I am scared to take care of the gecko
I don't really notice the gecko is there
I don't like coming to school
I like seeing the gecko every day
I feel important when I take care of the gecko

APPENDIX B
Questions from the Observation Sheet
1) Gecko being observed (nurturing)

3) Students helping each other unprovoked

(nurturing)

5) Referenced by the teacher (in learning)

7) Work completed and turned in

(responsibility)

2) Students asking each other for help

(responsibility)

4) Gecko discussed (in learning)

6) Gecko cared for (nurturing)

8) Students stood up for themselves (self

esteem)

9) Students raised hand to answer questions

(self esteem)