Core Concepts in Evaluation: Classic Writings and Contemporary Commentary

This unique book features original writings from evaluation′s foundational thinkers, together with new commentaries from contemporary authors. Each section includes an introduction to a core evaluation concept by the editors, a classic reading, two commentaries on that topic by contemporary authors, and a reflection guide written by the editors.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Lori A. Wingate, Ayesha S. Boyce, Lyssa Wilson Becho, and Kelly N. Robertson Intended Audience The Core Concepts The Classic Pieces Diverse Voices in Evaluation Shining a Light on One Early Black Evaluation Scholar: Leander Boykin’s Commentary on the Nature of Evaluation Structure of the Book Positionality Statements Introduction Classic Piece: Let’s Eliminate the Confusion: What is Evaluation? - Leander L. Boykin What Evaluation Is Not What Evaluation Is and Should Be Part I. Evaluation is a distinct form of inquiry that is oriented to reaching judgments of merit, worth, or significance. Part I Introduction - Lyssa Wilson Becho Valuing as a Core Evaluation Concept The Classic Writing on Valuing Evolution of Valuing in Evaluation This Book’s Contemporary Commentary on the Core Concept End Notes Part I Classic Piece: The Nature of Evaluation - Michael Scriven Overview The Nature of Evaluation The Paradoxical Status of Evaluation From Practice to Methodology to Discipline The Country of the Mind Criteria for a New Discipline The Emerging Discipline of Evaluation Midcourse Review The Key Problem: The Validation of Evaluations The Scope of Evaluation Final Review The State of Current Practice in Program Evaluation Why Does All This Matter? End Notes Chapter 1: Amending the Architectural Blueprints for Evaluation - Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead and Khalil Bitar Scriven’s Definition and Its Enduring Impact on Evaluation Scholarship and Practice Our Argument for Amending the Definition of Evaluation to Include Ethics The Practical-Moral Obligations of the Evaluation Discipline Renovating the Evaluation Building An Amended Definition of Evaluation Implications of the Amended Definition of Evaluation Conclusion Chapter 2: Lack of Discipline: Answering Scriven’s Call for Value in (Program) Evaluation - Ghislain Arbour Introduction Scriven’s Call for Evaluation: About Value, Through Transdiscipline Call Unanswered: The Case of Program Evaluation Returning the Call: Program Evaluation as a Discipline Conclusion: Toward (Common) Transdisciplinarity After All Part I Reflection Guide - Lyssa Wilson Becho Check Your Understanding Consider Your Own Work Extend Your Learning Part II. Engagement enhances the usefulness and relevance of evaluation. Part II Introduction - Kelly N. Robertson Engagement as a Core Evaluation Concept The Classic Writing on Evaluation Engagement Evolution of Evaluation Engagement This Book’s Contemporary Commentary on the Core Concept End Note Part II Classic Piece: The Stakeholder Approach to Evaluation: Origins and Promise - Carol Weiss Critiques Point the Way to Something New Early Reform Attempts Development of the Stakeholder Model Some Unresolved Issues Promise of the Stakeholder Approach The Stakeholder Approach in Action Chapter 3: Evaluation Engagement: Historical Perspectives and New Directions With Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Principles - Tatiana E. Bustos, Oyesola Oluwafunmilayo Ayeni, and Jessica S. Saucedo Persistent Evaluation Challenges Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPR) Principles Conclusion Chapter 4: I.M.P.A.C.T.: A Manumission Mindset and Other Engagement Approaches for Evaluation - Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo and Norma Martínez-Rubin Introduction Weiss’s Classic Writing and Its Relation to Evaluation as an Engagement Approach Evolution of Engagement in Evaluation Practice The IMPACT Framework and Engagement IMPACT Framework Components and How to Apply Them to Community Engagement Future of Evaluation Engagement for Manumitted Communities Part II Reflection Guide - Kelly N. Robertson Check Your Understanding Consider Your Own Work Extend Your Learning Part III. Evaluation is inherently political. Part III Introduction - Lori A. Wingate Politics as a Core Evaluation Concept The Classic Writing on the Inherently Political Nature of Evaluation Evolution of the Framing of Politics in Evaluation This Book’s Contemporary Commentary on Politics and Evaluation Part III Classic Piece: What Have We Learned About the Politics of Program Evaluation? - Eleanor Chelimsky Part 1: The Development of the Policy Question Part 2: The Translation of the Policy Question Into an Evaluation Question Part 3: The Translation of the Evaluation Question Into the Evaluation Proper Part 4: The Translation of the Evaluation Findings Into Policy Answers That Respond to the Original Policy Question Part 5: Use of the Evaluation Findings and the Generation of New Policy Questions What Have We Learned? Chapter 5: The Power and Politics of Knowledge Production in Program Evaluation: Funder, Methodological, and Pedagogical Colonialism - Jennifer Billman and Bagele Chilisia Introduction Situating the Problem A Path Forward: Decolonization Through Program Evaluation Concluding Remarks Chapter 6: Walking the Tightrope Between Independence and Responsiveness: Falling Off Is Not an Option - Rakesh Mohan Evaluations Are Inherently Political Chelimsky’s Five-Step Framework, Plus One, Is Needed to Manage Evaluation Politics What Do People Familiar With the Policy Process and Evaluation Say About Evaluation Use and Politics? Worthful Endeavor Part III Reflection Guide - Lori A. Wingate Check Your Understanding Consider Your Own Work Extend Your Learning Part IV. Culturally responsive evaluation practice can lead to a more just society. Part IV Introduction - Ayesha S. Boyce Cultural Responsiveness and Justice as Core Evaluation Concepts The Classic Writing on Cultural Responsiveness Evolution of the Framing of Culture in Evaluation This Book’s Contemporary Commentary on the Core Concept Part IV Classic Piece: Responsive Evaluation Amistad Style: Perspectives of One African American Evaluator - Stafford Hood End Notes Chapter 7: En Busca de las Voces Latinas in CRE: Reflections From a Program Evaluation Latina - Grettel Arias Orozco Introduction Rethinking the Language and Terminologies Complexity and Diversity of Latino/a/e/x Cultures Promoting Awareness and Representation of Latino/a/e/x Evaluators Chapter 8: Black Methodologies for Black Evaluators - Deja Taylor, Sojourner White, Superior Murphy, Radaya Ellis, and monique liston Evaluator Connection to Hood Intro to Positionality Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) Equitable Evaluation Framework (EEF) Afrofuturist Evaluation (AFE) Conclusion Part IV Reflection Guide - Ayesha S. Boyce Check Your Understanding Consider Your Own Work Extend Your Learning Part V. Evaluation’s value is realized through its use and influence. Part V Introduction - Ayesha S. Boyce Use as a Core Evaluation Concept The Classic Writing on Use Evolution of the Framing of Use in Evaluation Part V Classic Piece: Utilization-Focused Evaluation - Michael Quinn Patton This Book’s Contemporary Commentary on the Core Concept Utilization-Focused Evaluation Chapter 9: Aims, Aspirations, and Consequences: Problematization at the Intersection of Culture and Evaluation Use - Jeremy Acree and Jill Chouinard Utilization in Practice: An Empirical Perspective Institutional Ethnography and Problematics Intersections of Use and Culture Looking Forward Chapter 10: Beyond the Project: Using Evaluation to Reimagine the Future in Africa - Caitlin A. Blaser Mapitsa and Mine Pabari Use and a Changing World Evolutions in Use Evaluation and Use in Africa Shifting From Useful to Transformative Conclusion Part V Reflection Guide - Ayesha S. Boyce Check Your Understanding Consider Your Own Work Extend Your Learning Part VI. Evaluation is a reflexive practice: Evaluation can and should be evaluated. Part VI Introduction - Lori A. Wingate Metaevaluation as a Core Evaluation Concept The Classic Writing on Metaevaluation Evolution of the Concept and Practice of Metaevaluation This Book’s Contemporary Commentary on the Core Concept Part VI Classic Piece: Metaevaluation - Daniel L. Stufflebeam Background and Problems A Conceptualization of Metaevaluation Summary Chapter 11: Revisiting Metaevaluation Through the Perspectives of the Global South - Paidamoyo Chikate, Satlaj Dighe, Padma Kannan, and John M. LaVelle Metaevaluation’s Origin and Development Sociopolitical Contexts of the Global South Reimagining Metaevaluation in the Global South Summation Chapter 12: A New Story for Metaevaluation - Tiffany Tovey and Libby Smith What Is Metaevaluation? What Is Reflective Practice? Reflective Practice and Reflexivity in Evaluation Old Story–New Story Reconceptualizing Metaevaluation for the New Story Conclusion and Call to Action Part VI Reflection Guide - Lori A. Wingate Check Your Understanding Consider Your Own Work Extend Your Learning References Author Index Subject Index

About the Author :
Lori A. Wingate is the Executive Director of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. She has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary evaluation and 30 years of experience in the evaluation field. Dr. Wingate has led a range of evaluation projects in STEM education, public health, and higher education and has delivered more than 75 webinars and workshops on evaluation in various national contexts. She served as a subject matter expert in evaluation for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a decade and has held two intergovernmental personnel appointments at the CDC. She is a co-author of the fifth edition of Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines and co-led the creation of The Evaluation Center’s online training program, Valeo. Ayesha S. Boyce is an associate professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. She also co-directs the STEM Program Evaluation Lab. Dr. Boyce’s scholarship focuses on attending to value stances and issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, cultural responsiveness, and social justice within evaluation—especially multi-site, STEM, and contexts with historically and systematically marginalized populations. She also examines teaching, mentoring, and learning in evaluation. She has evaluated more than 60 programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and Spencer and Teagle Foundations. Dr. Boyce is a 2019 American Evaluation Association (AEA) Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award recipient and currently sits on the AEA board. Lyssa Wilson Becho is an evaluation scholar-practitioner. She works as a principal research associate at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. Dr. Becho directs an evaluation capacity-building initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, focusing on developing capacity in evaluation practice and use for both evaluation practitioners and consumers. Her scholarship focuses on bridging evaluation theory to practice and making approaches to evaluation accessible. She has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary evaluation and 10 years of experience evaluating local, state-, and nation-wide projects. Dr. Becho is also the co-executive editor of the Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation. Kelly N. Robertson works as a principal research associate at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. She has extensive experience conducting social justice-focused evaluations, publishing scholarly articles, and creating evaluation capacity-strengthening resources (e.g., webinars, guides, checklists). Dr. Robertson co-led the creation of The Evaluation Center’s online training program, Valeo. She has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary evaluation and over 15 years of experience in the field of program evaluation. She also has a master’s degree in international development and a certificate in nonprofit leadership.