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How Is Evaluation Political? The term “politics” has been applied so broadly to so many different phenomena that it has all but lost its meaning. It has come to stand for everything from power plays and machinations within a school or organization to political campaigns or relations among governmental agencies. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary reflects these […]

Evaluation and Its Political Context Was it mere naïveté that accounted for the initial failure of evaluation researchers to anticipate the complexities of social and political reality? These researchers [evaluators] were mentally prepared by the dominant Newtonian paradigm of social science for a bold exploration of the icy [unchanging] depths of interplane- tary space. Instead,

Political, Interpersonal, and Ethical Issues in Evaluation Orienting Questions 1. Why is evaluation political? What are some of the actions an evaluator can take to work effectively in a political environment? 2. Why are communication skills important in an evaluation? 3. What are some of the key standards by which we judge a good evaluation?

Which of the recent trends we described do you think will have the most impact on evaluation in the future? Why? Major Concepts and Theories 1. Commissions to report on specific problems, objective tests, and accreditations were among the early forms of evaluation. During the Depression, social scientists began working for the federal government to

Individual, important evaluation studies will continue to take place. Individual, important evaluation studies will continue to take place. But evaluators have moved from a comparatively narrow focus on methodological issues in the early years to today’s broader consideration of the role of evaluation in organizations. Evaluators have recognized that they need to know more about

Considering Organizational Learning and Evaluations Larger Potential Impacts A related trend that has influenced evaluation in the early part of the twenty-first cen- tury is a discussion of the role of evaluation in organizational learning. People in many different, but related, fields—public management, adult learning, workplace learning, organizational management and change, educational administration, leadership, and

Outcomes Measurement in the Nonprofit Arena. Schools and other public orga- nizations have not been the only ones to move to an outcomes orientation in recent years. Nonprofit organizations, as well, now focus their evaluation activities on assessing and reporting outcomes. As mentioned earlier, United Way influences much of the evaluation in the nonprofit sector.

A Focus on Measuring Outcomes and Impact Another major trend that emerged in evaluation during the 1990s is the empha- sis on measuring outcomes and using evaluation for purposes of accountability. The United States began evaluation in what Ray Rist and his colleagues (1999) called “first wave” evaluation with a focus on innovative experimentation and

Nonevaluators Take on Internal Evaluation Responsibilities Another change in evaluation in recent years concerns the number and types of people carrying out evaluation-related tasks. As evaluation expanded, many people— managers, supervisors, and other program professionals—began having responsi- bilities for evaluation as one part of their job. As noted in this history, evaluation has often been

1990–The Present: History and Current Trends Today, evaluations are conducted in many different settings using a variety of approaches and methods. Evaluation is well established as a profession and is, as LaVelle and Donaldson remark, “growing in leaps and bounds” in recent years (2010, p. 9). Many jobs are available. Although many evaluators continue to