Evaluation competency frameworks across the globe regard evaluation approaches as important to know and use in practice. Prior classifications have been developed to aid in understanding important differences among varying approaches. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity for a new classification of evaluation approaches, in particular one that is…

This essay discusses the impact of a diversity and social justice course on the assessment philosophy and practice of an early-career higher education assessment professional. The author, who directs institutional assessment practices at a public 4-year institution in the northeastern United States and is pursuing an online doctorate in higher…

The roles in traditional mentoring dyads are well known across both academic and professional contexts (Dawson, 2014). Despite the universality of these relationships, the way mentorship is evaluated in these relationships is fractured. Evaluation is limited to singular voices, singular points in time and simplified metrics to capture the journey…

Is assessment a top-down bureaucratic mandate, an undertaking that seems to have little to do with improving practice, an inauthentic activity that frustrates and disempowers, an afterthought? Or is it a process embraced and enacted together by all stakeholders as a means to learn and grow and enact change in the world? The authors of the…

This paper explores the practice of ungrading, a movement embraced by a growing number of teachers and professors who see the process of grading as disconnected and sometimes counter to the learning goals they have for their students. We discuss the limitations of traditional grading systems in the United States, mainly in the way that grading is…

This article presents a new tool called Critical Evaluation Capital (CEC) designed to address issues of equity and social justice in program evaluation. CEC is grounded in the tenants of critical race theory and inspired by Yosso's work on community cultural wealth which raises critical issues of positionality and access. CEC is a system for…

When seen in a positive light, accountability systems are understood as a means for promoting transparency, improvement, responsibility and commitment to valuable goals, thus ensuring that State funding is invested in initiatives that are beneficial to all citizens. However, in education, there is extensive evidence about the negative effects of…

Drawing from humanizing pedagogies (Bartolome, 1994; del Carmen Salazar; Freire & Ramos, 1993) and humanizing research (Paris & Winn, 2013), in this article I propose an approach to "humanizing assessment" that begins with the position that inclusive and equitable educational opportunities and assessment practices that meet the…

Ostracism, the act of being excluded or ignored by another individual or group (Williams, 1997; Williams et al., 2002), is a powerful, pervasive, and complex phenomenon that transcends time and affects individuals throughout their lifespan, with some of the most damaging exclusionary experiences occurring during childhood (Williams, Forgas, &…

Cultural theorists have illuminated how photographic images contribute to autobiographical remembering and identity formation. This has new significance given that digital photography now allows personal images to circulate rapidly amongst peer groups. Taking these insights into classroom contexts, this paper draws on recent case-study data to…

This paper describes how a locally developed school ranking system affected student enrolment patterns in British Columbia over time. In developing an annual school "report card" that was published in newspapers and online, the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute created a marketplace for school choice by devising an accountability scheme…

A common characteristic in many quality assurance schemes around the world is their implicit and often narrowly formulated understanding of how organisational change is to take place as a result of the process. By identifying some of the underlying assumptions related to organisational change in current quality assurance schemes, the aim of this…

The career of educational administrator does not lend itself well to allowing new principals to practice their skills. Because of the element of responsibility for administrators, most principals are reluctant to relinquish power to interns in fear of their failure. As a result, educational leadership programs struggle to find appropriate methods…

This paper begins by reviewing some of the different models of third-party observation of university teaching that can be found in the literature. Having analysed these, it argues that--if "peer" is taken to indicate equality of status--only one is genuinely a model of peer-observation. It proposes an alternative categorisation of third-party…

A model for the evaluator-policy maker relationship is presented for use by those responsible for conducting program evaluations which ultimately affect policy decisions. In this collegial model, power is invested equally in relevant research and program personnel. Characteristics of the model are described in terms of: (1) early contact with the…