Premised on the idea that evaluators should be familiar with a range of approaches to program modifications, I review several existing approaches and then describe another, less well-recognized option. In this newer option, evaluators work with others to identify potentially needed adaptations for select program aspects "in advance." In…

Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in the number of large federally funded transdisciplinary programs and initiatives. Scholars have identified a need to develop frameworks, methodologies, and tools to evaluate the effectiveness of these large collaborative initiatives, providing precise ways to understand and assess the…

The second article in this series on the history of evaluation use has three sections. The first and longest develops a functional definition of the term "use," noting that a thorough definition of evaluation use includes the initial stimulus (i.e., evaluation findings or process), the user, the way people use the information, the aspect…

Evaluation of professional learning illuminates the interactions that occur in the implementation of planned learning experiences and the necessary supports designed to improve professional practice and its effects on students. It investigates how a set of actions designed to achieve defined short- and long-term outcomes occur over time and how…

Construct irrelevance (CI) and construct underrepresentation (CU) are 2 major threats to validity, yet they are rarely discussed within the counseling literature. This article provides information about the relevance of these threats to internal validity. An illustrative case example will be provided to assist counselors in understanding these…

The main problem of the educational evaluation validity is that it just copies the conceptual framework system of validity from educational measurement to its own conceptual system. The validity conceptual system that fits the need of theory and practice of educational evaluation has not been established yet. According to the inherent attributive…

Because the process of faculty evaluation in the community college gives rise to ethical concerns about what is evaluated, who is involved in the process, and how data are collected and used, the purpose of this paper is to provide a meaningful ethical perspective for conducting faculty evaluation. The authors discuss ethical issues that arise in…

Evaluation occurs within a specific context and is influenced by the economic, political, historical, and social forces that shape that context. The culture of evaluation is thus very much embedded in the culture of accountability that currently prevails in public sector institutions, policies, and program. As such, our understanding of the…

This paper presents myths as well as facts about value-added analysis. These myths include: (1) "Value-added isn't fair to teachers who work in high-need schools, where students tend to lag far behind academically"; (2) "Value-added scores are too volatile from year-to-year to be trusted"; (3) "There's no research behind value-added"; (4) "Using…

Understanding the influence of multisite evaluation requires careful consideration of cultural context. The author illustrates dimensions of influence and culture with excerpts from four National Science Foundation evaluation case studies and summarizes what influence teaches everyone about culture and what culture teaches everyone about…

Student evaluation of teaching is commonplace in many universities and may be the predominant input into the performance evaluation of staff and organisational units. This article used publicly available student evaluation of teaching data to present examples of where institutional responses to evaluation processes appeared to be educationally…

There is perhaps no subject more contentious in schools than assessment and yet, often, at classroom, school and national level, inferences and decisions are made without much reference to research in this area. In fact, teachers often accept or interpret assessment requirements without question, feeling that assessment has to be approached in a…

It can be quite alarming (and eye-opening) to see exactly how many of the grades students receive are based on their behaviors rather than their learning. Students should be assessed on what they know and can use rather than on their behavior. The reality, unfortunately, is that the opposite is often the case. Grades for students who work hard are…

As students enter the upper elementary grades, the emotional dynamics of their assessment experiences begin to affect them in both helpful and harmful ways. Those who experience success on assessments gain a strong sense of academic self-efficacy. Those who experience failure lose their sense of control over their own academic well-being. The…

After months of waiting, the grant reviews came back: "excellent," "excellent," and "fair." What?! How can this be? Why is the third review so out of line with the first two? On more than one occasion a principal investigator (PI) has been frustrated not only by a negative funding decision but more so by the accompanying reviewer evaluation forms…