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…

Psychoeducational assessment has been used as a tool to sort children into academic tracks based on children's presumed capabilities. Historically, such tracking was based on measures that sought to legitimize racist assumptions about the capabilities of children of color. Despite legal mandates and changes to practice intended to correct these…

There is currently a paucity of literature in the field of evaluation regarding the practice of reflection and reflexivity and a lack of available tools to guide this practice--yet using a reflexive model can enhance evaluation practice. This paper focuses on the methods and results of a reflexive inquiry that was conducted during a participatory…

Many studies on evidence-based policy are still clinging to a linear model. Instead, we propose to understand expertise and evidence as "socially embedded" in authority relations and cultural contexts. Policy-relevant facts are the result of an intensive and complex struggle for political and epistemic authority. This is especially true…

This article addresses global postsecondary ranking systems by using critical-theoretical perspectives on power. This research suggests rankings are at once a useful lens for studying power in higher education and an important instrument for the exercise of power in service of dominant norms in global higher education. (Contains 1 table and 1…

For this study we examined collaborative assessment in counseling 820 German students who were going abroad and who were exposed to the Test to Measure Intercultural Competence (TMIC). A randomized pretest-posttest control group design was used. The control group did not get any test feedback. The remaining groups received written feedback or…

In learning to use a new technology like the iPad, primary teachers adopt a diverse range of experiential, informal and playful strategies contrasting sharply with traditional models underpinning professional development which emphasise formal courses and events led by "experts" conducted in formal settings such as the school. Since…

The procedures commonly employed for quality assurance in higher education are designed as if the endeavour were a technical process, whereas it may be more useful to view it as a political process. For example, quality assurance requires making choices among competing conceptions of quality, and in so doing privileges some interests over others.…

Current parent-adolescent behavioral interaction research highlights the importance of three elements of behavior in defining adaptive interactions: autonomy, control, and warmth vs. hostility. However, this research has largely addressed the developmental needs and psychosocial outcomes of adolescents, as opposed to parents, with a focus on how…

This paper presents a classification and critique of evaluator roles, and discusses the power relationships in which the evaluator engages and the power and influence strategies available to the evaluator within each type of role. The paper describes an evaluator role continuum, from "evaluator as technician" to "evaluator as change agent." At one…

Evaluators frequently experience the dilemma of how to empower a program staff if the staff and other stakeholders are compelled to participate in activities that they don't believe they need or believe may actually harm the program. A framework is proposed to empower program staff and other stakeholders and to reduce potential dilemmas. The…

The political processes involved in an academic program evaluation are discussed. Data gathered from a program evaluation conducted at a small, public, liberal arts university in the Southeast were used in examining the explanatory power of the various theories and models. (Author/MLW)

This functional model for managing large-scale program evaluations was developed and validated in connection with the assessment of Tennessee's Nutrition Education and Training Program. Management of such a large-scale assessment requires the development of a structure for the organization; distribution and recovery of large quantities of…

Two aspects of the administrator evaluation process--internal institutional politics and quality--as a dimension of both the evaluation process itself and the performance of administrators are discussed. A case study of administrator evaluation at the University of Toledo is described. (Author/MLW)

Two models of instructional innovation seeking to explain why some innovations are successful are synthesized and illustrated in the course evaluation system at the University of Birmingham. Success factors include cooperation among faculty in different areas, openness of evaluation, "ownership" of innovations, leadership, and authority…