Our understanding of programs is enhanced when trained, skilled, and observant evaluators go "into the field"--the real world where programs are conducted--paying attention to what's going on, systematically documenting what they see, and reporting what they learn. The article opens by presenting and illustrating twelve reasons for…

In the broad field of evaluation, the importance of stakeholders is often acknowledged and different categories of stakeholders are identified. Far less frequent is careful attention to analysis of stakeholders' interests, needs, concerns, power, priorities, and perspectives and subsequent application of that knowledge to the design of…

Extension and evaluation share some similar challenges, including working with diverse stakeholders, parallel processes for focusing priorities, meeting common standards of excellence, and adapting to globalization, new technologies, and changing times. Evaluations of extension programs have helped clarify how change occurs, especially the…

Methodological paradigms in evaluation research are discussed. This article is a response to the attacks on paradigmatic perspectives made by Reichardt and Cook in the opening chapter of their edited book, "Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Evaluation Research." (Author/GK)

Discusses lessons to be learned from evaluation and best practices in evaluation and some ways to bring increased rigor to evaluators' use of those terms. Suggests that "best" practices is a term to avoid, with "better" or "effective" being more realistic, and calls for more specificity when discussing lessons to be…

Comments on the evaluation by Margaret Mead of the first Salzburg Seminar (1947). Notes the strength and clarity of Mead's evaluation report, which was written without the aid of the many tools on which today's evaluators draw. (SLD)

Discusses teaching and training about evaluation with metaphors. Helping those who study evaluation perceive analogies and metaphors related to evaluation helps them understand truths about the rich diversity of evaluation. (SLD)

Use and misuse of evaluation results are discussed. Variations in evaluation definitions, entity used, nature of the user, time and place of evaluation use, personal factor, basic premises of utilization-focused evaluation, misutilization, and method and rationales for use are discussed. A case example with a federal program is outlined. (TJH)

This synthesis of the previous articles concludes that cultural considerations are important for effective evaluation practice. Culturally sensitive and situationally responsive evaluation practices can contribute to international understanding. (BS)

The user-oriented and utilization-focused evaluation design of the two-year Caribbean Agricultural Extension Project, funded by Aid to International Development, is reviewed. The evaluation scope, stakeholders, evaluation team credibility, official approval of evaluation, and confidence in the evaluation process are addressed, within a…

Areas of evaluation are identified in which the formative/summative distinction appears inadequate: (1) knowledge-generating evaluations aimed at conceptual use; (2) developmental evaluation; and (3) use of evaluation to support intervention or empower participants. An argument is also made for the effectiveness of feedback that cannot be…

Experience and reflection on experience are the best teachers, yet rich cases that capture experience for reflection have largely eluded professional training in evaluation. The absence of high-quality, readily available teaching cases has been an important gap in the field. This article reviews the benefits of case teaching, examines evaluation…

An approach toward integrating evaluation into a program at its inception is presented as a way to increase utility and cost-effectiveness. Examples illustrate that such integration, combining internal and external evaluation, is preferable to independent and separate evaluation in terms of the cost to stakeholders. (SLD)

Developmental evaluation is proposed as a term to describe certain long-term partnering relationships with clients who are, themselves, engaged in ongoing program development. Rather than a model, developmental evaluation is a relationship founded on a shared purpose and is a way of being useful in innovative settings. (SLD)

Two reviews consider the program-evaluation standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluations. This edition makes the complexity, risks, and power of evaluation clear through descriptive writing and case illustrations. The organization and content of the standards document are described. (SLD)