Good theory development is grounded in empirical inquiry. In the context of educational evaluation, the development of empirically grounded theory has important benefits for the field and the practitioner. In particular, a shift to empirically derived theory will assist in advancing more systematic and contextually relevant evaluation practice, as…

This article describes three challenges encountered during a developmental evaluation and explains how these were addressed from the evaluators' perspective. The evaluation was conducted to support the implementation of a three-year educational technology leadership project funded by the Alberta provincial government. The developmental evaluation…

External information is commonly collected for, and provided to, evaluation stakeholders without giving due consideration to their precise needs. As a result, evaluation resources are often inefficiently consumed and the impact of the evaluation process is diminished. The External Information Search and Formatting (EISF) process is a new approach…

The purpose of this article is to describe evaluation capacity building using an immersion approach in two schools: one with an administrator-led process and one with a teacher-led process. The descriptions delineate conceptual, developmental, and sustainability aspects of capacity building through the perspectives of the teachers, principals, and…

Evaluators know they are supposed to identify and engage with stakeholders. What happens when the client has a very narrow concept of the meaning of evaluation? What happens when the primary stakeholders, including the client, disappear just as the evaluation gets started? First, it is important to acknowledge the challenge, then develop a…

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), comprising 34 American Indian tribally controlled colleges and universities, has undertaken a comprehensive effort to develop an "Indigenous Framework for Evaluation" that synthesizes Indigenous ways of knowing and Western evaluation practice. To ground the framework, AIHEC engaged…

Defines causal-model evaluation and uses an example from the crime prevention literature to contrast this approach with traditional evaluations. Discusses benefits and limitations of the approach, as well as other issues. (SLD)

Describes the tasks undertaken in the cycle of evaluation of housing programs by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation prior to 1997 and analyzes the major evaluation projects in terms of the similarity of constituent tasks. Introduces combinatorial methods and new research applications. (SLD)

Discusses this era of transition in program evaluation, which is marked by growing cooperation between government and civil society, and suggests participatory program evaluation as an approach to lessen undue influence by any one partner and promote a positive culture of evaluation. (SLD)

Describes the conceptual frameworks and methods used to evaluate a multisite, regional capacity-development project in Latin America and the Caribbean. Discusses the challenges facing capacity development and its evaluation and illustrates some of the procedures used. (SLD)

Uses the psychological lens of motivation to make the case that mandated evaluation requirements can serve as the impetus for accountability to become synonymous with organizational improvement. Illustrates the discussion with examples from the Manitoba (Canada) School Improvement Program. (SLD)

Proposes an alternative program logic model based on the concepts of learning organizations and systems theory. By redefining time as an evolutionary process, the model provides a space for stakeholders to record changes in program context, interim assessments, and program modifications. (SLD)

How can indigenous evaluators implement culturally competent models in First Nations communities while ensuring that government grant evaluation requirements are met? Through describing the challenges in one tribal community in the United States, this article will discuss how American Indian/Alaska Native substance abuse prevention programs are…

Outlines the development and implementation of performance indicators and performance funding in the higher education system of Alberta, Canada. Explains the model of organizational functioning that underlies performance funding and explores the effectiveness of performance funding in increasing goal attainment based on the literature and…

Reviews the literature and outlines a framework for performance measurement and evaluation within post-secondary continuing education. In the framework, performance measurement serves as ongoing data collection and decision support, placing outputs, outcomes, and ratios as performance indicators in a matrix. (SLD)