In 2006, our School of Management began the serious path of assessing both the "hard skills" (such as accounting, finance, and strategy) and the "soft skills" (such as leadership, team work, and ethics) of our MBA Program. The data generated from examining the "soft skills" that we want students to learn within our…

States, districts, and schools all across the United States are busy developing or implementing teacher evaluation systems. One can trace this flurry of activity to a variety of reports and initiatives that highlight two failings of past efforts: (1) Teacher evaluation systems have not accurately measured teacher quality because they've failed to…

All organizations are means to societal ends, and thus Mega thinking and planning starts with a primary focus on adding value for all stakeholders, including our shared society. It is pragmatic, realistic, practical, and ethical. Defining and achieving continual organizational success is possible. It relies on three basic elements: (1) a societal…

The international community has identified a positive link between good governance and economic development. There is an increasing appreciation of the effective role that local policy research organizations (PROs) can play in providing evidence-based policy recommendations as the basis for sound legislation and in assessing the efficacy of…

Case studies about managing evaluation are examined for perspectives on expertise in managing evaluation. There are lessons on a geography of managing, managing as organizational work, the notions of "competency" and "expertise," and managing evaluation as professional work. Dreyfus and Dreyfus (2004) offer a framework for an introductory…

Depth, resonance, and shadow are added to how the expertise of managing evaluation could be grasped and understood. Returning to the notion of "competency" (Stevahn, King, Ghere, & Minnema, 2005), this is contrasted more deeply with Dreyfus and Dreyfus's (2004) conception of expert and to its use in nursing by Benner (2004; Benner, Tanner, &…

The developing field of academic analytics seeks to turn data from educational systems into actionable intelligence for the improvement of teaching and learning. This paper reports on the implementation of analytics in a new medical school with an integrated curriculum and clinical focus. Analytics addressed two challenges in the curriculum:…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical contribution to explicate the various factors and aspects that influence Senge's five disciplines and their outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of antecedents and outcomes of Senge's five disciplines, and offers moderators to…

From 2004-2008, capacity to conduct program evaluation was built among the "Network for a Healthy California's" 48 largest local partners. Capacity building was done within a framework of Empowerment Evaluation and Utility-Focused evaluation. Tools included: a Scope of Work template, a handbook, a compendium of surveys, an evaluation…

This chapter features a recent conversation with Dr. Arnold J. Love, a long-time proponent of internal evaluation and one of the most cited internal evaluation authors. In 1983, Love edited the first issue of "New Directions for Program Evaluation" on the topic of internal evaluation. He is the author of the book "Internal…

Here the essentials of the expertise of managing are presented as orientation toward (ethos, stance, and gaze), knowledge about, and knowledge how-to ("know-how"). These are grounded to specific content, summarized, and then connected to a typology of managing evaluation. The orienting questions for the field are reviewed to reveal what it means…

Effective principals are those who boost academic achievement for all students, increase the effectiveness of their teaching staffs, and consistently take leadership actions shown to improve outcomes for students. Therefore principal evaluation systems should place 70% of their weight on the ability of principals to increase student achievement…

Effective principals are those who boost academic achievement for all students, increase the effectiveness of their teaching staffs, and consistently take leadership actions shown to improve outcomes for students. Therefore principal evaluation systems should place 70% of their weight on the ability of principals to increase student achievement…

Effective, efficient, and sustainable ID/DD organizations: are they possible in today's world of dwindling resources and mounting demands for more and better services? Yes--with the practical tools and strategies in this lifeline for ID/DD leaders. Developed by two of the most trusted authorities in the disability field, this innovative business…

An overview is presented of forces that have shaped how public and private funders approach evaluation, including the challenges that funders, and particularly foundations, face in effectively using evaluation within an organizational learning framework. Even with internal organizational challenges to learning, foundations are increasingly…