The aim of this chapter is to characterize educational reforms in Latin America over the last 25 years, and the way they reflect the role, method, and use of evaluation processes. The main theoretical and methodological tensions that are created by the development of evaluations will be reviewed, concluding with the identification of some of the…

Programs and policies invariably contain new knowledge. Theories about knowledge utilization, diffusion, implementation, transfer, and knowledge translation theories illuminate some mechanisms of change processes. But more often than not, when it comes to understanding patterns about change processes, "the foreground" is privileged more…

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…

Describes the participatory evaluation methods developed so that children participating in children's clubs in Nepal could use them in periodic reviews of their own functioning as creators of democratic organizations. (SLD)

Focuses on the evaluation capacity building (ECB) outreach activities of the World Bank with regard to provision of advice and assistance to individual governments. The primary story is that of the ECB lessons learned through working with a range of governments; the secondary story is how ECB is becoming a recognized and valued activity within the…

Reviews some of the ethical issues identified in evaluations in the United States and considers the similarities and differences in application of these issues in developing countries. Identifies a number of ethical issues in international evaluations that are less common in the United States. (SLD)

The five chapters of this special issue provide insights into how Scandinavians understand evaluation practice. Although there is no "Scandinavian" perspective on evaluation, theory and practice in the Scandinavian countries unfold against sociocultural and intellectual influences that differ from those of the United States. (SLD)

Evaluation standards can be useful not only as a framework for the design but as an assessment of particular evaluations. They can also serve as indicators for the developmental stage of evaluation practice in different areas or countries. Until recently, there has not been any large-scale and comprehensive empirical investigation of knowledge and…

This issue and its introductions, postscript, and 11 chapters deal with the special evaluation problems of programs in the developing world. Views of policymakers, practitioners, and evaluators on ways to evaluate development are presented. The collection offers a framework for debate and proposes new emphases for development evaluation. (SLD)

Until the recent introduction of a dynamic interview-based process, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian development research funding agency, faced a challenge: project completion reports (PCRs) were not being completed in a timely and quality manner. This is a common problem many organizations face in completing…