Characteristics of new information technologies have implications for their evaluation. The instability of most technologies, and their novelty for most users, calls into question the value of experimental summative studies. Their interactive character challenges the traditional formative paradigm. Case studies and field experiments can help to…

Deliberately involving urban education stakeholders in the Cities-in-Schools evaluation study improved the utility of the findings for formative evaluation stakeholders but not for summative evaluation stakeholders. (Author/PN)