The George Mason University (Mason) offices responsible for institutional reporting and assessment were merged to strengthen and solidify their functions and expertise. The organizational structure creating the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning (OIEP) was intended to engineer a new paradigm where assessment would inform the…

The use of technology in the evaluation of higher education programs is a mainstay. Physical evidence rooms, face-to-face interviews, and reviewing of documentation on site have become obsolete. Relying on the heavy use of technology in the evaluation process has allowed what some believe to be a more cohesive, streamlined approach to the…

The act of valuing in an evaluation may be perceived in different ways. We consider the multiple theoretic perspectives that govern an evaluator's behavior and present a typology of evaluator valuing roles. Within this typology we describe three ways in which value judgments are typically reached--by stakeholders alone, stakeholders and evaluators…

A sample of educational evaluators was asked to design an outcomes-focused evaluation of a school program that aims to improve the academic achievement and self-esteem of students. Evaluators provided detailed descriptions of their evaluation design and methodology in their responses. These descriptions were coded and analyzed to determine the…

The aim of the present study is to examine the relation between stakeholders as internal evaluators and their systemic positions in light of construal level theory. The study examines the two samples of county representatives, teachers and principals who answered the questionnaire regarding evaluation of the Norwegian assessment program. In…

A central task of evaluation is to use systematic inquiry to judge the merit, worth, and significance of programs. As a field in education, evaluation began to mature during the 1960s, when policy makers began funding researchers to study the impact of Great Society programs. Since that time, evaluation and policy-making have been intertwined,…

This excerpt from the opening plenary asks evaluators to consider two questions regarding learning and evaluation: (a) How do evaluators know if, how, when, and what people are learning during an evaluation? and (b) In what ways can evaluation be a learning experience? To answer the first question, evaluators can apply the commonplaces of…

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), a unit within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to improve the economic and social well-being of children and families. In collaboration…

Values and beliefs underlying assumptions concerning the independent evaluations of persons and programs involved in the educational process are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on M. Scriven's treatise on bias in evaluation (1976). Works by E. R. House, R. E. Stake, L. Stenhouse, M. Parlett and D. Hamilton, and D. L. Stufflebeam are also…

Addresses the role of evaluation, the basic logic of evaluation, and how the field of evaluation is structured. Focuses on evaluation in applied psychology, and describes the six conventional fields of evaluation. (SLD)

The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, under the direction of Daniel Stuffelbeam, completed standards for the practice of evaluation. Little is known about the extent of congruence between evaluation practice and the ideal as represented by the standards. The purpose of the study was to obtain information regarding how…

The dimensions of educational evaluation include conceptualization and technology of evaluation. The methods have been drawn from the area of educational and psychological research. The techniques of evaluation need to serve the information needs of clients, address the central value issues, deal with situational realities, meet requirements of…

The design and implementation of a partnership evaluation at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, during the 1985-86 academic year are discussed. Within a conversational format, a strategy is outlined for sharing evaluation responsibilities between the client and evaluator. (TJH)

A Chapter I evaluator reflects on developments in her role within the Title One/Chapter One Program through five phases. The phases were characterized, successively, by broad acceptance, defensiveness, indifference, negativity, and openness to criticism. (TJH)

The evaluator's roles--change agent, manager, resource person, interpreter, and liaison between the project and the funding agency--are described, concerning the evaluation of innovative projects in education. Difficulties in obtaining desired commitments (i.e., a project's financial commitments and its positive attitude toward the evaluation…