The relationship between "stability" and "change" is a central paradox of administration that pervades all forms of organizing. Evaluation is not unfamiliar with paradoxical objectives and roles, which can result in tensions for evaluators and stakeholders. In this article, paradoxes between stability and change in the…

The authors of this article suggest three features of a common approach to impact measurement: harness operational data, use constructs with bounded flexibility, and develop a cadre of analysts who are skilled at interpreting reports. The analysts are the most crucial of these. Evaluators are well suited to step into these roles, but it will…

As global discussions of evaluation standards become more contextually nuanced, culturally responsive conceptions of ethics have not been sufficiently discussed. In academic social research, ethical clearance processes have been designed to protect vulnerable people from harm related to participation in a research project. This article expands the…

Research on the evaluation of large-scale public-sector reforms is rare. This article sets out to fill that gap in the evaluation literature and argues that it is of vital importance since the impact of such reforms is considerable and they change the context in which evaluations of other and more delimited policy areas take place. In our…

This study evaluates, through the employment of scientific methods and techniques, a total of 107 Biology projects submitted by secondary education students to the Bursa Region Coordinatorship of TUBITAK (a region which encompasses the municipalities of Afyonkarahisar, Balikesir, Bilecik, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Kutahya, and Yalova). The projects…

In many less developed democracies Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs) face the challenges of low demand for evaluation and the resulting low economic capacity of national evaluation communities. The VOPE model that evolved in well-developed democracies is not directly applicable under these circumstances, so a new model…

This essay engages questions of evaluator role and indigenous peoples participation in evaluation within colonial and decolonization contexts. Specifically, I critique the Western emphasis on cultural competence and contrast the utility of "mainstream" evaluation approaches alongside three indigenous inquiry models (Te Kotahitanga,…

Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become an area in the evaluation field that is attracting both scholarly attention and the practical work of evaluators. Despite some recent contributions, differing conceptions still exist concerning what constitutes ECB, let alone the nature of the capacity being built. Responding to an earlier call on the…

Continuing professional development (CPD) evaluation in education has been heavily influenced by "level models", deriving from the work of Kirkpatrick and Guskey in particular, which attempt to trace the processes through which CPD interventions achieve outcomes. This paper considers the strengths and limitations of such models, and in…

This study was conducted in order to examine how and to what extent the implementation of the performance-based bonus program in South Korean schools has motivated teachers to improve their behavior, as well as to identify any other positive or negative effects of the program. Interviews with teachers indicated that a large percentage of teachers…

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…

Assessing the comparability of different groups is an issue facing many researchers and evaluators in a variety of settings. Commonly, null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) is incorrectly used to demonstrate comparability when a non-significant result is found. This is problematic because a failure to find a difference between groups is not…

This study examines language attitudes, member categorisation and social distinctions among Greek-Cypriot tertiary education students in Cyprus. Specifically, focus is placed on the use of deictics by participants to examine attitudes and behaviour as regards use and variation in language. Participants' attitudinal responses and folk theories are…

This article documents the author's personal journey as a new evaluator traversing paradigms, continents, and timelines on a quest to discover how best to practice evaluation for the benefit of Maori people (indigenous to New Zealand). The journey has taken the author to a number of evaluation conferences in Australasia and North America, which…

Promotion of evaluation as a profession in Australia and New Zealand is discussed. The profession is challenged to make a commitment to utility, quality products and processes, and the development of skilled, trained professionals. Ways of overcoming barriers to the establishment of evaluation as a profession are outlined. (TJH)