Task-based language assessment represents a major component of task-based language teaching syllabi. Current perspectives emphasise the importance of tasks in the assessment process, suggesting that adherence to influential models of language production during task design yields predictable test outcomes. The current study contends that the…

Evaluators often lament that the general public does not understand what we do. Yet, there is limited empirical research on what the general public does know--and think--about program evaluation. This article seeks to expand our understanding in this domain by capturing views about evaluation from a demographically representative sample of the U.S…

Few studies have engaged in data-driven investigations of the presence, or frequency, of what could be considered retaliatory assessor behaviour in Multi-source Feedback (MSF) systems. In this study, authors explored how assessors scored others if, before assessing others, they received their own assessment score. The authors examined assessments…

Peer review is integral to the evaluation of grant proposals. Reviewer perceptions and characteristics have received limited study, especially their associations with reviewers' evaluations. This mixed methods study analyzed the unstructured comments of 270 experienced peer reviewers after they scored proposals based on mock overall evaluations…

When forensic interviewers reject children's "Don't know" responses, either by repeating questions or pressuring the children to provide different responses, children may change their subsequent responses. The primary objective of the current study was to examine interviewer reactions following preschool-aged alleged abuse victims'…

The rise of the digital era has led to a decline in handwriting as the primary mode of communication, resulting in negative effects on handwriting literacy, particularly in complex writing systems such as Chinese. The marginalization of handwriting has contributed to the deterioration of penmanship, defined as the ability to write aesthetically…

This scope-review presents the milestones of how Hierarchical Rater Models (HRMs) become operable to used in automated essay scoring (AES) to improve instructional evaluation. Although essay evaluations--a useful instrument for evaluating higher-order cognitive abilities--have always depended on human raters, concerns regarding rater bias,…

Power has always been an element of the program evaluation field, however, it has traditionally been attributed a negative connotation. With that in mind, power is seen as a force possessed to some extent by different stakeholders that can be imposed over others, and by which certain views, ideas, and decisions can be adopted. Given that program…

This article aims to review and comment on the articles in this Special Issue and suggest directions for Singaporean evaluators to consider in the future. Based on the review, we found education evaluators in Singapore are familiar with up-to-date evaluation theories and approaches and successfully apply them. We also found that a substantial…

Over the last decade, the idea of societal impact resulting from publicly funded research has changed from being a relatively fringe concern related to high-technology entrepreneurship and spin-off companies to becoming an increasingly important public policy concern. This has stimulated academic science policy research to investigate the impact…

Debates about appropriate, fair and effective ways of assessing research and researchers have raged through the scientific community for decades, recently mostly concerned with discussing the merits and limitations of metric-based, quantitative assessments versus peer review-based, qualitative alternatives. Ample attention has been paid to formal…

Historically, the field of program evaluation has been dominated by middle class White practitioners often lacking diversity in race, gender, and cultural perspectives (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, & Worthen, 2014). Recent years, however, have seen a concerted effort to promote diversity among evaluators. According to Hopson and Rodriguez (2014),…

This study aimed to develop and validate the Evaluator Competencies Assessment Tool (ECAT) Cultural Competencies Subscale, which measures cultural competence among evaluators. By addressing the scarcity of validated tools in this area, the study offers professionals a valuable resource to assess their strengths and areas for improvement. The…

The purpose of this study was to determine professional evaluators' perceptions of reflective practice (RP) and the extent and manner in which they engage in RP behaviors. Nineteen evaluators with 10 or more years of experience in the evaluation field were interviewed to explore our understanding and practice of RP in evaluation. Findings suggest…

Anxiety is a multifaceted force that can negatively impact the ability of evaluators to succeed in practice. In the evaluation literature, discussions concerning anxiety have primarily been limited to strategies to reduce stakeholder anxiety to encourage positive and productive working relationships with evaluators. This study was among the first…