The viewpoints of contributors to the forum are reviewed. Many of the disagreements represent fundamental differences in what constitutes evaluation. All four authors agree that the formative/summative distinction is useful and will continue to be an important concept in program evaluation, although the distinction needs greater clarification.…

In 1991, Michael Scriven published "Beyond Formative and Summative Evaluation," a reconsideration of the classic distinction in evaluation roles. Debate about the roles of evaluation continued in the four papers that follow this introduction, all of which were presented at a forum at the 1995 International Evaluation Conference. (SLD)