- Since evaluation systems are context dependent, take into account
constituents' needs, wants, and expectations plus other variables
such as pertinent societal values, customs, and mores; relevant laws
and statutes; economic dynamics; political forces; media interests;
pertinent substantive criteria; organizational mission, goals, and
priorities; organizational governance, management, protocols, and
operating routines; and the organization's history and current challenges.
- Identify, support, and address internal and external driving forces
for evaluation, e.g., evaluation mandates tied to external funding,
management's requirements for evaluation, and constituents' demands
for accountability.
- Locate the evaluation unit as a staff operation at a high level
of the organization in order to help insulate the unit from inappropriate
internal influences and enhance its influence on decision making.
- Promote and support stakeholders' buy-in, participation, and support
from all levels, e.g., by engaging representative panels to review
evaluation plans and reports and working to assure that top management
and governance are knowledgeable, supportive, and involved in the
evaluation effort.
- Adopt and apply the evaluation field's Standards and Guiding Principles
to help assure that evaluations will be useful, feasible, ethical,
and accurate.
- Define and apply clear, functional evaluation policies and contracts.
- Define and pursue clear, appropriate evaluation purposes: improvement,
accountability, organizational learning, and dissemination.
- Engage and support a capable, credible evaluation team possessing
expertise in field work, group process, interviewing, measurement,
statistics, surveys, cost analysis, values analysis, policy analysis,
public speaking, writing, editing, computers, communications technology,
and project management plus diverse substantive, gender, and ethnic
backgrounds, as needed.
- Supply the evaluation effort with sufficient funds, facilities,
equipment, services, software, and technical support.
- Adopt and apply appropriate evaluation models, e.g., the CIPP Model,
Constructivist Evaluation, Consumer-oriented Evaluation, Democratic
Deliberative Evaluation, Responsive Evaluation, Utilization-Focused
Evaluation.
- Employ a range of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods,
e.g., Advocacy Teams, case studies, checklists, cost analysis, demographic
analysis, document analysis, goal-free evaluations, hearings, interviews,
literature review, meta-analysis, newspaper clippings, participant
observation, photographic and videotape records, quasi experiments,
rating scales, site visits, tests, surveys, Traveling Observers, unobtrusive
measures, and value-added assessment.
- Regularly conduct evaluations of programs, personnel, and other
important organizational entities.
- Establish and maintain functional databases, including program profiles
and computerized information systems.
- Employ effective communication channels and mechanisms, e.g., conduct
feedback workshops, place evaluation reports on websites, issue op-ed
pieces, and appear on radio and TV programs.
- Provide evaluators and stakeholders with ongoing evaluation education,
e.g., apprenticeships, courses, workshops, institutes, an evaluation
library, and access to evaluation degree programs.
- Periodically secure internal and external metaevaluations.
- Maintain and employ an evaluation system review and improvement
process.
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