Publisher-Methodology and Statistics Guilford Press, United States
Evaluation in the late 80’s was a field developing out of academic disciplines such as sociology and social psychology (the Great Society service ideals) and education (evaluating subject programs, student learning, teachers, and schools). Books were written to train graduate students on how to do evaluation to study programs in these fields, and membership in AEA at that time was largely comprised by those in academic settings. These professors began to do consulting work outside the academy for different corporations as well as for non-profits, and their consulting took them into new fields, such as physical and mental health care, business, the arts, family services, environmental studies, and more. These new settings and disciplinary approaches influenced evaluators’ approaches to evaluation. What worked for the stakeholders in an evaluation at one specific point in time might not work for these same stakeholders’ needs a few years later or for different stakeholders in a similar field. How do evaluators adapt to these changes and what tools/ types of publications/training materials and programs help them do responsible evaluations? What happens when evaluation broadens to more audiences and fields? Does evaluative training need to come from academic settings or somewhere else? Aren’t most evaluations at heart involved with social justice and reforms for improving people’s lives? What fundamental knowledge, terminology and skills can be assumed among today’s evaluators, and how can they attain it? I will explore these questions from the perspective of a 30 plus-year publisher in evaluation.
