Assistant Professor Western Michigan University, Michigan, United States
Abstract Information: Formative meta-evaluation, which may be described as an ongoing and negotiated activity between evaluator and commissioner, is a little researched, yet often practiced area as compared to summative meta-evaluation. Since formative meta-evaluation is a common and useful phenomenon in practice, and in response to the evaluation literature’s explicit emphasis on the importance of formative meta-evaluation to the profession, we have developed a draft tool to present for reflection and discussion. The tool enables planning of formative meta-evaluation, as well as capturing the story of an evaluator’s approach and experience in any given evaluation. Our desired outcome for our interactive poster session is to identify the extent to which the tool resonates with participants, to hear their stories about how they build quality into their evaluation practice, and how our tool might be further strengthened and applied to varied settings as a means for moving toward a more deliberative and inclusive formative quality assurance practice.
Relevance Statement: Generally, many evaluators do engage stakeholders throughout the life of the evaluation to ensure quality expectations are being met. Some also use a variety of standards, against which they compare components of their work, to strengthen their warrants about the credibility and validity of the evaluation, whatever the methods applied. Yet there is significantly more discussion in the evaluation literature on summative meta-evaluation practice as defined by commissioners, often involving certain milestones in the evaluation process to engage with independent evaluators and help ensure the desired quality they may seek (Stufflebeam & Coryn, 2014). Often this takes the form of a checklist designed to review the evaluator’s performance, as well as an evaluation of the evaluation report or other product produced, and it is performed externally and not by evaluators themselves (Cooksy & Caracelli, 2009). Formative meta-evaluation, which may be described as a more ongoing and negotiated activity between evaluator and commissioner, is a little researched area as compared to summative meta-evaluation. While evaluation theorists speak to the importance of formative meta-evaluation, examples of how to do this are rarely specified. Through developing a draft tool for formative meta-evaluation practice, based on an auto-ethnographic method, we seek to share and exchange stories about quality practice with fellow evaluators through an interactive poster session.
