109 - Professional learning through reflective, deliberate evaluation practice

Abstract Information: To meet the continuing demand for evaluation and efforts to diversify their internal evaluation capacity, some organizations are hiring or partnering with evaluators who are newer to the evaluation field or bring varied lived experiences. Evaluators who bring perspectives and experiences from other disciplines or from their lived experience can be an asset to an evaluation project, especially given the dynamic, complex, and context-dependent nature of evaluation. As organizations seek to support the professional development of new or emerging evaluators, questions arise about how to provide on-going evaluation-specific learning opportunities in the practice setting that meet evaluators where they are and build competencies in purposeful ways. This session will focus on strategies and activities used within a mid-sized evaluation consulting firm that involve self-assessment tools, reflective practice, evaluation origin stories, communities of practice, and guiding evaluation practice documents such as the Evaluator Competencies and Program Evaluation Standards. Reflection question include: How can the evaluator competencies be helpful for identifying evaluator strengths and areas of growth? How can an evaluators’ lived experience or “story of their practice” help guide their evaluation professional development? What are some of the challenges or considerations when creating professional learning opportunities through an evaluation lens?

Relevance Statement: As organization looks to grow their internal evaluation capacity, some are intentionally seeking evaluators who are newer to the evaluation field or bring varied lived experiences. Evaluators who bring perspectives and experiences from other disciplines or from their lived experience can be an asset to an evaluation project, especially given the dynamic, complex, and context-dependent nature of evaluation. In particular, evaluators from marginalized communities may bring important lived experiences to evaluation practice that can make the work more supportive and culturally-relevant to the communities they serve (AEA Statement on Cultural Competence, 2011). As organizations seek to support the professional development of new or emerging evaluators, questions arise about how to provide on-going evaluation-specific learning opportunities in the practice setting that meet evaluators where they are and build competencies in purposeful and feasible ways. This session will focus on strategies and activities used within a mid-sized evaluation consulting firm that involve self-assessment tools, reflective practice, evaluation origin stories, communities of practice, and guiding evaluation practice documents such as the Evaluator Competencies and Program Evaluation Standards. Presenters will highlight an example of how they used the Evaluator Self-Assessment, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as a way to identify areas of strengths and gaps in evaluation-specific competencies among all evaluation staff. We will explain how the evaluator self-assessment information was used to engage in reflective conversations between staff and their supervisors or project managers to inform actionable steps to grow professionally and to connect areas of needed skill development with specific project work opportunities. As another example, the presenters will discuss an activity that engaged a team of evaluators in describing their evaluation origin story as a way to share and learn about the influences, values, and perspectives that contribute to evaluators’ sense of professional self. Sharing these stories of our developing evaluation practice can build connection among colleagues as well as reveal opportunities for learning. After the presenters share the illustrative examples, they will facilitate a group discussion using the guiding questions: How can the evaluator competencies be helpful for identifying evaluator strengths and areas of growth? How can an evaluator’s lived experience or “story of their practice” help guide their evaluation professional development? What are some of the challenges or considerations when creating professional learning opportunities through an evaluation lens? Session participants will be encouraged to share their experiences and lessons learned implementing professional learning within the evaluation practice setting. Insights from participants will be documented and notes will be shared via email with any participants who would like to have them for reference or continue conversations with other interested in this topic.