STANDARDS BASED AND RESPONSIVE EVALUATION

WRITTEN BY A MASTER WRITER AND EVALUATOR, THIS TEXT EXPLORES THE MANY CONCEPTUAL CHOICES AN EVALUATOR NEEDS TO MAKE - FROM ATTENTION TO STAKEHOLDERS, TO WEIGHING ETHICAL RISKS, TO WRITING A USEFUL REPORT - WHEN DOING AN EVALUATION. THE BOOK BEGINS WITH THE MAIN STRATEGIC CHOICES AN EVALUATOR NEEDS TO MAKE BETWEEN APPROACHES QUANTITATIVELY,BY EXPLICATING CRITERIA, NEEDS, STANDARDS, AND PERFORMANCES, OR, QUALITATIVELY, BY STUDYING THE ACTIVITY, ASPIRATIONS, PROBLEMS, AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PARTICIPANTS AND CRITICAL OBSERVERS.THROUGHOUT THE BOOK, THE AUTHOR PRESENTS EVALUATION AS A SERIES OF CHOICES FOR THE READER. HE LEADS AUDIENCES TO CONSIDER WHETHER THEY WOULD PREFER TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT AS EVALUATORS OR TO JOIN WITH A STAFF AND/OR STAKEHOLDERS CONNECTED TO THE PROGRAM; TO AID IN DEVELOPMENT FORMATIVELY OR TO ASSESS THE WHOLE PROGRAM SUMMATIVELY; TO INVEST MINIMALLY OR LARGELY IN TRYING OUT AND VALIDATING DATA GATHERING PROCEDURES; AND HOW MUCH TO SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIO