Evaluation is a process for enhancing
knowledge and decision-making within organizations and
communities. It involves answering questions and/or addressing
issues through the collection and analysis of information
about programs, systems, processes, procedures, products,
and services. Evaluation is best implemented as a systematic
process that is planned and purposeful, and with a clear
intention of using the evaluation findings. Evaluation
is a means for understanding what we do and the effects
of our actions in the context of the work environment
and the society in which we live.
Our Approach to Evaluation Practice
The Purpose of Evaluation
Evaluation is a catalyst for individual, group,
and organizational learning.
Evaluations should only be conducted when there is
an intention to use the findings.
Expected use of evaluation processes
and findings should guide an evaluation's
design and implementation.
Evaluation should contribute to the decision-making
process of the organization's members.
The Nature of Evaluation Practice
Evaluation is most effective, meaningful, and useful
when it is conducted using collborative,
participatory and learning-oriented approaches.
When a wide range of stakeholders are involved in various
phases of an evaluation, stakeholders
will not only learn more about evaluation, themselves,
the evaluand, and the organization, but
they will be more likely to use the evaluation's findings.
Involving a wide range of stakeholders increases the
likelihood that multiple perspectives
and values will guide the evaluation's design as well as
the interpretation of the data thus
resulting in more representative findings.
Involving stakeholders in evaluation processes contributes
to building their own capacity to do future evaluation work.
The use of dialogic processes enhances stakeholder's
learning throughout the evaluation.
The Context of Evaluation Work
Evaluation is inherently a political activity.
How an organization is structured, how individuals' jobs
are designed, how supportive the organization's
culture is of evaluative inquiry, the extent to which the
leadership models and supports learning and inquiry, and how information
is distributed and accessed, strongly influences
the extent and the ways in which evaluation is
successful.
Communicating and Reporting Evaluation Findings
Different formats for communicating and reporting evaluation
processes and findings are essential for enhancing audiences'
understanding of the information and the extent
to which it is useful and used.
Various audiences have different information needs and therefore require
different forms of communication.
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