Common Introduction to all Three Parts I have been thinking about what will happen to AEA, and to evaluation, in the future. I can conjure scenarios where AEA and evaluation thrive, and I can imagine scenarios where they whither. What I cannot envision is a future in which AEA and evaluation, as we know them … Continue reading Part 2 of a 3 Part Series on how to Make AEA, and Evaluation, Relevant in the Future: AEA as an Evolving Organism
Part 3 of a 3 Part Series on how to Make AEA, and Evaluation, Relevant in the Future: Evolution, Diversity and Change from the Middle
Common Introduction to all Three Parts I have been thinking about what will happen to AEA, and to evaluation, in the future. I can conjure scenarios where AEA and evaluation thrive, and I can imagine scenarios where they whither. What I cannot envision is a future in which AEA and evaluation, as we know them … Continue reading Part 3 of a 3 Part Series on how to Make AEA, and Evaluation, Relevant in the Future: Evolution, Diversity and Change from the Middle
Evaluation use by people opposed to the program
Recently I posted a message to Evaltalk about a story in the NY Times that dealt with the Administration’s plan to cut funding for teenage pregnancy prevention programs: Programs That Fight Teenage Pregnancy Are at Risk of Being Cut. (Evaltalk is an American Evaluation Association’s listserv.) That message led to an interesting back and forth, … Continue reading Evaluation use by people opposed to the program
Are Policy Makers, Program Designers and Managers Doing a Good Job if they Rely Too Much on Evaluation?
We like to complain about evaluation use. People in my business (me included) like to lament the lack of attention that people pay to evaluation. If only we did a better job if identifying stakeholders. If only we could do a better job of engaging them. If only we understood their needs better. If only … Continue reading Are Policy Makers, Program Designers and Managers Doing a Good Job if they Rely Too Much on Evaluation?
Some Musings on Evaluation Use in the Current Political Context
This blog is my effort to consolidate and organize some back and forth I have been having about evaluation use. It was spurred by a piece on NPR about the Administration’s position on an after school program. (Trump's Budget Proposal Threatens Funding For Major After-School Program.) In large measure the piece dealt with whether the … Continue reading Some Musings on Evaluation Use in the Current Political Context
Another post on joint optimization of uncorrelated program goals as a way to minimize unintended negative consequences
Recently have been pushing the notion that one reason why programs have unintended consequences, and why those consequences tend to be undesirable, is because programs attempt to maximize outcomes that are highly correlated, to the detriment of multiple other benchmarks that recipients of program services need to meet in order to thrive. Details of what … Continue reading Another post on joint optimization of uncorrelated program goals as a way to minimize unintended negative consequences
Ideological diversity in Evaluation. We don’t have it, and we do need it
Evaluation cannot serve the social good without a wider range of ideological points of view informing its theory and practice.
Invitation to a Conversation Between Program Funders and Program Evaluators: Complex Behavior in Program Design and Evaluation
Effective programs and effective evaluations require an appreciation of complex behavior. Evaluators cannot address complexity unless program funders do.
Joint Optimization of Uncorrelated Outcomes as a Method for Minimizing Undesirable Consequences of Program Action
This blog post is a pitch for a different way to identify desired program outcomes. Program Theories as they are Presently Constructed Go into your archives and pull out your favorite logic models. Or dip into the evaluation literature and find models you like. You will find lots of variability among them in terms of: … Continue reading Joint Optimization of Uncorrelated Outcomes as a Method for Minimizing Undesirable Consequences of Program Action
A simple recipe for improving the odds of sustainability: A systems perspective
I have been to a lot of conferences that had many sessions on ways to assure program sustainability. There is also a lot of really good research literature on this topic. Also, sustainability is a topic that has been front and center in my own work of late. Analyses and explanations of sustainability inevitably end … Continue reading A simple recipe for improving the odds of sustainability: A systems perspective
