| Session Title: When Clients Collect Evaluation Data: Promises and Pitfalls |
| Think Tank Session 472 to be held in Hanover Suite B on Thursday, November 8, 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM |
| Sponsored by the Collaborative, Participatory & Empowerment Evaluation TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Andrea Beesley, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, abeesley@mcrel.org |
| Sheila Arens, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, sarens@mcrel.org |
| Discussant(s): |
| Mary Piontek, University of Michigan, mpiontek@umich.edu |
| Abstract: Clients have a variety of reasons for wanting to engage in data collection activities, and it can benefit the evaluation in a number of ways. However, how far can the standard to "Involve clients and other stakeholders directly in designing and conducting the evaluation" (Standard U1, Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, 1994) reasonably be taken by responsible evaluators when clients collect data? Variations among clients mean that some are better positioned to engage in effective and useful data collection than others. When clients take on more data collection than they can reasonably handle, an evaluation can fail. This Think Tank will interactively explore the promises and pitfalls of client data collection. |