|
Session Title: Understanding Culturally and Contextually Responsive Evaluation Through the Experiences of a Multi-year Implementation Project
|
|
Panel Session 302 to be held in International Ballroom B on Thursday, November 8, 9:35 AM to 11:05 AM
|
|
Sponsored by the Multiethnic Issues in Evaluation TIG
|
| Chair(s): |
| Stafford Hood,
Arizona State University,
stafford.hood@asu.edu
|
| Discussant(s):
|
| Jennifer Greene,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
jcgreene@uiuc.edu
|
| Abstract:
This panel provides an interactive session devoted to culturally responsive evaluation and the significance of cultural context to evaluation theory and practice. Through a multi-year NSF funded project an advisory board, staff, and school-based teams worked together. The goal was to examine and document how culturally responsive evaluation might be utilized in assessing a school program, when teams of teachers and a principal were supported in developing and implementing an evaluation plan. Schools involved reflected high percentages of Native American, Hispanic, or African American students and were engaged in developing school improvement plans as required under NCLB. Presentations discuss the meanings of 'responsiveness' in this project, and what was learned that informed the development of a conceptual framework for culturally responsive evaluation. Discussion will include capacity building in a K-12 setting, the many meanings of culture, and lessons learned from an effort to engage teachers and empower them through evaluation.
|
|
Conceptual Designs and Practical Issues: Lessons From the Implementation of Culturally and Contextually Responsive Evaluation
|
| Melvin Hall,
Northern Arizona University,
melvin.hall@nau.edu
|
| Jennifer Greene,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
jcgreene@uiuc.edu
|
|
This presentation will chronicle contributions of the RCEI experiences to our understanding of contextually and culturally responsive evaluation. The project was envisioned as an opportunity to develop a major conceptual statement or framework that would be grounded in experiences working in the field. The framework that emerged engages both understandings and unresolved questions; each will be explored in this presentation. For example in pursuing culturally responsive evaluation:
What did culture and responsive mean in each of the sites?
As evaluators seek to be more engaged and open to cultural context, how should they handle the ethical dilemma regarding when to and how to impact dysfunctional situations?
Does culturally responsive evaluation practice uniformly elevate impact, efficacy, or validity of the evaluation?
Is there an inherent relationship problem if the culturally responsive evaluator is seen as the 'evaluator' given the impact this label has on power relationships?
|
|
|
Relevance of Culture in Evaluation Institute Lessons Learned: Implementing School-based, Culturally and Contextually Responsive Evaluation Projects
|
| Michael Wallace,
Howard University,
mwallace@capstoneinstitute.org
|
| Stafford Hood,
Arizona State University,
stafford.hood@asu.edu
|
|
Implementation of the RCEI project while creating a unique set of anticipated and unanticipated challenges also resulted in numerous lessons being learned by all involved. In fact a few of the more acute and unanticipated lessons were learned by the principal investigators, evaluation consultants, and members of the advisory board. The experiences of the evaluation consultants who provided direct technical assistance to the RCEI schools in the development of their evaluation plans, implementation of these plans, and preparation of the final reports provided considerable insight into the unique circumstances of implementing a project such as RCEI. The proposed presentation will provide insights resulting from the implementation of the RCEI project in two participating schools. These insights will be based on the experiences and interactions of one of the evaluation consultants in providing direct technical assistance with two of the schools over a period of four years.
| |
|
Evaluation Influence and Cultural Context
|
| Karen Kirkhart,
Syracuse University,
kirkhart@syr.edu
|
| Melvin Hall,
Northern Arizona University,
melvin.hall@nau.edu
|
|
What are the implications of Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) for evaluation influence? This presentation has two intents. First, it maps the impact of evaluations undertaken under RCEI against an Integrated Theory of Influence (ITI); i.e., examining both intended and unintended influence resulting from both the CRE process and the evaluative data produced by the project implementation. Second, it reflects on what the RCEI experience teaches us about the nature of influence and how influence intersects culture. This is a significant contribution to the knowledge base of our profession. Despite advances in linking culture to evaluation theory and method, little explicit attention has been paid to linking culture to evaluation use/influence. This presentation complements the panel presentations on the theory underlying CRE and the implications of the RCEI experience for evaluation practice.
| |