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Session Title: Canadian Evaluation Society's (CES) Credentialed Evaluators Designation: Supporting the Continued Development of CES Members, Strengthening the Rigor and Quality of Evaluation in Canada
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Panel Session 294 to be held in Panzacola Section H1 on Thursday, Nov 12, 1:40 PM to 3:10 PM
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Sponsored by the AEA Conference Committee
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| Chair(s): |
| Cheryl Poth, University of Alberta, cpoth@ualberta.ca
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| Discussant(s):
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| Jean A King, University of Minnesota, kingx004@umn.edu
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| Abstract:
Through commissioned studies, membership consultation and National Council debate, the Canadian Evaluation Society's Professional Designation Project was launched in 2007 "to bring clarity and definition to the practice of evaluation" by defining what constitutes evaluation practice, providing a means of recognition and promoting continuous learning. The project has been lead by a Core Committee reporting to Council and working with a group of roughly 21 volunteers from across Canada. The Credentialed Evaluator (CE) designation is a voluntary program within CES, a service to its members and to those stakeholders with whom we work. CES considers a Credentialed Evaluator designation to mean, "The CE (holder) has provided evidence of education and experience required to be a competent evaluator." The CES credential recognizes unique composition of the Canadian Evaluators who came to our work with very mixed and varied education experiences, and are very practice based - coming with work experiences and professional development.
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The Canadian Evaluation Society's Professional Designation Project
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| Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, Ontario Ministry of Education, keiko.kuji-shikatani@ontario.ca
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| Heather Buchanan, Jua Management Consulting Services, hbuchanan@jua.ca
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| Brigitte Maicher, Net Results & Associates, maicherb@nb.sympatico.ca
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CES commissioned a study on professional designations, and a Consortium of Evaluators presented a proposal to National Council in early 2007. National Council Response was the subject of broad consultations and a town hall session at the 2007 CES Conference. It was felt by Council that there was sufficient support from the membership to pursue the development of a professional designation - a credential. This gave birth to the professional designation project in October 2007. The project has been lead by a Core Committee, reporting to Council and working with a group of roughly 21 volunteers from across Canada. The model is the foundation of their work. It is the result of research and development amongst this group and has been presented to Council for going forward with this new CES service for its members. It is a voluntary service, where member can choose to apply for a credential.
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Competencies for Canadian Evaluation Practice
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| Christine Frank, Christine Frank & Associates Research and Evaluation, christine.frank@sympatico.ca
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Competencies are defined as "The background, knowledge, skills, and dispositions program evaluators need to achieve standards that constitute sound evaluations" Competencies are written as an action statement, thus incorporating knowledge, skill and dispositions, or attitudes. While the Competencies for Canadian Evaluation practice were developed as part of the Credentialing Program of CES, they provide a much broader foundation for the Evaluation community. They can be used as a foundation for: developing training programs and deciding what skills and knowledge to incorporate in a learning event; self assessment by Evaluators to decide what professional development they want to pursue; designing jobs, writing job descriptions when deciding to employ evaluation expertise; developing RFPs, SoWs or ToRs when contracting for evaluation services; and supporting decisions made in the Credentialing Program. The elaborations of evaluator competencies or descriptors describe what background, knowledge, skill and disposition is demonstrated by the evaluator in conducting these actions.
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Canadian Evaluation Society's National Council Project
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| François Dumaine, Canadian Evaluation Society, dumaine@pra.ca
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With the goal of officially launching this initiative at the 2009 Ottawa Conference, CES National Council has ratified the founding blocks of the professional designation project in which CES will provide CES members with the opportunity to be credentialed. Allowing members to gain the designation is one core component of the equation, but not the only one. The value of this voluntary designation will be largely determined by the response it will trigger. CES is promoting this designation among government departments, the private, and the non-profit sector. We hope that all these organizations will recognize the value of using the designation to grow their employees, to select new ones or to select contractual evaluators. The proposed designation is not meant to create barriers of entry to program evaluation, but rather to support the continued development of the CES members, and to strengthen the rigour and quality of evaluation in Canada.
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