|
Session Title: Government Evaluation TIG Business Meeting and Panel: Happy Anniversary to Us! Celebrating Twenty Years of Government Evaluation
|
|
Business Meeting with Panel Session 388 to be held in Texas A on Thursday, Nov 11, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
|
|
Sponsored by the Government Evaluation TIG
|
| TIG Leader(s):
|
|
Stanley Capela, HeartShare Human Services of New York, stan.capela@heartshare.org
|
|
David J Bernstein, Westat, davidbernstein@westat.com
|
|
Sam Held, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, sam.held@orau.org
|
| Chair(s): |
| Stanley Capela, HeartShare Human Services of New York, stan.capela@heartshare.org
|
| Abstract:
In 1990, the theme of the AEA conference was Evaluation and the Formulation of Public Policy, a topic that is central to the role of evaluation in government. During the 1990 conference, a session attended by about 20 people gathered to discuss the possibility of establishing a State and Local Government Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG), which was approved by the AEA Board in early 1991. In 2005, the TIG’s focus was broadened, and the name was changed to the Government Evaluation TIG. This panel will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the TIG with three highly relevant presentations, including a panel discussion with the current and past chairs of the Government Evaluation TIG, a key note address by Joe Wholey, one of the leading experts on government evaluation in the United States, and the Government Evaluation TIG’s annual business meeting.
|
|
Panel Discussion: How Has Government Evaluation Changed in the Last Twenty Years?
|
| David J Bernstein, Westat, davidbernstein@westat.com
|
| Maria Whitsett, Moak, Casey and Associates, mwhitsett@moakcasey.com
|
| Rakesh Mohan, Idaho State Legislature, rmohan@ope.idaho.gov
|
| Stanley Capela, HeartShare Human Services of New York, stan.capela@heartshare.org
|
|
For the first time ever, a panel comprised of the present and several past chairs of the Government Evaluation TIG will gather to address some questions of interest to AEA and Government TIG members: Over the past 20 years how has the role of program evaluation changed within government? How do those working on government evaluation ensure quality? How have governments in different sectors (federal, state, local, tribal/indigenous, international) defined the concept of quality in evaluation processes? Do intergovernmental funding arrangements (e.g., federal, state, local grants or contracts) change the requirements for quality evaluations, and if so, how? Stan Capela, Chair of the Government Evaluation TIG and three Past Chairs, David Bernstein, Maria Whitsett, and Rakesh Mohan, will conduct a panel discussion to consider how government evaluation has changed (or not) in the last 20 years.
|
|
|
Keynote Address: How Has Evaluation Changed in the Last 20 to 50 Years?
|
| Joseph Wholey, University of Southern California, joewholey@aol.com
|
|
Since the 1970s, governments and agencies at all levels have been using performance monitoring and performance management systems, in part because monitoring of progress toward program goals fits comfortably under the definition of program evaluation. By 1990, government evaluation had already been growing for thirty years. In the 2000s, high-stakes performance monitoring spread to every state in response to the No Child Left Behind Act. Evaluation is used in government to increase transparency, strengthen accountability, support decision-making, and improve the performance and value of public programs. As an evaluator, government manager, political appointee, elected official, consultant, academic, researcher, and author, Joe Wholey has been a witness and active participant to these and every other major change in the evaluation field in the last 40 plus years. Dr. Wholey will discuss how government evaluation has changed, and what changes we might expect to see in the near future.
| |
|
Government Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG) Business Meeting
|
| Stanley Capela, HeartShare Human Services of New York, stan.capela@heartshare.org
|
| David J Bernstein, Westat, davidbernstein@westat.com
|
| Sam Held, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, sam.held@orau.org
|
|
Following the panel discussion and key note address, the Government Evaluation TIG will hold its annual Business Meeting during the AEA 2010 conference. Topics include succession planning for TIG leadership, ensuring the relevance of the TIG, "hot issues" affecting the conduct of government sponsored evaluation work, and soliciting ideas for TIG-sponsored programs and services.
| |