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Session Title: 25 Years of Values: American Evaluation Association (AEA) Values: Then, Now, and Tomorrow
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Panel Session 410 to be held in Pacific D on Thursday, Nov 3, 2:50 PM to 4:20 PM
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Sponsored by the AEA Conference Committee
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| Chair(s): |
| Molly Engle, Oregon State University, molly.engle@oregonstate.edu
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| Discussant(s):
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| Melvin Mark, Pennsylvania State University, m5m@psu.edu
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| Abstract:
In 1985, there was no AEA; no Guiding Principles; an early edition of Program Evaluation Standards existed (1980). AEA's guiding principles were adopted in 1992 and the AEA's value statement was not adopted until 2005. Documenting AEA's values development, the expectation arising from those nascent values and their subsequent evolution is important. The values statement is the lens through which we view the work of AEA; the Guiding Principles provides the same for evaluators and the Standards for individual evaluations. As evaluators, the AEA's values statement, the Guiding Principles and the Program Evaluation Standards are used as evaluations are planned, implemented, and reported. Now that the breadth of evaluation encompasses voices seldom heard in 1986, we must take steps to assure that these values continue to evolve to fit the times, places, and stakeholders. Making core values explicit and providing clear guidance ensures AEA continuing success and enduring survival.
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AEA's Contributions to Development and Application of the Program Evaluation Standards
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| Daniel Stufflebeam, Western Michigan University, dlstfbm@aol.com
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Dan Stufflebeam was the founding chair of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation in 1975 and principal author of both the 1981 edition of the Program Evaluation Standards and the 1988 Personnel Evaluation Standards. For eight years he was AEA's representative on the U.S. Comptroller General's Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards. He contributed critical comments on the draft 2011 edition of the Joint Committee's Program Evaluation Standards, especially regarding the need for a fifth category labeled EVALUATION ACCOUNTABILITY. Recently he developed a new metaevaluation checklist keyed to the 2011 Program Evaluation Standards. He will summarize the early development of the Joint Committee's standards and stress the importance of their applications, especially in metaevaluations.
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AEA and the 2011 Edition of the Program Evaluation Standards
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| Donald Yarbrough, University of Iowa, d-yarbrough@uiowa.edu
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Don Yarbrough represented AEA in the revision process for the 3rd edition of the Program Evaluation Standards (Sage 2011). Beginning in 2004, members of the Joint Committee on Standards representing 16 North American professional organizations, a special task force of four writers, and more than 400 volunteers revised the Standards. Under the influence of new reviewer cohorts, hearing participants, field testers, and Joint Committee members, the 3rd edition infused culture and cultural competence considerations throughout the Standards and example cases. This edition of the Standards explicitly addresses the Guiding Principles and the International Declaration of Human Rights as key documents informing the topics of values and valuing. Because of the highly inclusive process used to guide reviews and revisions of the standards, the future will bring new focuses and emphases in response to the contributions of new cohorts of stakeholders and the scholarship and practices that inform them.
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Developing the AEA Guiding Principles
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| Maryann Scheirer, Scheirer Consulting, maryann@scheirerconsulting.com
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Mary Ann Scheirer was on the Task Force that developed the Guiding Principles, growing from her work on AEA's Board of Directors at the time. A major focus of this effort was to contribute to the professionalization of evaluation, by developing a statement of ethical principles that all members could endorse. She will discuss the reasons and processes behind the initial development of the Guiding Principles, which embody the key ethical values underlying AEA.
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The AEA Guiding Principles Today and Tomorrow
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| Rebecca Woodland, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, rebecca.woodland@educ.umass.edu
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Rebecca Woodland is the co-chair of the Guiding Principles review group for 2011. In that capacity, she will address the Guiding Principles as a foundational piece for AEA and the need to keep them current and relevant. She will also discuss possible directions for the Guiding Principles for the future.
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