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Session Title: Reflections on the Canadian Evaluation Society's Professional Designation Program: One Year Into the Program
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Panel Session 204 to be held in California B on Thursday, Nov 3, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM
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Sponsored by the AEA Conference Committee
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| Chair(s): |
| James W Altschuld, The Ohio State University, altschuld.1@osu.edu
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| Abstract:
CES have created a self-directed process among program evaluators and users of program evaluation that would allow us to better define what we do and how it should be done. CES may seem extraordinarily ambitious to establish competencies, standards and ethic rules for a field as vast as program evaluation, and to set a specific bar for someone to be recognized as a Credentialed Evaluator (CE), but we embarked in the PDP process knowing full well that its future depended on the reaction of both program evaluators and users of program evaluation. The PDP is now well underway and there are a number of CEs. We have started to see Request for Proposals being issued, where the lead evaluator must be credentialed by CES. We will visit some of the operational issues, present the perspectives of Credentialing Board members, and discuss responses from both the Canadian and the international stakeholders.
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Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Professional Designations Program in Operation
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| Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, Ontario Ministry of Education, keiko.kuji-shikatani@ontario.ca
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The Credentialed Evaluator (CE) is designed to define, recognize and, promote the practice of ethical, high quality and competent evaluation in Canada through a program for professional designations. Keiko Kuji-Shikatani is the first Vice President of the CES Professional Designations Program and has been instrumental in establishing the CE designation for the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES). Launched in May 2010, this designation is the world's first professional designation for evaluators and has created a worldwide interest. CE is about providing a path for new evaluators and a clearer direction for more established evaluators for their ongoing development. It's about allowing CEs to be recognized for what they have achieved to date and for their ongoing commitment to learn and improve program evaluation. The Program is part of an effort to create an environment where CES can spell out what good evaluations entails and help CES members get there.
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CES Professional Designations Program's Credentialing Board
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| Heather Buchanan, Jua, Management Consulting Services, hbuchanan@jua.ca
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The work of the Credentialing Board (CB) has been a vital piece in the transition of moving the Credentialed Evaluator designation from theory to practice. While the CE designation was defined by CES National Council, the application of that definition has been a 'challenging work in progress.' A 24 member CB has responsibility for the review of applications and decisions on the CE. Heather Buchanan, a CB member will speak about the decision process, how it is undertaken and the challenges encountered in this newly created decision-maker role. Developing good judgement is very much a function of experience, and with one year of experience the CB is finding its footing in this important function. Rich exchange and discussions are contributing to building a common understanding and consistent application of the CE designation, but thresholds for acceptable applications are not formulaic. Opportunities and challenges encountered in this first year of operation will be shared.
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The Canadian Response to the CES Professional Designations Program
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| Martha McGuire, Cathexis Consulting Inc, martha@cathexisconsulting.ca
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Martha McGuire, CES President will look at who have become CEs in Canada - where do they work? Why did they decide to apply? She will discuss the response from Canadian evaluators and organizations using evaluators. She will draw from the communication she has received as president as well as from some key informant interviews. She will include the perspectives of those who are still questioning the wisdom of CES going in this direction. It will also provide the perspective of the Credentialed Evaluators. What difference does it make in the way CEs approach their practice? What difference does it make to those who are engaging them to do evaluations? And for those who have not yet applied, what are the inhibitors? What are the draws?
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The International Response to the CES Professional Designations Program
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| Jean A King, University of Minnesota, kingx004@umn.edu
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The CES Professional Designation process is the first established program in the world by a professional association to credential evaluators, an important next step in evaluation's continuing development as a profession. Jean King, one of the authors of the Essential Competencies for Program Evaluators upon which the CES credentialing is based, will reflect on this development. First, she will ground the work in the context of the historical development of credentials, tracing the origin of licensure in three other professions (law, medicine, and accounting) where the paths to licensure and accreditation of training programs provide counterpoint to current CES work. Second, she will reflect on the international implications of the CES Professional Designation work, including reactions from South Africa where there is governmental pressure to move toward licensure and the USA where the American Evaluation Association, after a gap of over a decade, is again discussing the possibility of an evaluator credential.
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