Date: Monday, August 4, 2025
This week, the members of the Graduate Students and New Evaluators (GSNE) TIG share various tips, tricks, resources, and points of view that can be helpful for students and new evaluators. We hope both evaluators, new and old, will review this material and share the resources and stories with each other.
-Liz Rojas (GSNE, Co-Chair), Christine Liboon (GSNE, Program Chair), and GSNE Leadership Team
Hey there, fellow emerging evaluators! We are Doreen Otieno (Ohio University) and Janet Arogundade (University of North Carolina, Greensboro), two Ph.D. students in Educational Research and Evaluation who recently participated in the Evaluation Capacity Case Challenge (EC³) hosted by the Max Bell School of Public Policy, Montreal Canada.
Like many others, we joined the competition to challenge ourselves, apply theory to practice, and, if we’re honest, maybe win. But looking back, the real takeaways went far beyond that. This blog is our reflection on what we learned and how EC³ helped reshape our thinking about evaluation, systems, and capacity.
At first, we treated ECB like evaluation’s sidekick, an extra step, maybe a nice-to-have. But as we worked through the case and engaged with experts, we realized ECB isn’t just part of evaluation, it’s a standalone practice. Yes, they’re closely related, think of them as academic siblings. But while evaluation asks, “Did it work?”, ECB asks “Can they figure that out again, on their own, next time?”
And here’s the kicker: ECB has its own theoretical backbone. From Preskill & Boyle to Labin et al., the field has developed frameworks that go far beyond “just teaching people how to evaluate.” It’s about embedding evaluative thinking into an organization’s DNA, making reflection, learning, and data use a routine rather than reactive.
Put simply: while evaluation delivers the report, ECB builds the capacity to write the next one, and the next. Or better yet, ECB hands you the pen and the power.
We came to understand that ECB isn’t a bonus deliverable, it’s the fuel that keeps learning alive. It’s what helps organizations not just collect data, but actually use it, reflect on it, and grow from it. ECB turns evaluation from a one-time process into a way of life.
We learned that evaluation capacity isn’t built in a vacuum. What works in one organization might not work in another if it overlooks local culture, readiness, or resource realities. An ECB strategy has to reflect the lived conditions of the context it’s meant to serve. That means designing with constraints, strengths, and people in mind.
Sustainable ECB doesn’t come from top-down solutions. It thrives in environments that foster shared ownership, value diverse voices, and build with the people doing the work. We realized that meaningful capacity building goes beyond technical fixes. It’s built on relationships, trust, and commitment to co-creation. In hindsight, that’s what gives ECB its staying power.
To Our Fellow Grad Students and Emerging Evaluators: Join the Challenge. If you’re looking for a space to grow, stretch your thinking, and see evaluation through a systems lens, EC³ is for you. You will test your skills, meet brilliant peers, and walk away thinking differently. So go for the win but stay for the lifelong learning experience.
A 2024 practice note by Michelle Searle, Leslie Fierro, and colleagues tell the inside story of how the City of Kingston became the first EC³ case site, and what happened next. The article walks through real ECB strategies. It is an example of what evaluation capacity building can look like in practice. You don’t have to imagine the ECB in theory; this resource brings it to life. Learn more about the “Evaluation Capacity Case Challenge (EC³).”
AEA is hosting GSNE Week with our colleagues in the Graduate Student and New Evaluators AEA Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our GSNE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.