I’ve just read Ernie House’s book, Regression to the Mean.  house--regression to the meanIt is a NOVEL about evaluation politics.  A publishers review says, “Evaluation politics is one of the most critical, yet least understood aspects of evaluation. To succeed, evaluators must grasp the politics of their situation, lest their work be derailed. This engrossing novel illuminates the politics and ethics of evaluation, even as it entertains. Paul Reeder, an experienced (and all too human) evaluator, must unravel political, ethical, and technical puzzles in a mysterious world he does not fully comprehend. The book captures the complexities of evaluation politics in ways other works do not. Written expressly for learning and teaching, the evaluation novel is an unconventional foray into vital topics rarely explored.”

Many luminaries (Patton, Lincoln, Scriven, Weiss) made pre-publication comments. Although I found the book fascinating, I found the quote that is included attributed to Freud compelling.  That quote is, “The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing.  Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it succeeds.  This is one of the few points in which we can be optimistic about the future of mankind (sic).”  Although Freud wasn’t speaking about evaluation, House contends that this statement applies, and goes on to say, “Sometimes you have to persist against your emotions as well as the emotions of others.  None of us are rational.”

So how does rationality fit into evaluation. I would contend that it doesn’t. Although the intent of evaluation is to be objective, none of us can be because of what I called personal and situational bias; what is known in the literature as cognitive bias. I contend that if one has cognitive bias (and everyone does) then that prevents us from being rational, try as we might. Our emotions get in the way. House’s comment (above) seems fitting to evaluation–evaluators must persist against personal emotions as well as emotions of others. I would add persists against personal and situational bias. I believe it is important to make explicit the personal and situational bias prior to commencing an evaluation. By clarifying assumptions that occur with the stakeholders and the evaluator, surprises are minimized, and the evaluation may be more useful to program people.

Intention to change

I’ve talked about intention to change and how stating that intention out loud and to others makes a difference. This piece of advice is showing up in some unexpected places and here. If you state your goal, there is a higher likelihood that you will be successful. That makes sense. If you confess publicly (or even to a priest), you are more likely to do the penance/make a change. What I find interesting is that this is so evaluation. What difference did the intervention make? How does that difference relate to the merit, worth, value of the program?

Lent started March 5. That is 40 days of discipline–giving up or taking on. That is a program. What difference will it make? Can you go 40 days without chocolate?

New Topic:

I got my last comment in November, 2013. I miss comments. Sure most of them were check out this other web site. Still there were some substantive comments and I’ve read those and archived them. My IT person doesn’t know what was the impetus for this sudden stop. Perhaps Google changed its search engine optimization code and my key words are no longer in the top. So I don’t know if what I write is meaningful; is worthwhile; or is resonating with you the reader in any way. I have been blogging now for over four years…this is no easy task. Comments and/or questions would be helpful, give me some direction.

New Topic:

Chris Lysy cartoons in his blog. This week he blogged about logic models. He only included logic models that are drawn with boxes. What if the logic model is circular? How would it be different? Can it still lead to outcomes? Non-linear thinkers/cultures would say so. How would you draw it? Given that mind mapping may also be a model, how do they relate?

Have a nice weekend. The sun is shining again! sunshine in oregon

 

I’ve been reading about models lately; models that have been developed, models that are being used today, models that may be used tomorrow.

Webster (Seventh New Collegiate) Dictionary has almost two inches about models–I think my favorite definition is the fifth one: an example for imitation or emulation. It seems to be most relevant to evaluation. What do evaluators do if not imitate or emulate others?

To that end, I went looking for evaluation models. Jim Popham’s book Popham, educational evaluationhas a chapter (2, Alternative approaches to educational evaluation) on models. Fitzpatrick, Sanders, and Worthen  fitzpatrick book 2has numerous chapters on “approaches”  (what Popham calls models). (I wonder if this is just semantics?)

Models have appeared in other blogs (not called models, though). In the case of Life in Perpetual Beta (Harold Jarche) provides this view of how organizations have evolved and calls them forms.(The below image is credited to David Ronfeldt.)

TIMN-David Ronfeldt

(Looks like a model to me. I wonder what evaluators could make of this.)

The reading is interesting because it is flexible. It approaches the “if it works, use it” paradigm; the one I use regularly.

I’ll just list the models Popham uses and discuss them over the next several weeks. (FYI-both Popham and Fitzpatrick, et. al., talk about the overlap of models.) Why is a discussion of models important, you may ask? I’ll quote Stufflebeam: “The study of alternative evaluation approaches is important for professionalizing program evaluation and for its scientific advancement and operation” (2001, p. 9).

Popham lists the following models:

  • Goal-Attainment models
  • Judgmental models emphasizing inputs
  • Judgmental models emphasizing outputs
  • Decision-Facilitation models
  • Naturalistic models

Popham does say that the model classification could have been done a different way. You will see that in the Fitzpatrick, Sanders, and Worthen volume  where they talk about the following approaches:

  • Expertise-oriented approaches
  • Consumer-oriented approaches
  • Program-oriented approaches
  • Decision-oriented approaches
  • Participant-oriented approaches

They have a nice table that does a comparative analysis of alternative approaches (Table 10.1, pp. 249-251)

Interesting reading.

References

Fitzpatrick, J. L., Sanders, J. R., & Worthen, B. R. (2011). Program evaluation: Alternative approaches and practical guidelines (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Popham, W. J. (1993). Educational Evaluation (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Stufflebeam, D. L. (2001). Evaluation models. New Directions for Evaluation (89). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 

 

 

People often say one thing and do another.

This came home clearly to me with a nutrition project conducted with fifth and sixth grade students over the course of two consecutive semesters. We taught them nutrition and fitness and assorted various nutrition and fitness concepts (nutrient density, empty calories, food groups, energy requirements, etc.). We asked them at the beginning to identify which snack they would choose if they were with their friends (apple, carrots, peanut butter crackers, chocolate chip cookie, potato chips). We asked them at the end of the project the same question. They said they would choose an apple both pre and post. On the pretest, in descending order, the  students would choose carrots, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter crackers. On the post test, in descending order, the students would choose chocolate chip cookies, carrots, potato chips, and peanut butter crackers. (Although the sample sizes were reasonable [i.e., greater than 30], I’m not sure that the difference between 13.0% [potato chips] and 12.7% [peanut butter crackers] was significant. I do not have those data.) Then, we also asked them to choose one real snack. What they said and what they did was not the same, even at the end of the project. Cookies won, hands down in both the treatment and control groups. Discouraging to say the least; disappointing to be sure. What they said they would do and what they actually did were different.

Although this program ran from September through April, and is much longer than the typical professional development conference of a half day (or even a day), what the students said was different from what the students did. We attempted to measure knowledge, attitude, and behavior. We did not measure intention to change.

That experience reminded me of a finding of Paul Mazmanian pemazman. (I know I’ve talked about him and his work before; his work bears repeating.) He did a randomized controlled trial involving continuing medical education and commitment to change. After all, any program worth its salt will result in behavior change, right? So Paul Mazmanian set up this experiment involving doctors, the world’s worst folks with whom to try to change behavior.

He found that “…physicians in both the study and the control groups were significantly more likely to change (47% vs 7%, p<0.001) IF they indicated an INTENT (emphasis added in both cases) to change immediately following the lecture ” (i.e., the continuing education program).  He did a further study and found that a signature stating that they would change didn’t increase the likelihood that they would change.

Bottom line, measure intention to change in evaluating your programs.

References:

Mazmanian, P. E., Daffron, S. R., Johnson, R. E., Davis, D. A., & Kantrowitz, M. P. (August 1998). Information about barriers to planned change: A randomized controlled trial involving continuing medical education lectures and commitment to change. Academic Medicine, 73(8), 882-886.

Mazmanian, P. E., Johnson, R. E., Zhang, A., Boothby, J. & Yeatts, E. J. (June, 2001). Effects of a signature on rates of change: A randomized controlled trial involving continuing education and the commitment-to-change model. Academic Medicine, 76(6), 642-646.

 

When Elliot Eisner eliott eisner died in January, I wrote a post on his work as I understood it.

I may have mentioned naturalistic models; if not I needed to label them as such.

Today, I’ll talk some more about those models.

These models are often described as qualitative. Egon Guba egon guba (who died in 2008) and Yvonna Lincoln yvonna lincoln (distinguished professor of higher education at Texas A&M University) talk about qualitative inquiry in their 1981 book, Effective Evaluation (it has a long subtitle–here is the cover)effective evaluation. They indicate that there are two factors on which constraints can be imposed: 1) antecedent variables and 2) possible outcomes, with the first impinging on the evaluation at its outset and the second referring to the possible consequences of the program. They propose a 2×2 figure to contrast between naturalistic inquiry and scientific inquiry depending on the constraints.

Besides Eisner’s model, Robert Stake robert stakeand David Fetterman Fetterman have developed models that fit this model. Stake’s model is called responsive evaluation and Fetterman talks about ethnographic evaluation. Stake’s work is described in Standards-Based & Responsive Evaluation (2004) Stake-responsive evaluation.  Fetterman has a volume called Ethnography: Step-by-Step (2010) ethnography step-by-step.

Stake contended that evaluators needed to be more responsive to the issues associated with the program and in being responsive, measurement precision would be decreased. He argued that an evaluation (and he is talking about educational program evaluation) would be responsive if it “oreints more directly to program activities than to program intents; responds to audience requirements for information and if the different value perspectives present are referred to in reporting the success and failure of the program” (as cited in Popham, 1993, pg. 42). He indicates that human instruments (observers and judges) will be the data gathering approaches.  Stake views responsive evaluation to be “informal, flexible, subjective, and based on evolving audience concerns” (Popham, 1993, pg. 43).  He indicates that this approach is based on anthropology as opposed to psychology.

More on Fetterman’s ethnography model later.

References:

Fetterman, D. M. (2010). Ethnography step-by-step. Applied Social Research Methods Series, 17. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

Popham, W. J. (1993). Educational Evaluation (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Stake, R. E. (1975). Evaluating the arts in education: a responsive approach. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.

Stake, R. E. (2004). Standards-based & responsive evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

 

 

 

 

Warning:  This post may contain information that is controversial .

Schools (local public schools) were closed (still are).

The University (which never closes) was closed for four days (now open).

The snow kept falling and falling and falling.  Snow in corvallis February 2014.jpg (Thank you Sandra Thiesen for the photo.)

Eighteen inches.  Then freezing rain.  It is a mess (although as I write this, the sun is shining, and it is 39F and supposed to get to 45F by this afternoon).

This is a complex messy system (thank you Dave Bella).  It isn’t getting better.  This is the second snow Corvallis has experienced in the same number of months, with increasing amounts.

It rains in the valley in Oregon; IT DOES NOT SNOW.

Another example of a complex messy system is what is happening in the UK

These are examples extreme events; examples of climate chaos.

Evaluating complex messy systems is not easy.  There are many parts.  If you hold constant one part, what happens to the others?  If you don’t hold constant one part, what happens to the rest of the system?.  Systems thinking and systems evaluation has come of age with the 21st century; there were always people who viewed the world as a system; one part linked to another, indivisible.  Soft systems theory dates back to at least von Bertalanffy who developed general systems theory and published the book by the same name in 1968general systems theory (ISBN 0-8076-0453-4).

One way to view systems is in this photo (compliments of Wikipedia) Systems_thinking_about_the_society.svg.

Evaluating systems is complicated and complex.

Bob Williams, along with Iraj Imam, edited the volume Systems Concepts in EvaluationSystems_Concepts in evaluation_pb (2007), and along with Richard Hummelbrunner,   wrote the volume Systems Concepts in Action: A Practitioner’s Toolkit  systems concepts--tool kit (2010).  He is a leader in systems and evaluation.

These two books relate to my political statement at the beginning and complex messy systems.  According to Amazon, the second book “explores the application of systems ideas to investigate, evaluate, and intervene in complex and messy situations”.

If you think your program works in isolation, think again.  If you think your program doesn’t influence other programs, individuals, stakeholders, think again.  You work in a complex messy system. Because you work in a complex messy system, you might want to simplify the situation (I know I do); only you can’t.  You have to work within the system.

Might be worth while to get von Bertalanffy’s book; might be worth while to get Williams books; might be worth while to get  a copy of Gunderson and Holling book  Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Systems of Humans and Nature.panarchy

After all, nature is a complex messy system.

On February 1 at 12:00 pm PT, I will be holding my annual virtual tea party.  This is something I’ve been doing since February of 1993.  I was in Minnesota and the winter was very cold, and although not as bleak as winter in Oregon, I was missing my friends who did not live near me.  I had a tea party for the folks who were local and wanted to think that those who were not local were enjoying the tea party as well.  So I created a virtual tea party.  At that time, the internet was not available; all this was done in hard copy (to this day, I have one or two friends who do not have internet…sigh…).  Today, the internet makes the tea party truly virtual–well the invitation is; you have to have a real cup of tea where ever you are.
Virtual Tea Time 2014

 

How is this evaluative?  Gandhi says that only you can be the change you want to see…this is one way you can make a difference.  How will you know?

I know because my list of invitees has grown exponentially.  And some of them share the invitation.  They pass it on.  I started with a dozen or so friends.  Now my address list is over three pages long.  Including my daughters and daughters of my friends (maybe sons, too for that matter…)

Other ways:  Design an evaluation plan; develop a logic model; create a metric/rubric.  Report the difference.  This might be a good place for using an approach other than a survey or Likert scale.  Think about it.

Evaluation models abound.

Models are a set of plans.

Educational evaluation models are plans that could “lead to more effective evaluations” (Popham, 1993, p. 23).  Popham, educational evaluation  Popham (1993) goes on to say that there was little or no thought given to a new evaluation model that would make it distinct from other models so that in sorting models into categories, the categories “fail to satisfy…without overlap” (p. 24).  Popham employs five categories:

  1. Goal-attainment models;
  2. Judgmental models emphasizing inputs;
  3. Judgmental models emphasizing outputs;
  4. Decision-facilitation models; and
  5. Naturalistic models

I want to acquaint you with one of the naturalistic models, the connoisseurship model.  (I hope y’all recognize the work of Guba and Lincoln in the evolution of naturalistic models; if not I have listed several sources below.)  Elliott Eisner  drew upon his experience as an art educator and used art criticism as the basis for this model.  His approach relies on educational connoisseurship and educational criticism.  Connoisseurship focuses on complex entities (think art, wine, chocolate); criticism is a form which “discerns the qualities of an event or object” (Popham, 1993, p. 43) and puts into words that which has been experienced.  This verbal presentation allows for those of us who do not posess the critic’s expertise can understand what was perceived.  Eisner advocated that design is all about relationships and relationships are necessary for the creative process and thinking about the creative process.  He proposed “that experienced experts, like critics of the arts, bring their expertise to bear on evaluating the quality of programs…” (Fitzpatrick, Sanders and Worthen, 2004).  He proposed an artistic paradigm (rather than a scientific one) as a supplement other forms of inquiry.  It is from this view that connoisseurship derives—connoisseurship is the art of appreciation; the relationships between/among the qualities of the evaluand. 

Elliot Eisner died January 10, 2014; he was 81. He was the Lee Jacks Professor of Education at Stanford Graduate School of Education.  He advanced the role of arts in education and used arts as models for improving educational practice in other fields.  His contribution to evaluation was significant.

Resources:

Eisner, E. W. (1975). The perceptive eye:  Toward the reformation of educational evaluation.  Occasional Papers of the Stanford Evaluation Consortium.  Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Eisner, E. W. (1991a). Taking a second look: Educational connoisseurship revisited.  In Evaluation and education: At quarter century, ed. M. W. McLaughlin & D. C. Phillips.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Eisner, E. W. (1991b). The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice.  New York: Macmillian.

Eisner, E. W., & Peshkin, A. (eds.) (1990).  Qualitative inquiry in education.  NY:Teachers College Press.

Fitzpatrick, J. L., Sanders, J. R., & Worthen, B. R. (2004). Program Evaluation: Alternative approaches and practical guidelines, 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Pearson

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1981). Effective evaluation: Improving the usefulness of evaluation results through responsive and naturalistic approaches.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Lincoln, Y. S. & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Patton, M. Q. (2002).  Qualitative research & evaluation methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Popham, W. J. (1993). Educational evaluation. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

 

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A new calendar year…2014…where has the time gone…Happy-New-Year-2014-Pictures

It might be useful for those of you who are interested in evaluation to review a list of evaluation conferences offered around the world this year.  Sarah Baughman cited the list offered by Better Evaluation.  You could spend all year coming and going.  What a way to see the world.  That certainly has evaluative opportunities.

2014 beginning question.

One question I am asked by people new to evaluation is How often do I need to conduct an evaluation?  How much budget/time/resources do I allot for evaluation?  My evaluative answer is “It all depends.”

For new faculty who want to know if their programs are working, (not impact, just working), identify your most important program and evaluate it.  Next year, so another program, and so on.  If you want to know impact, you will need to wait at least three years, maybe five.  Although some programs could show impact after one year.  (We are not talking world peace here, only did the program make a difference, does it have merit, value, worth?)

For executive directors, my “it depends answer is still important.  They have different needs than program planners and those who implement programs.  My friend Stan says executive directors need to know:  What is the problem?   What caused the problem?  How do I solve the problem (in two sentences or less)?  Executive directors don’t have a lot of time to devote to evaluation; yet they need to know.

For people who are continuing a program of long standing, I would suggest you answer the question that is most pressing.  (It all depends…)

I think these categories mostly cover everybody.  If you can think of other situations, let me know.  I’ll tell you what I think.

 

 

Did you know that there are at least 11 winter holidays besides Christmas–many of them related to light or the return of light.

One needs evaluation tools to determine the merit or worth, to evaluate the holiday’s value to you.  For me, any that return lightsolstice light are important.  So for me, there is Hanukkah menorah (and eight candles), Solstice solstice bonfire (and bonfires and yule logs), Christmas advent wreath(and Advent wreaths with five candles), Kwanzaa kinara( and kinara seven candles).  Sometimes Diwali Diwali falls late in November to be included (it is the ancient Hindu festival of lights that is a movable feast like Hanukkah).

I have celebrations for Hanukkah  (I have several menorahs), for Solstice  (I have two special candelabra solstice candelabra that holds 12 candles–a mini-bonfire to be sure), for Advent/Christmas (I make a wreath each year), and for Kwanzaa  (a handmade Kinara).  And foods for each celebration as well.  Because I live in a multicultural household, it is important that everyone understand that no holiday is more important than any other–all talk about returning light (literal or figurative).  Sometimes the holidays over lap–Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas all in the same week…phew, I’m exhausted just thinking about it.  Sometimes it seems hard to keep them separate–then I realized that returning the light is not separate; it is light returning.  It is an evaluative task.

So well come the new born sun/son…the light returns.  Evaluation continues.

Happy Holidays…all of them!

I’m taking two weeks holiday–will see you in the new year.