Core Concepts in Evaluation

This unique book features original writings from evaluation′s foundational thinkers, together with new commentaries from contemporary authors. Each section includes an introduction to a core evaluation concept by the editors, a classic reading, two commentaries on that topic by contemporary authors, and a reflection guide written by the editors.

Lori A. Wingate is the Executive Director of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. She has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary evaluation and 30 years of experience in the evaluation field. Dr. Wingate has led a range of evaluation projects in STEM education, public health, and higher education and has delivered more than 75 webinars and workshops on evaluation in various national contexts. She served as a subject matter expert in evaluation for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a decade and has held two intergovernmental personnel appointments at the CDC. She is a co-author of the fifth edition of Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines and co-led the creation of The Evaluation Center’s online training program, Valeo. Ayesha S. Boyce is an associate professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. She also co-directs the STEM Program Evaluation Lab. Dr. Boyce’s scholarship focuses on attending to value stances and issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, cultural responsiveness, and social justice within evaluation—especially multi-site, STEM, and contexts with historically and systematically marginalized populations. She also examines teaching, mentoring, and learning in evaluation. She has evaluated more than 60 programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and Spencer and Teagle Foundations. Dr. Boyce is a 2019 American Evaluation Association (AEA) Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award recipient and currently sits on the AEA board. Lyssa Wilson Becho is an evaluation scholar-practitioner. She works as a principal research associate at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. Dr. Becho directs an evaluation capacity-building initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, focusing on developing capacity in evaluation practice and use for both evaluation practitioners and consumers. Her scholarship focuses on bridging evaluation theory to practice and making approaches to evaluation accessible. She has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary evaluation and 10 years of experience evaluating local, state-, and nation-wide projects. Dr. Becho is also the co-executive editor of the Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation. Kelly N. Robertson works as a principal research associate at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. She has extensive experience conducting social justice-focused evaluations, publishing scholarly articles, and creating evaluation capacity-strengthening resources (e.g., webinars, guides, checklists). Dr. Robertson co-led the creation of The Evaluation Center’s online training program, Valeo. She has a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary evaluation and over 15 years of experience in the field of program evaluation. She also has a master’s degree in international development and a certificate in nonprofit leadership.