Great article! Loved “Evaluators can help prevent harm and the perpetuation of inequity by convening stakeholders (such as funders, policymakers, community leaders, and residents) to contextualize and discuss the data. These gatherings provide the opportunity for people to listen to one another, understand what they can and cannot conclude from the data, and work together to promote social justice and equity. ” Wonderful empowerment evaluation!
I also encourage readers to think about creating ongoing feedback loops and do regular debriefs. I am just back from doing a post-project sustainability evaluation in Niger and we solicited input of all kinds of stakeholders which so enriched our study of sustainability after projects end. We need international development projects to be accountable to their true clients - our end of the line participants!
Thanks for this excellent post! I love how you connect evaluation and evaluative thinking to Community Science’s mission to build healthy, just, and equitable communities.
Thanks, too, for referencing our aea365 post on evaluative thinking. For more thoughts on good practices and activities to support evaluative thinking, check out this new blog post: https://tgarchibald.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/fostering-evaluative-thinking-part-2/
Excellent article! I plan to use this in an upcoming course for community practitioners to help them understand specifically how evaluation is part of their community change work.
COMMENTS
BY Jindra Cekan
ON June 19, 2015 01:37 AM
Great article! Loved “Evaluators can help prevent harm and the perpetuation of inequity by convening stakeholders (such as funders, policymakers, community leaders, and residents) to contextualize and discuss the data. These gatherings provide the opportunity for people to listen to one another, understand what they can and cannot conclude from the data, and work together to promote social justice and equity. ” Wonderful empowerment evaluation!
vCatholic Relief Services has been doing some great work on fostering evaluative thinking internationally. You may want to see: http://www.interaction.org/document/embracing-evaluative-thinking-better-outcomes-four-ngo-case-studies
I also encourage readers to think about creating ongoing feedback loops and do regular debriefs. I am just back from doing a post-project sustainability evaluation in Niger and we solicited input of all kinds of stakeholders which so enriched our study of sustainability after projects end. We need international development projects to be accountable to their true clients - our end of the line participants!
BY Tom Archibald
ON June 19, 2015 11:41 AM
Thanks for this excellent post! I love how you connect evaluation and evaluative thinking to Community Science’s mission to build healthy, just, and equitable communities.
Thanks, too, for referencing our aea365 post on evaluative thinking. For more thoughts on good practices and activities to support evaluative thinking, check out this new blog post: https://tgarchibald.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/fostering-evaluative-thinking-part-2/
BY Joy Amulya
ON June 19, 2015 02:22 PM
Excellent article! I plan to use this in an upcoming course for community practitioners to help them understand specifically how evaluation is part of their community change work.