American students today have limited interest in studying mathematics and science, and academic achievement in these two foundational disciplines is demonstrably low. This reality poses an acute challenge to our ability to keep American society intellectually vibrant and to ensure that our economy is globally competitive. This Business-Higher…

It is suggested that there are some serious problems with defining the concept of empowerment evaluation, with its underlying assumptions, and with its proposed justification. Although devolving some responsibility for evaluation is good, devolving all of it to stakeholders is bad, as is thinking that the devolution creates a new kind of…

Conceives of the classroom as a service encounter between marketer (instructor) and stakeholders (students), making stakeholder satisfaction the key to meeting learning goals. Suggests ways to create value in the classroom: understanding what stakeholders need and want, efficiently delivering services, and demonstrating product leadership. (SK)

Two perspectives on higher education's stakeholders and their involvement in the development of knowledge in universities are examined and contrasted: (1) that the "stakeholder" notion of knowledge doesn't allow for critical engagement with knowledge, and (2) that the "stakeholder" view of knowledge acknowledges clear links between knowledge and…

The author feels that the stakeholder approach unavoidably pushes the evaluation toward technical compromises and accommodations that diminish the long-term gains in knowledge. (PN)

Issues involved in empowering evaluation conducted with grass-roots organizations are discussed. One major issue centers on conflicting evaluation standards evaluators and stakeholders may have, and another is whether there is harmony between the empowerment model's goals of evaluation ownership and group advocacy. (SLD)

Stakeholder-based studies modify the relationship between evaluator and user, producing conflict that can cause evaluators to regress to familiar, traditional patterns that leave interactive evaluation strategies only partially implemented. (Author/PN)

Fostering self-determination is the defining focus of empowerment evaluation, but this type of evaluation overlaps participatory, collaborative, stakeholder-involving, and utilization-focused approaches to evaluation. It becomes critical to distinguish empowerment evaluation from other approaches as the field debates its boundaries and…

Analysis of the assumptions underlying the stakeholder approach to evaluation combined with the limited experience in testing the approach reported in this volume, suggests that some claims are cogent and others problematical. (Author)

As the article by Fantuzzo, McWayne, and Bulotsky (2003) indicates, it increasingly is recognized that research in the mental health field must include enhanced efforts to conduct work outside the laboratory and in collaboration with major stakeholders. However, the full implications of bringing the rigor of the scientific method into the…

Two main themes are found in the previous critiques (TM 510 180, TM 510 181, and TM 510 182) of the Tellado evaluation (TM 510 179): that Tellado lacked a clear audience for his evaluation and that he lacked an appropriate change orientation. A major problem with utilization-focused and stakeholder-based approaches to evaluation is revealed.…

Over the past 30 years, the political response to child maltreatment and its prevention has experienced periods of frantic activity, often followed by long periods of benign neglect. To an extent, this pattern reflects deep differences among child welfare advocates, researchers and practitioners on how best to proceed. While most everyone agrees…

This report discusses the exploration of teaching that occurred in the Knight Collaborative National Roundtable on Teaching held in the summer of 2001. The participants were almost entirely family members from a range of disciplines and institutions. All participants shared a deep commitment to teaching, but the question who owns teaching?…

Explores how quality in early childhood services is defined and examines the implications of working within the inclusionary approach. Argues that the choice of paradigm for working with quality is of the greatest importance for early childhood services. Concludes by noting that an inclusionary approach to quality fits best with the concept of…

Bank's report of a long-term evaluation of the Bureau of Jewish Education, discussed in the previous article, is reviewed and commented on from the following points of views: (1) effects of local ecology on evaluation activities; (2) implications of the case study for the role and training of evaluators; and (3) unemphasized aspects of the case…