Nonprofit organizations are under great pressure to use evaluations to show that their programs "work" and that they are "effective." However, empirical evidence indicates that nonprofits struggle to perform useful evaluations, especially when conducted under accountability pressures. An increasing body of evidence highlights…

Most evaluators have embraced the goal of evidence-based practice (EBP). Yet, many have criticized EBP review systems that prioritize randomized control trials and use various criteria to limit the studies examined. They suggest this could produce policy recommendations based on small, unrepresentative segments of the literature and recommend a…

This case study examined the functional role activities of developmental evaluators in a school and community partnership employing a collaborative program model to improve an urban underperforming public school. Program implementers' assessments of program developments and their experience with developmental evaluators were also examined. Data…

In a complex, multisite initiative, a well-developed theory of change can help an organization's leadership make strategic decisions about program elements, organizational direction and priorities, as well as provide structure and accountability for evaluation. This article describes the multistep process used by the evaluation team of a large…

To help evaluation professionals better understand what an authentic attempt at Developmental Evaluation (DE) ought to look like and when it is appropriate to use, Michael Patton's provocative essay (this issue) offers evaluators eight sensitizing concepts to call on as guides. Patton states these concepts succinctly define DE and persuasively…

As theory-based evaluation (TBE) engages in situations where multiple stakeholders help develop complex program theory about dynamic phenomena in politically contested settings, it becomes difficult to develop and use program theory without ambiguity. The purpose of this article is to explore ambiguity as a fruitful perspective that helps TBE face…

In the coming years, public programs will capture even more and richer data than they do now, including data from web-based tools used by participants in employment services, from tablet-based educational curricula, and from electronic health records for Medicaid beneficiaries. Program evaluators seeking to take full advantage of these data…

This study explores the relationship between evaluation policies and evaluation practice. Through document analysis, interviews, and a multiple case study, the research examined the explicit and implicit policies overarching the evaluation work commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and explored how these policies are…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest source of funding for biomedical research in the world. Funding decisions are made largely based on the outcome of a peer review process that is intended to provide a fair, equitable, timely, and unbiased review of the quality, scientific merit, and potential impact of the research. There have…

Evaluating initiatives implemented across multiple settings can elucidate how various contextual factors may influence both implementation and outcomes. Understanding context is especially critical when the same program has varying levels of success across settings. We present a framework for evaluating contextual factors affecting an initiative…

Despite bipartisan support in Washington, DC, which dates back to the mid-1990s, the "what works" approach has yet to gain broad support among policymakers and practitioners. One way to build such support is to increase the usefulness of program impact evaluations for these groups. We describe three ways to make impact evaluations more…

In 2012, the American Evaluation Association (AEA) added community psychology (CP) to its roster of topical interests groups (TIG). One of the highlights of the CP TIG program at the 2012 AEA Conference and the genesis of this "American Journal of Evaluation" Forum was a panel of accomplished community psychologists and evaluation…

Since April 2013, the Eleanor Chelimsky Forum has served as the centerpiece of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society's (EERS) annual conference. Eleanor Chelimsky (2012), a highly esteemed pioneer in the evaluation field, inspired the Forum in her 2012 plenary address (subsequently published in "American Journal of Evaluation"…

Evaluation is increasingly accepted as a tool for understanding and assessing the value of public programs and policies. Less understood, however, is how and why evaluation helps to inform judgments of value. This "American Journal of Evaluation" ("AJE") section on Professional Values and Ethics focuses on how values are to…

Evaluators widely agree that stakeholder involvement is a central aspect of effective program evaluation. With the exception of articles on collaborative evaluation approaches, however, a systematic review of the breadth and depth of the literature on stakeholder involvement has not been published. In this study, we examine peer-reviewed empirical…