ERIC Number: EJ1019084
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1098-2140
EISSN: N/A
A Partnership Model for Evaluation: Considering an Alternate Approach to the Internal-External Evaluation Debate
Le Menestrel, Suzanne M.; Walahoski, Jill S.; Mielke, Monica B.
American Journal of Evaluation, v35 n1 p61-72 Mar 2014
The 4-H youth development organization is a complex public--private partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the nation's Cooperative Extension system and National 4-H Council, a private, nonprofit partner. The current article is focused on a partnership approach to the evaluation of a national 4-H Science initiative that engaged both internal and external evaluators as well as key stakeholders. While external evaluators are valued for their relative lack of bias and independence, internal evaluation has been the predominant strategy used by the Cooperative Extension system. For this evaluation, we adopted a hybrid approach that teamed an external evaluation firm with a team of internal evaluators and key stakeholders. We discuss specific strategies and approaches that we developed to implement this approach in the 4-H youth development organization and offer suggestions for how it might be useful in other complex, multipartner organizations.
Descriptors: Youth Programs, Evaluators, Cooperation, Evaluation Methods, Stakeholders, Teamwork, Program Evaluation, Program Development, Extension Education, Research Design
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Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative; Journal Articles
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A