The role of involvement and use in multisite evaluations

✍ Scribed by Frances Lawrenz; Jean A. King; Ann Ooms

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 49 KB
• Volume: 2011
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1097-6736
• DOI: 10.1002/ev.354

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A cross‐case analysis of four National Science Foundation (NSF) case studies identified both unique details and common themes related to promoting the use and influence of multisite evaluations. The analysis provided evidence of diverse evaluation use by stakeholders and suggested that people taking part in the multisite evaluations perceived their involvement differently from the more traditional view of participation in local evaluations. The study also highlighted the importance of attending to the following issues: the interface between the funder and local project staff; the life cycles of the program and its evaluation, as well as those of the local project and its individual staff; the details of who controls the projects; the many tensions that can exist between the goals of the large‐scale program and its smaller funded projects; the perceived quality of the evaluation and the evaluators; and the possibilities of community building and networking across projects. © Wiley Periodicals Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.