Evaluation Roots: Tracing Theorists′ Views and Influences - Tapa dura

Concern for evaluation theoretical prescriptions emerged about 40 years ago, giving it a history that is both recent enough to be part of the living experience of many of today's theorists and old enough to afford an opportunity for an analysis of how the field has evolved over time. This book examines current evaluation theories and traces their evolution with the point of view that theories build upon theories and, therefore, evaluation theories are related to each other. Initially, all evaluation was derived from social science research methodology and accountability concerns. The way in which these evaluation `roots' grew to form a tree helps to provide a better understanding of evaluation theory. Thus, the book uses an evaluation theory tree as its central metaphor. The authors posit that evaluation theories can be classified by the extent to which they focus on methods, uses, or valuing; these three approaches form the major limbs of the tree. In addition to the authors' overview, which analyzes the evaluation theory tree and connections among theories, the book contains essays by most of the leading evaluation theorists. In these pieces, the evaluators comment on their own development and give their views of their placement upon the tree.

Marvin C. Alkin is Emeritus Professor in the Social Research Methodology Division of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been a member of the UCLA faculty since 1964 and has, at various times, served as Chair of the Education Department and Associate Dean of the school. Dr. Alkin was one of the founders of the Center for the Study of Evaluation and was its Director for 7 years. Dr. Alkin is a leading authority in the field of evaluation. He has published important research studies on the use of evaluation information in decision making and on comparative evaluation theory. His publications include five books on evaluation and more than 150 journal articles, book chapters, monographs, and technical reports. His books include Using Evaluations (with Peter White and Richard Daillak), Debates on Evaluation, Evaluation Roots (1st and 2nd editions), and the four-volume Encyclopedia of Educational Research (6th edition). Dr. Alkin is currently co-section Editor of the American Journal of Evaluation. He previously had been Editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. He has also been a consultant to numerous national governments and has directed program evaluations in 14 different countries.