The National Center for Evaluation and Assessment (NCEA), a division of Creative Research Solutions (CRS), will hold our inaugural conference on April 8-9, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.  Our speakers include Dr. Tracy Hilliard (MPHI), Dr. Melvin Hall (CREA), and Dr. T'Pring Westbrook.  Our theme is Forging New Pathways: Evaluation and Assessment in Support of Equity and Inclusion.  Visit https://nceaonline.com/events/save-the-date-2020-conference/ to learn more.  

Contribute to the Future of Evaluation   Submit an Evaluation 2020 Proposal Today!

AEA is now accepting session proposal submissions for Evaluation 2020! Taking place October 26 – 31 in Portland, Oregon, Evaluation 2020 brings together professionals from across the globe to focus on key trends impacting the field of evaluation. As you submit your proposal to present at Evaluation 2020, keep in mind – we are looking for both creative thinking and variety in your submissions. Don’t miss this opportunity to present in front of a global audience of more than 3,000 colleagues! Submissions are now due Monday, March 23, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. (EST). We are continuing to monitor the situation and are moving forward at this time with all planned AEA events, keeping the safety and well-being of our community and members the top priority.

Submit Proposal

How Will You Shine Your Light?

Those of us in AEA, or who have chosen the profession of Evaluation, have done so because we believe our professional field allows us to shine our lights for the purposes of improving conditions for others to shine theirs. This year’s theme, How Will You Shine Your Light? explores the expression of light through evaluation practice. AEA President Aimee White encourages those submitting a proposal to ask “How am I shining my light in my work?” When creating a proposal submission, pose your own questions around how you are shining your light in evaluation practice. Read more about the Evaluation 2020 theme.

Think About the AEA Guiding Principles

New this year, we want your proposal to connect to the AEA Guiding Principles. The Guiding Principles reflect the core values of AEA and are intended as a guide to the professional ethical conduct of evaluators. When submitting your proposal, you will be asked to choose principles that are related to your topic or proposal. Learn more about the AEA Guiding Principles.

How to Submit Your Proposal

Visit the AEA website to get started. You must be logged into your AEA account to submit a proposal. If you do not have an account, you must become a member, create a non-member account, or create a student non-member account. Please ensure your member profile is up-to-date with your proper title and organization before you submit your proposal. We look forward to receiving your submissions! Once you submit your proposal successfully, you will receive a confirmation email. If you have any questions or need assistance in submitting your proposal, feel free to contact our education team members directly at education@eval.org or 202-367-1166.

On February 20 at 9am EST, join Data for Impact for the third webinar in a series sharing lessons learned in applying complexity-aware methods in evaluation. We'll discuss the Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) method, a useful tool for evaluators.

  Learn more

The 2020 call for blog posts by Sheila B. Robinson

By Sheila Robinson / January 25, 2020

Greetings aea365 readers AND authors! I’m Sheila B Robinson, Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor. Just last week, I wrote this post asking what you would like to read on aea365 in 2020.

Thanks to those who offered these ideas! Now, I’m writing to ask YOU to consider contributing on one of these, or any other evaluation-related topics.

Learn more

February 7 Proposal Deadline: CREA (Culturally Responsive Evaluation & Assessment) 6^th Annual International Conference Sep. 29-Oct. 2 in Chicago, IL

The CREA 2020 theme of Interrogating Cultural Responsiveness against the Backdrop of Racism and Colonialism will focus on the following areas in program evaluation, measurement, and assessment:

• Being culturally responsive in the midst of discomfort and opposition—critically reflecting on our professional experiences and strategies for maintaining and strengthening our cultural responsiveness
• Choosing to be part of a solution rather than part of a problem—how well do we encourage interpersonal and academic discussions of racism and colonialism
• Building the capacity of those we work with—communities, organizations, funders—to understand history, culture and the distribution of power resulting from racism and colonialism
• Naming, unpacking, and destabilizing white privilege to understand how racism and colonialism negatively impact all peoples
• Delving deeper into the intersections of racism and colonialism with sexism, transphobia and other prejudices that marginalize and exclude
• Examining the theoretical roots of cultural responsiveness through the intersecting lenses of racism and colonialism.

Papers are invited that address one or more of the following:

1. Reports of interventions—We invite papers that describe interventions/programs addressing a particular type of inequity primarily including discussions of outcomes and impacts.

2. Development of an intersectional evidence base—We invite papers that discuss new ways of thinking about evidence of effectiveness and program impact within interventions that target people of color including indigenous and tribal specific communities.

3. Theories of change that incorporate an intersectional perspective—We invite papers that explore the plausibility and testability of various theories of change that address inequities in specific, local or global circumstances.

4. Instrumentation—We invite papers that address issues in the development of measures and indicators that are sensitive to capturing changes in underrepresented individuals and communitiesthat are targeted in programs and interventions. 5. Critical reflection —We invite papers that deconstruct dynamics of power and privilege surrounding evaluation and assessment while closely examining the cultural location of our work as well as its ethical and moral complexities given intersectional considerations.

Learn More

A new issue of the Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation (JMDE) was published recently and is freely available at jmde.com
http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1.

The contents of the issue are:

Donald T. Cambell’s Evolutionary Perspective and its Implications for Evaluation http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/553
Robert Picciotto

What, How, and Why? A Comparative Analysis of 12 Goal-Free Evaluations http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/444
Brandon W. Youker

Big Shoes to Fill: An Evaluation Journey in the Footsteps of Daniel L. Stufflebeam http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/609
Sherrie-Ann Camilli

Retrospective Pretest and Counterfactual Self-Report: Different or Same? http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/575
Tony C.M. Lam, Edgar Valencia

Children’s Opinion of Retrospective Pre-Post ‘Then-Test’ Survey Validity http://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/535
Leanne M. Kelly

14TH EUROPEAN EVALUATION SOCIETY BIENNIAL CONFERENCE 2020 – COPENHAGEN, DK

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS: CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The EES professional development workshops will take place during the first two days of the conference on September 21 and 22, 2020. These workshops provide an opportunity for evaluators and evaluation stakeholders, to access high quality, up to date and practically oriented professional development sessions on the ever increasing and rapidly evolving body of evaluation theory and practice.

The professional development workshops are one day sessions and topics may include for example: evaluation approaches, evaluation designs, specific methods related to various themes, evaluation and use of digital technologies, evaluation as social practice, etc.

Innovative workshop submissions are encouraged and welcome.

For information on how to submit your workshop proposal (no later than 15 March 2020 ) and on the benefits associated with the provision of a professional development workshop, please visit http://www.ees2020.eu/professional-development-workshops.htm

For the latest news about the conference please visit http://www.ees2020.eu/

Albine Guitard & Ian Davies, Co-chairs
EES Professional Development Workshops

Minnesotans working in evaluation who are from communities that are Indigenous, Black, and/or Of Color: We are happy to report that we had about 25 people attend our first meeting in-person or remotely—most of whom did not know each other previously. Another 25 expressed interest but were unable to attend that particular evening. Folks were enthusiastic to meet again, soon, and we are fortunate that Choua Her has graciously offered to host the second meeting on Wednesday, January 22 in St. Paul.

Beyond community building and having an open conversation about our experiences, one focus of the January (and February) meeting will be to ensure that those who were unable to attend in December have a chance to contribute their ideas to the guiding principles that this group will embrace and likely-ever-evolving list of topics that this group will collectively address. Depending on the size and composition of January’s attendees, we may decide to also offer a break-out space/ time for those who want to begin thinking through questions about how we should take care of the group’s logistics and administration.

Please find meeting details below and let us know if you plan to attend the January 22 meeting in-person or are interested in attending future events by completing this Google Form by Monday, January 20, 2020.

Feel free to share this invitation, noting that this space/time is being co-created by/for/as folks with life experience as members of groups that are Indigenous, Black, and/or Of Color who are doing evaluation work. White accomplices can show their support/solidarity by honoring the needs, rights, and power involved in IBPOC gathering among ourselves, without them. There may be future opportunities for white accomplices to engage with us in these conversations.

If you have any questions, please contact Carolina at Carolina@pdastats.com. 

MEETING DETAILS

Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Time: 5:30-7:30pm Feel free to come whenever you can and stay for as long as you can.

Location:  Larpenteur Estates
1260 Larpenteur Avenue West
Saint Paul, MN 55113

· There will be signs so folks know where to go and don't get lost.

· There will not be a Zoom option on this date. Look for one in the next several weeks! (We decided that we will create an entirely separate virtual space and time for folks who cannot attend in person to participate, based on our experience at the December meeting when we found it difficult for each side to hear each other.)

Driving directions:         
· Enter by the 1260 building which is across from the Auto Zone store.
· We are happy to try helping coordinate transportation.

Parking is free.
· Park anywhere along the building or by the garages where there is an open space. Walk to the large sign that says Party Room and follow the walkway.

Public transportation:    Metro transit Bus 61. Get off at the Fernwood Street and Larpenteur stop. Walk a few feet to the building across from the Auto Zone store. Go up the walkway to the entrance.

There will be a sign to the Party Room.

Please note:                 
· Feel free but not pressured to bring a snack to share (all are welcome, with or without snacks!).
· There is a full kitchen that folks are welcome to use. If you do bring food, please bring a list of ingredients or note if it contains common allergens or ingredients that folks on restricted diets often avoid (e.g., any kind of meat or seafood, especially shellfish; animal by-products such as gelatin, dairy, eggs; nuts; gluten).

· Please avoid any kind of scent in the interest of attendees with allergies, asthma, and other sensitivities.

Additional considerations:
· Children and others you may care for are welcome.
· There are accessible parking spaces right by the large sign that leads to the walkway, which goes right into the party room entrance.

The party room is on ground level so folks can enter through the same entrance as those who drive and park their cars.

Those taking public transit would need to walk along the parking row that's next to the 1260 building then take a right to get to the walkway.

We will pin down more details regarding the accessible parking spaces, curbs, ramps and are happy to arrange for specific types of access/accommodations including alternative formats, translation, and interpretation.

Thanks and hope to see you soon!

Sincerely on behalf of:

Tia Bastian (Professional Data Analysts)
Carolina De La Rosa Mateo (Professional Data Analysts)
Kassira Absar (The Improve Group)
Vidhya Shanker (Rainbow Research)

Description of image attached: The faces of 6 people of varying genders and hair colors and skin colors, with the words, “This space/time is being co-created by/for/as folks with life experience as members of groups that are Indigenous, Black, and/or Of Color who are doing evaluation work. White accomplices can show their support/solidarity by honoring the needs, rights, and power involved in IBPOC gathering among ourselves, without them. There may be future opportunities for white accomplices to engage with us in these conversations.” Beautifully rendered by Anne Gomez of Picture This Graphic Recording & Facilitation.