With a lack of consensus of what evaluation is within the field of evaluation, there is a difficulty in communicating to nonevaluators what evaluation is and how evaluation differs from research. To understand how evaluation is defined, both evaluators and researchers were asked how they defined evaluation and, if at all, differentiated evaluation from research. Overall, evaluators believed research and evaluation intersect, whereas researchers believed evaluation is a subcomponent of research. Furthermore, evaluators perceived greater differences between evaluation and research than researchers did, particularly in characteristics relevant at the beginning (e.g., purpose, questions, audience) and end (e.g., rendering value judgments, disseminating results) of studies. This study suggests that greater consensus on a definition of evaluation is needed to be able to distinguish the field and discipline of evaluation from related fields and to be able to communicate this information to nonevaluators.

AcknowledgementsI am grateful to Natalie D. Jones-friend and colleague at Claremont Graduate University-for her help in coding the qualitative data for this study. AbstractWith a lack of consensus of what evaluation is within the field of evaluation, there is difficulty in communicating what evaluation is and how evaluation differs from research to non-evaluators.To understand how evaluation is defined, both evaluators and researchers were asked how they defined evaluation and, if at all, differentiated evaluation from research. Results supported the hypotheses that evaluators differentiated evaluation from research differently than researchers, believing research and evaluation intersect whereas researchers believe evaluation is a subcomponent of research, and evaluators perceived greater differences between evaluation and research than researchers do, particularly in aspects at the beginning (e.g., purpose, questions, audience) and end (e.g., rendering value judgments, disseminating results) of studies. This study suggests that greater consensus on a definition of evaluation is needed to be able to distinguish the field and discipline of evaluation from related fields and to be able to communicate this information to non-evaluators.

Much of the research on grit has examined its predictive validity toward academic success; however, little research has treated grit as an outcome. This study uses multilevel modeling to examine how student-level demographics, school-level demographics, and students’ experiences in school predict grit. Results demonstrate that students’ experiences in school—including school engagement, relationships with adults and peers, and school culture—and self-reported GPA were most strongly related to grit, ethnicity was weakly related to grit, and gender and school demographics did not significantly relate to grit. Implications of this research on the potential malleability of grit are discussed.

This paper is part of a larger project to examine who calls themselves an evaluator and why, as well as how evaluators differ from non-evaluators. For the present paper, 40 professionals doing applied work (e.g., evaluators, researchers) participated in an hour-long semi-structured interview which involved questions about their applied practice and identity, as well as perceived similarities and differences between evaluators and related applied professionals. Research questions were: what does the journey into the field look like for evaluators and similar professionals and how do they describe the similarities and differences between evaluators and other similar professionals? Results showed evaluators and non-evaluators have unique journeys into the field. Furthermore, evaluators and other similar professionals describe the similarities and differences similarly, yet there are also some misconceptions similar professionals have regarding evaluators and evaluation. This paper contributes to the larger conversation on the professionalization of evaluation by helping understand the jurisdictional boundaries between evaluation and other related fields.