Emphasizing Cultural Competence in Evaluation

Abstract

This paper describes a process-oriented approach to culturally competent evaluation, focusing on a case study of an evaluation of an HIV/AIDS educational program in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. We suggest that cultural competency in evaluation is not a function of a static set of prescribed steps but is achieved via ongoing reflection, correction, and adaptation. The aim of these processes is to attain the ''best fit'' possible between evaluation goals, methods, and cultural context. Three main ingredients in a process-oriented approach to culturally competent evaluation are discussed: collaboration, reflective adaptation, and contextual analysis. In addition, since evaluators face constraints set by funders and other stakeholders, we suggest that cultural competence is best viewed as a continuum. An evaluator's goal should be to ''move across the continuum'' in order to achieve the highest level of cultural competency possible given the unique parameters of every evaluation.

Oral communication skills assessment in a synchronous hybrid MBA programme: does attending face-to-face matter for US and international students?

“…According to Botcheva, Shih, and Huffman (2009), assessment practices must reflect an awareness of cultural differences. This awareness, they argue, is essential for effective communication across culturally diverse groups.…”

Developing the Program Evaluation Utility Standards: Scholarly Foundations and Collaborative Processes

“…Numerous possibilities for addressing and preventing misuse of the standards and the standards development processes also emerged from the scholarship on evaluation misuse and helped guide the collaborations (cf. Cousins, 2004 ;Cousins & Shulha, 2006 ;Yarbrough et al, 2011 ). Th e scholarship on evaluation infl uence (e.g., Henry, 2003 ;Mark & Henry, 2004 ;Kirkhart, 2000 ) was also foundationally important for the utility standards (e.g., standard "U8 Concern for Consequences and Infl uence") and for aspirations with regard to long-term infl uences of the standards development processes and subsequent standards dissemination.…”

Culturally Responsive Evaluation Meets Systems-Oriented Evaluation

“…The evaluation literature has grown considerably in terms of scholarship on what it takes to design and implement an evaluation that addresses culture, context, inclusiveness, and multicultural validity (e.g., Botcheva, Shih, & Huffman, 2009;Frierson et al, 2010;Hood, Hopson, & Frierson, 2005;Hopson, 2009;Kirkhart, 2005;LaFrance, 2004;Mertens, 1999;Thomas & Stevens, 2004;Thompson-Robinson et al, 2004). Ultimately, CRE is deeply steeped in a particular value system or framework that offers guidance on the types of issues that evaluators should attend to throughout the entire evaluation.…”