Evaluators and the enhanced Commonwealth performance framework

This article explores the current evaluation education program opportunities in the Australian higher education market and identifies potential research areas to inform pathways for future investment. Findings from our initial scoping phase are provided as a prelude to future work required in this space. The overarching research question investigates whether there is an opportunity to deliver further evaluation education programs in Australian higher education. Emerging from this question are three objectives: (a) to determine the current landscape of Australian university evaluation education program offerings; (b) to gain an understanding of the evaluation education discourse articulated within six selected evaluation journals and (c) to consider whether evaluation is a viable and meaningful discipline within higher education programs. An action research approach was adopted commencing with a benchmarking activity of Australian university offerings, followed by a bibliometric analysis of six evaluation journals, and concluding with a rapid scan of the literature. The selected methodologies reveal a potential gap in the higher education market, with the literature identifying inconsistent and mismatched programs while emphasising the need to invest in evaluation education. This article seeks to stimulate debate about formal higher education qualifications in evaluation and highlights the importance of potential future curriculum structure that can offer evaluators value, utility and growth.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scoping recent investment in evaluation education in Australian universities

Quadrelli

Staheli

Cook-Watkins

et al. 2022

“…The United Kingdom’s What Works Network works with national and local government officials to support their efforts to craft evidence-based approaches to solving problems (What Works Network, 2018). The Commonwealth of Australia has similarly taken steps to embed evaluation within government practice through the Australian Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act (Barrett, 2018; Morton & Cook, 2018).…”

Section: The Rise Of Evidence-based Policymakingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation in the age of evidence-based policymaking: Promises, pitfalls and paths forward

VanLandingham

2020

Evaluators have long sought a world in which our work makes a tangible difference to society, but that goal has often seemed out of reach. However, in recent years, advocates have proclaimed an era of evidence-based policymaking in which the What Works data generated by evaluations will be increasingly used to inform programme and policy choices. Four primary factors have been critical to the rise of this approach – attaining a critical mass of curated What Works’ evidence, growing interest among political leaders in considering this information when making choices, new budgetary mechanisms for using these data and new tools that facilitate rigorous outcome studies. However, the movement also faces critical challenges including the growing distrust of empirical data among some political factions, leaks in the evaluation pipeline that generates data to identify What Works and the replication failure of many evidence-based interventions. The evaluation field should support this movement through efforts to plug leaks in the evidence pipeline, stronger efforts to assess implementation challenges, training students in evidence-based approaches and assisting in outreach to policymakers.

“…Limited compliance has been found in three agencies (ANAO, 2017) and a Review of implementing the Act found the 'quality of performance reporting needs to improve' (Alexander & Thodey, 2018, p. 3). DoF has recognised programme evaluation contributes to this performance (Morton & Cook, 2018). Measuring performance is linked with achievement by DoF's Resource Management Guide (RMG) 131: 'Performance measures should enable an entity to demonstrate its performance in achieving its purposes or key activities over time' (DoF, 2020, p. 11).…”

Section: Implementing the Pgpa Actmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation in the Australian Public Service: Formerly practised – Not yet embedded

Graves

2020

This article examines what impeded programme evaluation from being embedded in the Australian Public Service (APS), being relevant to the Australian Government’s current priority of embedding evaluation in the APS. It draws on a case study of evaluation as the major element of the 1980s APS ‘Managing for Results’ (MfR) reform and the reasons for evaluation’s later demise. During MfR, evaluation was intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of APS programmes. Although evaluation was incorporated into APS practice by 1992, after 1997, evaluation was no longer required. Currently, agencies must demonstrate their annual non-financial performance over 4 years under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, with evaluation being recommended to support this requirement. It is pertinent to current Government consideration of a National Indigenous Evaluation Strategy, which supports the creation of an independent Evaluator-General to embed APS evaluation practice.