“Honor the Context”

Abstract

Racial minority evaluators increase the democratic capacity and potential of institutions to the extent that they draw on their experiences and those of other marginalized communities. Their reflection on these experiences helps to disclose institutional power dynamics that are often veiled in neutrality. Of course, this depends on sound consideration of the context in and around institutions. This essay has two general aims. The first is to outline the components of this argument in relation to pertinent scholarship. The second is to demonstrate the ways that the author might bring this understanding to bear on the evaluation of new school systems such as charter schools. Along the way, the author hopes to contribute to the discussion on culturally competent evaluation.

Discourses of Belonging: Intersections of Truth, Power, and Ethics in Evaluation With Migrant Youth

“…Further, evaluation of programs for migrant youth generally focus on performance indicators and predictors of academic success, often failing to uncover, or even perpetuating, deeper inequalities (Greene, 1999). Prado (2011) argues that power dynamics and inequalities are "typically veiled by the language of institutional neutrality" (p. 422), making the work of democratic evaluation more challenging, particularly related to programs and policies intended to serve historically marginalized populations. This provides the context from which we start this article; specifically, we engage with the ethical and reflexive dimensions of evaluation, which were activated from an empirical evaluation with newcomer migrant youth.…”