Evaluation Management: How to Commission and Conduct Evaluations That Matter

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"Against a backdrop of demanding technical requirements and a dynamic political environment, the goal of evaluation management is to develop, with available resources and time, valid and useful measurement information and findings, and ensure the quality of the process, products and services being evaluated. Management decisions influence methodological decisions and vice versa, as method choice has cost implications. This book provides students, and new and experienced evaluation professionals, with the strategies, tools and skills to: (1) develop realistic evaluation plans; (2) negotiate needed adjustments when issues arise; (3) organize and manage evaluation teams; (4) monitor evaluation activities and budgets; (5) protect evaluation independence and rigor while responding to client needs; and (6) ensure the quality of evaluation products and briefings. The book includes exercises and questions that students can answer about their own evaluation, which will make it especially useful for practicum courses and professional masters and doctorates, where the culminating project is not a thesis or dissertation but rather a completed evaluation report. The book will be very "how to" book, and include sample agendas, outlines and instructions for processes, forms and tips. Finally, it will have examples and cases that demonstrate real-life examples of situations and challenges that evaluation managers face, and how they were addressed"--

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About the author (2024)

Anastasia (Tessie) Tzavaras Catsambas is the founder and CEO/CFO of EnCompass LLC, an organization of 250 staff that provides services in evaluation, learning, leadership, and organizational development. Ms. Catsambas brings 30 years' experience in planning, evaluation, and organizational development. She has managed large-scale, international evaluations, delivered training in different aspects of evaluation, and advocated for evaluation at global level. She is an instructor for the EnCompass Learning Center teaching appreciative evaluation, evaluation management, and gender transformative evaluation. Ms. Catsambas is an innovator and practitioner in appreciative evaluation, a methodology that incorporates the systematic study of successful experiences in evaluation, and has co-authored a book entitled, Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry (Sage 2006).Ms. Catsambas is a Past-President of the American Evaluation Association. She was a founding member of the EvalPartners Coalition, a global initiative to promote the use of evaluation to inform policy and program decisions and received the 2015 EvalPartners Award in recognition of her contributions. Ms. Catsambas holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from the College of Wooster in Ohio and a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. She has trained with the late Dr. W. Edwards Deming in Total Quality Management. She is fluent in French and Greek and speaks Spanish. Anastasia (Tessie) Tzavaras Catsambas is the founder and CEO/CFO of EnCompass LLC, an organization of 250 staff that provides services in evaluation, learning, leadership, and organizational development. Ms. Catsambas brings 30 years' experience in planning, evaluation, and organizational development. She has managed large-scale, international evaluations, delivered training in different aspects of evaluation, and advocated for evaluation at global level. She is an instructor for the EnCompass Learning Center teaching appreciative evaluation, evaluation management, and gender transformative evaluation. Ms. Catsambas is an innovator and practitioner in appreciative evaluation, a methodology that incorporates the systematic study of successful experiences in evaluation, and has co-authored a book entitled, Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry (Sage 2006).Ms. Catsambas is a Past-President of the American Evaluation Association. She was a founding member of the EvalPartners Coalition, a global initiative to promote the use of evaluation to inform policy and program decisions and received the 2015 EvalPartners Award in recognition of her contributions. Ms. Catsambas holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from the College of Wooster in Ohio and a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. She has trained with the late Dr. W. Edwards Deming in Total Quality Management. She is fluent in French and Greek and speaks Spanish. E. Jane Davidson is an internationally recognized evaluation specialist, best known for developing evaluation rubrics as a methodology for drawing conclusions about quality and value. She has also made significant contributions in the areas of causal inference for qualitative and mixed methods, and in synthesis methodologies for evaluation.Dr. Davidson is sought after internationally as a speaker and workshop presenter for her signature approach of methodologically robust but refreshingly practical evaluation with breathtaking clarity.She has presented keynotes and invited workshops in the US, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.She is former Associate Director of the internationally recognized Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, where she launched and directed the world's first fully Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Evaluation. She was the 2019 recipient of the American Evaluation Association's prestigious Paul F. Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award.

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