The Art of Evaluation is essential reading for educators and prospective educators who are concerned about the critical role of evaluation in the learning process and want to know how to improve their own assessment approaches and enable learners to assume active, meaningful roles in evaluating their own learning. An instructor can know all there is to know about evaluation and still have a difficult time evaluating students well. This book offers practical ways to plan evaluation and develop tools to record and report learner growth. The underlying theme is that good evaluation involves the learner throughout the whole learning experience and is not simply a judgment by an instructor at the end of a course. The book systematically reviews many aspects of learner evaluation from different perspectives and provides practical suggestions about how to conduct evaluation in different contexts to benefit all concerned. This book is intended as an introduction to learner evaluation in various contexts of adult education. We have attempted to address issues and provide examples that would fit the interests of students of adult education, new college and university teachers, trainers in business and government and consultants whose work involves learner evaluation. Every educator works within a unique context of learners, purposes, structures, and cultures. Every reader, therefore, needs to be critical and selective when choosing among the materials offered in this book. Some of it will suit you, some may not fit your philosophy or your situation, and some will need adaptation to be useful in your work.

Providing state-of-the-art perspectives on what evaluation is, its purpose, and how to ensure it is done well, this book brings together major evaluation researchers from a variety of social and behavioral science disciplines. Each chapter identifies a fundamental issue facing the field today; considers its implications for theory, method, practice, or the profession; and explores one or more approaches to dealing with the issue. Among the topics addressed are the nature of expertise in evaluation, how to build a better evidence base for evaluation theory, promoting cultural competence in evaluation, how to synthesize evaluation research findings, ways to involve stakeholders in decision making, and much more.

The guide, updated from its original release in 1999, is intended for project managers who will oversee the evaluation of traffic safety programs. It describes the benefits of evaluation and provides an overview of the steps involved. The guide includes case examples to illustrate the described concepts and discusses what to look for when hiring a professional evaluator for large or complex evaluations.