Publisher's Synopsis
Public policymaking is a high-stakes business that affects millionsof citizens and budgets ranging in the billions of tax dollars ineven the smallest of states. Policymakers need timely evaluativeinformation reported in understandable language by unbiasedsources. It is this need that evaluators at all levels ofgovernment, as well as those in many nonprofit organizations, seekto meet as they conduct evaluations, analyze policy options, andrecommend action on the part of policymakers. The authorscontributing to this volume examine theoretical and practicalapproaches to designing evaluation projects in ways that promotethe use of evaluation results in high-stakes settings.
The volume explores management of the politics of evaluation,which can be accomplished by considering the context in which anevaluation occurs and examining strategies for maximizing bothevaluators' independence from and their responsiveness to keystakeholders. Unconventional approaches, such as prospectiveevaluation and development of analytical tools for use by agencypersonnel, are examined, as is promotion of evaluation use througha symbiotic relationship with performance measurement. The chapterauthors discuss utilization strategies as applied to evaluations ofpublic health, education, and corrections programs. The finalchapter provides sage advice to evaluators on how to impact policydevelopment.
