Competency-Based Evaluation Education: Four Essential Things to Know and Do

Abstract

Evaluator education must provide robust opportunities to support and assess the progressive, lifelong development of relevant knowledge and skills. If we wish to keep pace with the increasingly complex contexts in which evaluators operate, we need to better align our educational approaches with the global movement towards practice competencies guiding the profession. Key among the challenges is the lack of instructional guidance specific to a competency-based approach to evaluator education. In this practice note, we orient readers to the value of competency-based evaluation education and describe the teaching context using a systems perspective to examine the dynamic learning interactions and experiences. We advance four essential instructional features of the competency-based approach revealed by a study documenting the impacts on learning and student experiences. We conclude with lessons learned from reflecting upon our experiences during the development and implementation of a competency-based doctoral-level evaluation course to highlight the mutual benefits for learners and instructors.

Scoping recent investment in evaluation education in Australian universities

“…Incorporating evaluator competencies was one of the recurrent recommendations throughout the literature, and it was identified that incorporating these competencies as student learning outcomes was the most effective way to align evaluation practices with industry needs and prepare students for professional practice (Gokiert et al, 2021; LaVelle & Galport, 2020; Poth & Searle, 2021). Of these professional competencies, the most important for practice were identified by Galport and Azzam (2017) as professional practice, systematic inquiry and interpersonal competence, which were also the competencies the study identified as needing the most training.…”

Setting the stage for critically defined and responsive evaluator education and training

“…As discussed by Quadrelli and colleagues, many of these education‐focused articles may be attributed to the efforts of a few scholars soliciting and editing Special Issues for Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation , New Directions for Evaluation , and Evaluation and Program Planning . Topics have included broad landscapes of evaluator education (Gullickson et al., 2019; King & Ayoo, 2020), alignment of graduate education and evaluator competencies (LaVelle & Galport, 2020; LaVelle & Johnson, 2022; Poth & Searle, 2021; Sowl et al., 2022), cognitive complexity (Clinton & Hattie, 2021), service learning (Warner, 2020), authentic course assessments (Searle & Poth, 2021), student and practitioner reflections (LaVelle & Yang, 2021), dispositions (Davies, 2021), incorporation of evaluative thinking (Archibald, 2021), considerations for mentoring graduate students of color (Boyce, 2021), and the teaching and learning of evaluation with and within BIPoC communities.…”