Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) as a Vehicle for Social Transformation: Conceptualizing Transformative ECB and Kaleidoscopic Thinking

Program evaluation has become an increasingly urgent task for organizations, agencies, and initiatives that have the obligation or motivation to measure program outcomes, demonstrate impact, improve programming, tell their program story, and justify new or continued funding. Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is an important endeavor not only to empower program staff to understand, describe, and improve their programs, but also to enable programs to effectively manage limited resources. Accountability is important as public funds for social programs continue to dwindle and program administrators must do their best to fulfill their program missions in ethical, sustainable ways despite insufficient resources. While ECB on its own valuable, as it can promote evaluative thinking and help build staff's evaluation literacy and competency, ECB presents a ripe opportunity for program staff to understand the principles of equity and inclusivity and to see themselves as change agents for societal transformation. In the present study, I developed, tested, and evaluated the concept of transformative ECB (TECB), a social justice-oriented approach, rooted in culturally responsive evaluation, critical adult education, and the transformative paradigm, which promotes not only critical and evaluative thinking, but also kaleidoscopic thinking. Kaleidoscopic thinking (KT) is thinking that centers social justice and human dignity through intentional consideration (turning of the kaleidoscope) of multiple perspectives and contexts while attending to the intersectional planes of diversity, such as culture, race, gender identity, age, belief system, and socioeconomic status. KT involves reflexivity, creativity, respect for diversity, compassion and hope on the part of the thinker when examining issues and making decisions.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural and Extension Education

Department dc:contributor.department

Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Cook, Natalie E.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Archibald, Thomas G.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Harrison, Anthony Kwame
• Blieszner, Rosemary
• Niewolny, Kimberly L.

• Program evaluation
• evaluation capacity building (ECB)
• transformative ECB
• kaleidoscopic thinking (KT)

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:23417

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/96932