Culturally Responsive Evaluation, Partnerships, and Practicality

• In Event: Exploring Epistemological Perspectives in Research on Evaluation

Abstract

Drawing on a three year experience conducting formative, qualitative evaluations in a Professional Development School, this paper illustrates how practice-oriented evaluation can help foster culturally responsive partnerships with school personnel, families and communities. Three examples from these evaluations are used to highlight key aspects of relationship building in culturally responsive evaluations. Specifically, the evaluation design assisted in (a) surfacing divergent understandings among stakeholders, (b) highlighting everyday practice and how that practice is experienced by different stakeholders, and (c) providing clarity on how different roles get constructed within a school-university partnership. Our paper concludes with a reflection on how we feel our evaluations contributed to a deeper understanding of culturally responsive partnership development and where more work needs to be done.

Authors

• Melissa Freeman, University of Georgia

• Jori Hall, University of Georgia