Wednesday, January 29, 2025
By Anisha Lewis
Dear AEA Members,
As we step into 2025, I am honored to welcome you to another year of collaboration, learning, and advancement in the field of evaluation. The past few weeks have brought significant challenges for the field of evaluation, and as we move forward, our collective expertise and commitment to rigorous, ethical, and impactful evaluation will be more important than ever.
Legislative and policy shifts continue to shape the landscape in which we operate, influencing funding priorities, evaluation methodologies, and accountability measures. As evaluators, AEA members play a crucial role in ensuring that policies and programs are informed by high-quality evidence, equitable practices, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. The American Evaluation Association remains steadfast in its mission to support and elevate the field, providing you with the tools, resources, and professional development needed to navigate these changes with confidence.
We express deep concern regarding the recent Executive Orders issued by the new White House Administration. Of particular concern is the directive requiring all department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs to immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors. This pause, pending a 90-day review for programmatic efficiency and consistency with U.S. foreign policy, raises serious questions about the continuity, impact, and equity of development assistance initiatives.
This Executive Order, combined with potential de-prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, jeopardizes critical programs that address global disparities and support marginalized communities. Evaluation plays a vital role in ensuring that these programs are effective, equitable, and aligned with the needs of the populations they serve. A sudden halt in funding and program implementation disrupts these efforts and undermines the ability of evaluators to deliver impactful results.
In the coming months, AEA will continue to advocate for policies that uphold the integrity of evaluation, offer spaces for critical dialogue on pressing policy issues, and expand professional development opportunities to strengthen your capacity to respond to emerging challenges. We encourage you to engage with our vibrant community—whether through conferences, professional learning activities, TIGs (Topical Interest Groups), or policy discussions—to stay at the forefront of developments in our field.
As we embark on this new year, I invite each of you to reflect on the impact of your work and the value of evaluation in shaping a more just and effective society. We will continue to monitor these developments and work with our members to engage policymakers, amplifying the voices of those impacted by these decisions.
Thank you for your dedication, expertise, and contributions to the profession.
By Laura R. Peck, Ph.D.
I appreciate that the American Evaluation Association states its mission, vision, and values explicitly and also takes efforts to engage evaluators to reflect on the meaning of the values for their scholarships and practice.
The AEA “values excellence in evaluation practice, utilization of evaluation findings, and inclusion and diversity in the evaluation community.” These values are further articulated in ways that I strive to embed in my work, both as an evaluation scholar-practitioner as well as in my service as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Evaluation (AJE). In this reflection on “Walking the Talk,” I will share examples in three categories for how these values appear in my work: the nature and results of my applied evaluation work; development of varied scholars and practitioners; and embracing methodological pluralism.
Nature and Results. From a global perspective, I contribute to high-quality evaluations that strive to enhance the public good, contribute to decision-making and program improvement.
Examples of my “global” perspective stem from service to the SciencesPo Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire d’Évaluation des Politiques Publiques, engagements with the European Commission’s Directorates General of employment and education, and refreshed AJE vision to encompass International Advances in Evaluation together with the journal’s editorial leadership.
Over my career, I have contributed to and led more than 35 high-quality evaluations of varied social policy interventions, from small (three months, pro bono) to large (decade+, $18M+), all of which prioritize matching question to method, generating useful evidence, and customizing reporting and dissemination to maximize the value of the work to the field. Some of my efforts to enhance contribute to decision-making and program improvement are reflected in my book, Experimental Evaluation Design for Program Improvement (2020; SAGE).
Developing Scholars & Practitioners. I have channeled this set of AEA’s values through developing others—both in applied practice and as contributors to AJE. As a university professor, I taught program evaluation and research methods with the goal of supporting the next generation of policy and evaluation scholars and practitioners; and I have brought that goal into my research sector practice, continuing to mentor colleagues and advance quality evaluation through our joint work.
In recent years, I have been especially privileged to be able to co-lead AJE, where our editorial leadership team thoughtfully ushers manuscripts through the publication process, aiming to help scholars and practitioners of diverse identities, across varied settings, and across career levels as they bring their work to publication and expand their reach. In partnership with my current Co-Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Rodney Hopson, and our editorial leadership team, we hold a vision for AJE that it be inclusive and expansive in the fine work the journal includes. I hope others agree that this vision and our action towards it represents AEA’s values in practice.
Methodological Pluralism. Finally, a defining point of my career has been prioritization of high-quality, rigorous work that represents “a range of thought and approaches”—bringing the best tools (or inventing them when needed!) to the evaluation questions at hand. Empirical evidence leads me to believe deeply that average treatment effects, while important and relevant, often obscure how program effects vary across varied types of program participants; and, in response, I have tapped and advanced methods that permit better understanding what works, for whom, and under what conditions. No single approach can capture the complexity of multifaceted interventions’ influences for diverse populations in varied contexts; and I hope my contributions to the field represent the value of methodological pluralism as applied, for the greater good of the field.
In closing, let me thank the American Evaluation Association—and its leadership—for its long history of making its values explicit and encouraging its members to bring those values to life through our work.
By Nathan Varnell, Consultant for Evaluation Policy Task Force
Feedback Requested for Updating AEA’s Evaluation Policy Roadmap
AEA’s Evaluation Policy Task Force (EPTF) announced at the Evaluation 2024 conference that its members are exploring potential updates to AEA’s framework for helping federal agencies develop and sustain evaluation capacity. AEA’s “Evaluation Roadmap for More Effective Government” was originally produced in response to then-President Barack Obama’s calls to increase the use of evidence in policymaking.
Since its publication, the Evaluation Roadmap has been used by many agencies for informing the development of their written evaluation policies. While the framework has been useful in shaping policies, much has changed in the evaluation landscape and in practice over the past half decade since the last update. In 2019, the EPTF gathered input from AEA’s membership about how the framework’s recommendations could be improved, as well as how to leverage the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, or Evidence Act, for institutionalizing the evaluation function.
Since the 2019 update to the Evaluation Roadmap, agencies made great strides in implementing many provisions of the Evidence Act. Chief evaluation officers have been established and active in the largest federal agencies, and subsequent guidances issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget have encouraged capacity growth across government. In a recent survey where AEA partnered with the Data Foundation, the majority of federal evaluation officials find their offices to be successful in achieving their evaluation missions, reflecting optimism and confidence that the Evidence Act has moved their offices in the right direction. At the same time, governments at the state and local level have begun to adopt Evidence Act principles for their own initiatives and contexts, and countries around the world have also explored the authorities for relevance in their contexts.
Given the evolution of federal evaluation since the last update, the EPTF is considering updates to the Evaluation Roadmap. The goal is to produce a revised document to ensure its continued relevance to current discussions of evaluation policy, reflecting recent practices, new policy changes, and continuing to ensure AEA’s resources provide timely information based on the most up-to-date research from our field. The EPTF also wants to take the experience of the past five years and identify if there are gaps in the framework that AEA membership would like to see filled. While the Task Force received direct input during a session at the 2024 conference in Portland, we would like to also encourage all members to provide input to the process.
The Evaluation Policy Task Force welcomes input from AEA members through February 28, 2025. AEA members are encouraged to offer suggestions for improving and refreshing the Evaluation Roadmap’s recommendations, including those that might be prioritized, added, modified, or removed, along with supporting rationale. Comments can be provided directly to evaluationpolicy@eval.org or through a Google Form.
The AEA Publishing Corner spotlights work published by our members. If you have a recent publication or professional accomplishment you would like to share, please submit it here.
Congratulations to AEA member Sheila B. Robinson and co-author, Kimberly F. Leonard for the publication of their book, Designing Quality Survey Questions, published by SAGE Publications.
AEA is proud to introduce Karen Jackson, Ph.D., as the 2025 AEA President! Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jackson, along with the 2025 Board of Directors.
Get to know Karen, along with members of the 2025 Board of Directors during AEA's upcoming Town Hall on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 2 p.m. ET. Learn more about the Board's focus for this year, engage in dialogue around the strategic direction, and hear about the president's chosen theme for Evaluation 2025 in Kansas City, MO.
Register
AEA is proud to introduce Organizational Membership, a new membership category designed to enhance professional development and collaboration to more professionals within the evaluation community. This new membership category offers organizations and institutions the opportunity to provide AEA memberships for multiple staff members at a reduced rate, while simplifying the management of memberships through a streamlined, single-invoice process. Organizational members also have opportunities to increase visibility to the evaluation community and can take advantage of exclusive benefits and discounts.
If this is an opportunity you want to explore, please review the website and fill out our form for more information.
Learn More
AEA is offering a membership sale of 20% of year-round membership dues through February 28. Even if you are not due to renew your membership for 2025, you can still take advantage of this savings and renew early.
Use code Member25 when you renew to lock in the savings.
Renew Today
AEA welcomes applications for the Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) Program, which provides paid internship and training opportunities during the academic year. The GEDI program works to engage and support students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the field of evaluation.
Visit the AEA website to learn more about program components, eligibility criteria, and application process. All materials must be received by AEA staff by Friday, March 14, 2025.
Submit Application
After Evaluation 2024, over 700 attendees (~23%) responded to the post-conference survey. Members of the Conference Advisory Working Group reviewed the findings and hosted an AEA Town Hall on January 10 to further discuss ideas to improve the conference. If you missed this meeting, you can access the recordings here.
We will continue to collect feedback through events such as the Town Halls. Summary findings and insights will be shared in a later newsletter and on the AEA website. Please share your feedback and suggestions to help improve future conferences.
Survey
The call for proposals for Evaluation 2025 opens on January 31. We invite you to submit a proposal to share your insights, experiences, and innovations with a highly engaged audience of more than 2,000 evaluation professionals. Whether you’re a seasoned evaluator or new to the field, your contributions can help shape the future of our field.
Prepare, Set, Submit! Submitting A Proposal for Evaluation 2025
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. ET Presenters: Kim Leonard and Sheila B. Robinson
Back by popular demand, learn hot tips and cool tricks for submitting session proposals for Evaluation 2025. Learn more about the submission process and gain valuable insights on developing and submitting your proposal.
Do you have scholarly or practitioner insights on evaluation? Consider submitting to the American Journal of Evaluation (AJE). AJE offers original, peer-reviewed, often highly cited articles about the theory, methods, and practice of evaluation and the role of evaluation in society. Visit the website to learn about the journal and submission guidelines. We look forward to your submissions! PS: As a reminder, your AEA membership includes access to the journal-- read, love, cite!
You Shared; We Listened! Feedback from 2024 Listening Sessions on New Directions for Evaluation
The NDE journal editorial team would like to thank all evaluators who joined us for conversations about the future of NDE during two Listening Sessions in June 2024. We offer our sincerest appreciation for your time and thoughtful input!
Attendees offered suggestions on how to make NDE more inclusive; ideas for potential special issue topics; and strategies for encouraging new authors/editors to participate with NDE. Key themes focused on outreach, resource guides, training supports, connection-building opportunities, and operational strategies to facilitate broader engagement with the journal.
For more information, see this summary, written by NDE Junior Editor, Amanda Sutter.
Your ideas from these conversations are now being used as the foundation for a new initiative, which we will launch later in 2025. Keep your eye out for more information in the coming months!
Evaluating Advocacy and Policy Change Initiatives: Concepts, Design Strategies and Methods Starting March 11, includes 4 sessions.
Using Advocacy and Policy Change Evaluation: Theory and Practice (Gardner and Brindis) as well as the Advocacy and Policy Change New Directions Special Issue as core resources, the eStudy will present options specific to evaluating advocacy and policy change initiatives.
Prepare, Set, Submit! Submitting A Proposal for Evaluation 2025 Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 2 p.m. ET
Town Hall: Meet the 2025 AEA President! Thursday, February 13 | 2 p.m. ET
Town Hall: Foundational Documents Task Force Thursday, March 6 | 2 p.m. ET