Friday, July 29, 2022

Message From the Executive Director 

From AEA Executive Director Anisha N. Lewis

Associations serve as the professional home for their members, who usually look for some level of alignment with their personal value systems. That’s why it’s important that our values and mission remain at the forefront of all activities of The American Evaluation Association.

Nonprofits are often a driving force behind social justice, racial and gender equality, and although the American Evaluation Association was not particularly founded to focus on advocacy, we often find ourselves in a position to be a driving force behind these issues as they relate to the field of evaluation.

While we use caution to stay neutral when addressing controversial issues, it’s important to note that we use our values system as a guide for when and how we should respond to issues. Our values are as follows:

The American Evaluation Association values excellence in evaluation practice, utilization of evaluation findings, and inclusion and diversity in the evaluation community.

• We value high quality, ethically defensible, culturally responsive evaluation practices that lead to effective and humane organizations and ultimately to the enhancement of the public good.
• We value high quality, ethically defensible, culturally responsive evaluation practices that contribute to decision-making processes, program improvement, and policy formulation
• We value a global and international evaluation community and understanding of evaluation practices.
• We value the continual development of evaluation professionals and the development of evaluators from under-represented groups.
• We value inclusiveness and diversity, welcoming members at any point in their career, from any context, and representing a range of thought and approaches.
• We value efficient, effective, responsive, transparent, and socially responsible association operations.

Based on our values system, members of AEA are responsible for enacting and maintaining social equality in evaluation. This responsibility is based on ethical and moral ideals that format the expectations of a socially responsible person. Change is never easy, nor is it comfortable. Social change agitates social structures because it brings inequalities to light so that needs can be addressed. It is important for evaluators to be catalysts for equality, and this, is the reason why we issue statements around social justice, equity and diversity. Our statements aim to create awareness to educate and disseminate correct information to support equity to individuals and marginalized groups of people.

The American Evaluation Association is young in its journey towards Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), but we are on the road! Our journey begins with the desire to ensure that access to resources, equity, participation, diversity, and human rights are at the forefront of our structures for governance, operations, programs, and events. Evaluators have key roles in social justice, which include social safekeeping to improve or expand programs, and social exploring, to gather data to support better understanding of world events.

I look forward to your participation in an upcoming Town Hall (date to be announced in August) on how AEA will incorporate the review of social justice and DEI issues that affect us an association into our conference site selection process!

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

-African Proverb

The Face of AEA

From Angelicque Tucker Blackmon, Ph.D.

• Angelicque Tucker Blackmon, Ph.D.
• Principal Evaluator
• Innovative Learning Center, LLC
•  
• Degrees: BS, MS, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Years in the Evaluation Field: 20 years
• Joined AEA: January 21, 2021

Why do you belong to AEA?

As program evaluators and data scientists, many view us as individuals who merely crunch numbers. However, through my lived experience as a struggling student, STEM educator, senior administrator, and research analyst, the last thing struggling students need is a reductionist script. At ILC, we know the devastating impact of such a faulty assessment. Such judgments create a reality where students who need the most get the least. At ILC, we fiercely fight that narrative by attending to the whole human experience in STEM education.

So, when I reflect on why I belong to the AEA, my first thought is not about how it benefits me or my business. I think about how being a member of the AEA provides a supportive space to spread and share my personal and professional knowledge and passion to uplift and empower people—especially struggling students. We design our work ultimately to benefit students, although we work with students' primary points of contacts-educators and administrators.

Why do you choose to work in the field of evaluation?

For too long, a deficit-based methodology has ruled the classroom. This narrative often leads to a sense of shame and inadequacy in students, which can hinder their ability to learn. Fortunately, there is a shift happening in education -- a long-awaited move toward a constructivist approach that prioritizes students’ intellectual assets.

As a researcher, evaluator, and CEO of an evaluation firm with over 20 years of experience, I am honored to be a thought leader in this arena. I delight in creating inclusive learning environments that are affirming for all students, including the adults in their sphere, since we implicitly acknowledge that student learners are surrounded by lifelong learners. At least they are supposed to be.

Twenty years ago, I chose the field of evaluation to help lead educators as they reorient their thinking from merely academic achievement toward the total student experience. My vision, then and now, is that the embrace of students’ intellectual assets will not only promote equity, but the adoption of a strength-based perspective through deep-reaching evaluation and research, cultivates an academic environment that prioritizes our stakeholders and by extension students.

What's the most memorable or meaningful evaluation that you have been a part of?

About six years ago, I was chosen to help increase the efficacy of a multi-million-dollar funded program to implement change by increasing underrepresented STEM faculty receiving promotion and tenure at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). But this was not your ordinary evaluation.

Before they chose me for the project, I learned the previous evaluators left or were asked to leave. I was the third evaluator on the project. I had my work cut out for me. But, I knew I was ready for the challenge.

When I came on, I needed to solve several challenges. Instead of centering first on the challenges, I engaged the project team in my usual way. Instead of focusing on the deficits, we focused on their assets and gradually implemented constructive strategies to strengthen their weaknesses. For me, this is a simple process, but it proves difficult for many. I often wonder, could it be that the challenges observed evoke unresolved struggles within the observer? 

Through our work, we reconstructed the program to allow more space for brainstorming, implementing mentor feedback, and collaborating with peers -- which helped the institutions gain valuable insight into what was working and what the primary program participants needed most.

Over the years, the program has seen an institutional change that allows HBCUs to create environments where African American faculty know their growth is actively supported. But what stood out to me was how the program leaders began to slowly, then forthrightly, recognize their own intellectual assets they’d previously failed to acknowledge while detailing their efforts to make a significant positive impact in the lives of others.

What advice would you give to those new to the field?

There are three things I would share with those new to the field. We’ll call these the jewels of life.

The first is to be insatiably curious. At some point in your journey, you will encounter overwhelming obstacles and relentless resistance. Persevere anyway. Be curious about what would happen if you explored an alternative path. The right opportunities and people to support your vision, knowledge, and passion will present themselves.

The second is to have a friendly disposition. Practice kindness. Be someone that others want to work with. If you want to be successful in the evaluation field, you need to learn how to get along with people. Data is more than numbers.

The third is to be inclusive. Before hiding away in your office or your lab, immerse yourself in the field and get to know those you are evaluating. Use data to tell an inclusive story that represents the whole human existence of the program or project.

Sign up for upcoming eStudies sessions! Spots are limited, so register now for one of the following spots:

• Graphical Mistakes That You Should Avoid - Session I – September 22
• Graphical Mistakes That You Should Avoid - Session II – September 29

Pressed for time? You can take a Coffee Break session below for quick presentations that cover a variety of topics.

• Coffee Break Conversation: How do you build a culture of evaluation? – October 13

New Jobs & RFPs from AEA's Career Center

What's new this month in the AEA Online Career Center? The following positions have been added recently: 

• Director of Qualitative Research (Baltimore, MD)
• Research Associate (Irvine, CA)
• Associate Director of Research and Program Evaluation (Olympia, WA)

Explore the Online Career Center

Get Involved with AEA

• Join the AEA LinkedIn Group
• Follow AEA's Evaluation Headlines and Resources Twitter Feed
• Visit AEA's newsletter archive for past articles of interest
• Learn more about AEA's volunteer opportunities

Thank You, AEA Lonstanding Members!

AEA would like to recognize and thank some of its most longstanding members. Click here to view individuals who are celebrating 5+, 10+, 20+, and 30+ years with the association this month!

Welcome to Our New Members!

AEA would like to welcome those who have recently joined the association. Click here to view a list of AEA's newest members.

About Us

AEA is a professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of evaluation in all its forms.

The association's mission is to:

• Improve evaluation practices and methods
• Increase evaluation use
• Promote evaluation as a profession
• Support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action

Email: info@eval.org

Phone: 1-202-367-1166 or 1-888-232-2275 (U.S. and Canada only) 

Website: www.eval.org