Ethics
The truth is that external program evaluators are not regulated in any way. They are not licensed. There is no formal certification and no standard course of training in which all evaluators must participate. While there are standards of ethics for evaluators, many educational program evaluators do not belong to formal evaluation associations and, as a result, they are unaware of these standards. Essentially anyone can call himself an evaluator and provide any level of services he wishes. While there are some programs that develop state-approved lists of external evaluators, most programs do not, so the only way to determine if someone is qualified to work as an evaluator is to do your homework.
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Conduct a thorough interview with your potential evaluator. And always check references. Many people have learned the importance of this the hard way.
Include questions about ethics and confidentiality in your interview. When you check references, ask about ethics. You need to know that your data will not be used for any purpose other than your evaluation.
Keep your eyes open for practices that may seem questionable. Such practices are not necessarily illegal, but could be construed as a little shady in some situations. Some of these include:
Multi-year contracts. There are some situations in which a multi-year contract is appropriate, but anything over a 2-3 year contract could be suspect. Do you really know that this person will be the right person for you five years from now? If not, why commit to that now? If you both are happy with the relationship, you will be able to renew your contract each year.
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Substituting another evaluator for the one you agreed to work with. Some firms will send one evaluator to the interview and then send another to provide the actual services. Sometimes the second evaluator is just as competent as the first, but sometimes the opposite is true. Be sure to ask about exactly who will be doing the work and his or her qualifications. There are cases when a firm may bring on some new evaluators and need to shift assignments mid-year. If this is the case, interview the new evaluator and make sure your expectations for service are very clear. If you don't want this to happen to you, write in your contract that substitutions of evaluators will not be accepted unless you specifically approve of the new evaluator.
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Claiming special privilege for missed deadlines. Every now and then you'll meet an evaluator who will miss a deadline and then claim that it is OK because he "knows people who will take care of it" at the funding source. While there are many reasons for occasionally missing a deadline and some of them are acceptable, good evaluators rarely miss deadlines, and if they do, they will make sure you know about it well in advance. Remember, your reputation with your clients, your partners, your community, and your funding source is at stake when deadlines get missed.
In spite of the need to be aware of these potential issues, you should not assume that all evaluators are unethical and unqualified. That is not the case. And sometimes having an experienced and highly trained professional evaluator can turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to your program.
