GUIDELINES AND CHECKLIST FOR CONSTRUCTIVIST (a.k.a. FOURTH GENERATION) EVALUATION

Evaluation is one of the three basic forms of disciplined inquiry, the others being research and policy analysis. It is that form of inquiry whose focus is some evaluand (program, process, organization, person, etc.) and which results in “merit” and/or “worth” constructions (judgments) about it. Merit constructions converge on the intrinsic quality of an evaluand, irrespective of the setting in which it may find applications. Worth constructions converge on the extrinsic usefulness or applicability of an evaluand in a concrete local setting. Evaluation of a proposed or developing evaluand is termed “formative,” while evaluation of some developed evaluand is termed “summative.”