Foundations of Empowerment Evaluation

by David Fetterman

Overview

Employing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, empowerment evaluation is the use of evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination. David M. Fetterman explores its background and theory and goes on to present the three steps of empowerment evaluation: establishing a mission statement about a program; taking stock; and charting a course for the future, while using case studies to highlight these steps in practice. Foundations of Empowerment Evaluation also covers standards for using EE; caveats and concerns; how to distinguish EE from other approaches, using the Internet as a tool and finally looks at the strengths, limitations, and conditions of empowerment evaluation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803956698
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	10/06/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

David M. Fetterman is the President and CEO of Fetterman & Associates, an international ethnographic and evaluation consultation firm. He works in a wide range of settings, ranging from townships in South Africa to Google in Silicon Valley. Clients and sponsors include: the U.S. Department of Education, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Hewlett Packard Philanthropy, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and Arkansas Department of Education. David has also provided consultation services for the: Ministry of Education in Japan, Ministry of Health in Brazil, Ministry of Health in Ethiopia, and Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Māori Development) in New Zealand.
He concurrently serves as a member of the faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute and the University of Charleston. Dr. Fetterman has over 25 years of experience at Stanford University. He was a Consulting Professor of Education in the School of Education and the Director of Evaluation in the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Formerly, he served as a Professor and Research Director at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research, and a Senior Associate and Project Director at RMC Research Corporation. He received his Ph D from Stanford University in educational and medical anthropology.

David is a past-president of the American Anthropological Association’s Council on Anthropology and Education and the American Evaluation Association. He is a Fellow of the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology. David received the Top Anthropologist of the Year 2019 Award; George and Louise Spindler Award, for outstanding contributions to educational anthropology; and the Ethnographic Evaluation Award. He also received the Paul Lazarsfeld Award for Outstanding Contributions to Evaluation Theory and the Myrdal Award for Cumulative Contributions to Evaluation Practice—the American Evaluation Association’s highest honors.

Fetterman has contributed to a variety of encyclopedias and is the author of Ethnography: Step by Step; Excellence and Equality: A Qualitatively Different Perspective on Gifted and Talented Education; and Empowerment Evaluation in the Digital Villages: Hewlett-Packard’s $15 Million Race Toward Social Justice. Dr. Fetterman is the editor of: Ethnography in Educational Evaluation; Educational Evaluation: Ethnography in Theory, Practice, and Politics; Speaking the Language of Power: Communication, Collaboration, and Advocacy (translating ethnography into action); Qualitative Approaches to Evaluation in Education: The Silent Scientific Revolution; Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools for Self-assessment, Evaluation Capacity Building, and Accountability; Empowerment Evaluation Principles in Practice; and Foundations of Empowerment. (Details of the projects are available at http://www.drdavidfetterman.com.).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Introducing Empowerment Evaluation as Part of the Intellectual Landscape of Evaluation
Background and Theory
Exploring the Background and Theory of Empowerment Evaluation with Relevant Examples and Tools
Three Steps
Presenting the Three Steps of Empowerment Evaluation and Related Facets
Four Case Examples
Highlighting the Steps of Empowerment Evaluation with Four Case Examples
A High Stakes Case Example
Documenting the Utility, Credibility, and Rigor of Empowerment Evaluation in a High-Stakes Arena-Accreditation
The Standards
Applying the Standards to Empowerment Evaluation
Caveats
Discussing Caveats and Concerns About Empowerment Evaluation
A Dialogue
Distinguishing Empowerment Evaluation From Other Approaches
The World Wide Web
Using the Internet as a Tool to Disseminate Empowerment Evaluation Worldwide
Conclusion
Concluding by Speaking One's Truth About the Strengths, Limitations, and Conditions of Empowerment Evaluation

Editorial Reviews

"Professor Fetterman’s book should be ready by all practicing evaluators and scholars in evaluation. It will very likely open the minds of traditional evaluators to new functions and roles of evaluation."

Madhabi Chatterji

"Fetterman offers down-to-earth, clearly written descriptions and explanations of an approach that reconciles the contingencies of organizational practice with the standards and principles of evaluation accountability. He adroitly bridges the gap between the subjectivity of self-evaluation and the objectivity of external evaluation by showing with case examples and detailed methods, forms, and narrative why empowerment evaluation extends the reach of standard evaluation practice."

Dennis Mithaug

Shows readers when to use empowerment evaluation and how to use it more effectively. Illustrates the three steps of empowerment evaluation with four case examples in hospital and educational settings. Discusses concerns about the use of empowerment evaluation, the relationship between this type and other types of evaluation, the role of the Internet in disseminating empowerment evaluation, and strengths and weaknesses of the method. The author directs the MA Policy Analysis and Evaluation Program in the School of Education at Stanford University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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