CES - SCÉ 2019

This paper looks across 8 published field studies (Cousins, in press) to identify lessons learned about Principles to Guide Collaborative Approaches to Evaluation (CAE). These evidence-based principles were developed and validated (Shulha, Whitmore, Cousins, Gilbert & Al Hudib, 2016) and launched globally in 2017 in three languages. CAE is defined as evaluators working in partnership with members of the program community in the production of evaluative knowledge. Under appropriate conditions CAE provides opportunities to enhance evaluation use, generate transformative outcomes, produce deep understanding and meaning in complex contexts, and assure moral-political responses to evaluation challenges. The CAE principles provide a bridge between collaborative evaluation practice and intended evaluation outcomes. This cross-case analysis highlights relationship-building, methodological issues, pedagogical benefits and related fodder for strengthening the bridge (Subtheme 1). Audience members will be encouraged to contextualize questions/comments in terms of their own experience with CAE.