: The main thesis of this article is that program evaluation and program evaluators have largely ... more : The main thesis of this article is that program evaluation and program evaluators have largely missed out on the movement, now into its second decade, to make performance measurement the centrepiece of public sector management and accountability. If these developments are not strategically faced by evaluators, program evaluation runs the risk of becoming less and less relevant to public sector and nonprofit organizations. Evaluators, divided by epistemological and methodological differences, have collectively not been willing to embrace professionalization as a way to reclaim territory lost to the audit and management consulting professions. It is essential that evaluators develop and implement strategies that are intended to create a professional practice space that includes designing and implementing performance measurement systems. Evaluators are well-positioned to do so, if they act collectively.
Furthering the accountability of elected governments and the public administration apparatus whic... more Furthering the accountability of elected governments and the public administration apparatus which serves them is a fundamental principle of democratic societies. Over the last fifty years, there have been significant debates about how to operationalize and balance the principles of accountability in our federal governance system. The emergence and proliferation of Web 2.0 capabilities and advocates for their use in government has led to new rounds of experimentation, initiatives and reform under the banner of Government 2.0 in many jurisdictions. This article surveys the Canadian and international literature on accountability in the digital era, including contributions from scholars with interests in information technology, transparency and digital culture, to identify whether Canada is lagging or leading international contributions in this area. It sets out a research agenda inspired by the concepts of interactive, dynamic, and citizen-initiated accountability (Schillemans, Van Twist, and Vanhommerig 2013). Sommaire : Un principe fondamental des soci et es d emocratiques consiste a promouvoir l'imputabilit e des gouvernements elus et de l'appareil d'administration publique qui est a leur service. Nous sommes aux prises, depuis les cinquante dernières ann ees, avec des d ebats très importants sur la manière d'op erationnaliser et d' equilibrer les principes d'imputabilit e au sein de notre système de gouvernance f ed eral. L' emergence et la prolif eration des capacit es du Web 2.0, ainsi que de leurs d efenseurs pour l'utiliser au sein du gouvernement, a engendr e de nouvelles s eries d'exp erimentation, d'initiatives et de r eformes sous la bannière du gouvernement 2.0 dans de nombreuses comp etences. Cet article examine la litt erature canadienne et internationale portant sur l'imputabilit e dans l'ère num erique, y compris les contributions d' erudits qui s'int eressent a la technologie de l'information, la transparence et la culture num erique, afin de d eterminer si le Canada est en retard ou en tête des contributions a l' echelle internationale dans le domaine. L'article article etablit un programme de recherche inspir e par les concepts d'imputabilit e interactive, dynamique, et a l'initiative des citoyens (Schillemans, Van Twist, et Vanhommerig 2013).
This literature review is intended to summarize (a) existing research on evaluator competencies, ... more This literature review is intended to summarize (a) existing research on evaluator competencies, (b) academic views of professionalization in evaluation and comparable disciplines, and (c) existing processes of professional certification/credentialing in comparable disciplines. Regarding the latter, the issues addressed in this review are intended to augment the information gathered in the interview component of this project. This review will consider professional standards, competencies, and practice, and will situate credentialing in the context of the range of professional designations. The review focuses chiefly on Canadian examples, but also considers American examples where appropriate. What are the definitions of the key terms? The terms licensure, credential, certification, and accreditation are not always used consistently in the literature on professionalization. To avoid confusion we will rely on Altschuld's definitions which distinguish between certification (as an individual-level assessment and, typically, testing of competencies) and credentialing (as a set of courses or other experiences that a person must go through, which may or may not involve examination). Altschuld describes credentialing as a set of courses or other experiences a person must go through to receive a credential. The credentialing process may be done by a professional society, or by educators/trainers.
A key assumption in efforts to implement and improve cross-government public reporting systems is... more A key assumption in efforts to implement and improve cross-government public reporting systems is that legislators will make use of the performance information to enhance accountability and improve program and policy effectiveness. This five-year study is an assessment of expectations and actual uses of annual performance reports by elected decision-makers in British Columbia, Canada. Our findings from three anonymous surveys
: The main thesis of this article is that program evaluation and program evaluators have largely ... more : The main thesis of this article is that program evaluation and program evaluators have largely missed out on the movement, now into its second decade, to make performance measurement the centrepiece of public sector management and accountability. If these developments are not strategically faced by evaluators, program evaluation runs the risk of becoming less and less relevant to public sector and nonprofit organizations. Evaluators, divided by epistemological and methodological differences, have collectively not been willing to embrace professionalization as a way to reclaim territory lost to the audit and management consulting professions. It is essential that evaluators develop and implement strategies that are intended to create a professional practice space that includes designing and implementing performance measurement systems. Evaluators are well-positioned to do so, if they act collectively.
Furthering the accountability of elected governments and the public administration apparatus whic... more Furthering the accountability of elected governments and the public administration apparatus which serves them is a fundamental principle of democratic societies. Over the last fifty years, there have been significant debates about how to operationalize and balance the principles of accountability in our federal governance system. The emergence and proliferation of Web 2.0 capabilities and advocates for their use in government has led to new rounds of experimentation, initiatives and reform under the banner of Government 2.0 in many jurisdictions. This article surveys the Canadian and international literature on accountability in the digital era, including contributions from scholars with interests in information technology, transparency and digital culture, to identify whether Canada is lagging or leading international contributions in this area. It sets out a research agenda inspired by the concepts of interactive, dynamic, and citizen-initiated accountability (Schillemans, Van Twist, and Vanhommerig 2013). Sommaire : Un principe fondamental des soci et es d emocratiques consiste a promouvoir l'imputabilit e des gouvernements elus et de l'appareil d'administration publique qui est a leur service. Nous sommes aux prises, depuis les cinquante dernières ann ees, avec des d ebats très importants sur la manière d'op erationnaliser et d' equilibrer les principes d'imputabilit e au sein de notre système de gouvernance f ed eral. L' emergence et la prolif eration des capacit es du Web 2.0, ainsi que de leurs d efenseurs pour l'utiliser au sein du gouvernement, a engendr e de nouvelles s eries d'exp erimentation, d'initiatives et de r eformes sous la bannière du gouvernement 2.0 dans de nombreuses comp etences. Cet article examine la litt erature canadienne et internationale portant sur l'imputabilit e dans l'ère num erique, y compris les contributions d' erudits qui s'int eressent a la technologie de l'information, la transparence et la culture num erique, afin de d eterminer si le Canada est en retard ou en tête des contributions a l' echelle internationale dans le domaine. L'article article etablit un programme de recherche inspir e par les concepts d'imputabilit e interactive, dynamique, et a l'initiative des citoyens (Schillemans, Van Twist, et Vanhommerig 2013).
This literature review is intended to summarize (a) existing research on evaluator competencies, ... more This literature review is intended to summarize (a) existing research on evaluator competencies, (b) academic views of professionalization in evaluation and comparable disciplines, and (c) existing processes of professional certification/credentialing in comparable disciplines. Regarding the latter, the issues addressed in this review are intended to augment the information gathered in the interview component of this project. This review will consider professional standards, competencies, and practice, and will situate credentialing in the context of the range of professional designations. The review focuses chiefly on Canadian examples, but also considers American examples where appropriate. What are the definitions of the key terms? The terms licensure, credential, certification, and accreditation are not always used consistently in the literature on professionalization. To avoid confusion we will rely on Altschuld's definitions which distinguish between certification (as an individual-level assessment and, typically, testing of competencies) and credentialing (as a set of courses or other experiences that a person must go through, which may or may not involve examination). Altschuld describes credentialing as a set of courses or other experiences a person must go through to receive a credential. The credentialing process may be done by a professional society, or by educators/trainers.
A key assumption in efforts to implement and improve cross-government public reporting systems is... more A key assumption in efforts to implement and improve cross-government public reporting systems is that legislators will make use of the performance information to enhance accountability and improve program and policy effectiveness. This five-year study is an assessment of expectations and actual uses of annual performance reports by elected decision-makers in British Columbia, Canada. Our findings from three anonymous surveys
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