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This paper unpacks our efforts as external evaluators to work toward decolonizing our evaluation practice. Undertaking this writing exercise as a form of reflective practice demonstrated that decolonization is much more complex than simply translating materials, organizing locals to collect data, and building participants' capacity around Western modalities. While this complexity is clear in the decolonization literature, practice-based examples that depict barriers and thought processes are rarely presented. Through this paper, we deconstruct our deeply held beliefs around what constitutes good evaluation to assess the effectiveness of our decolonizing approach. Through sharing our critical consciousness-raising dialoguing, this paper reports our progress thus far and provides information and provocations to support others attempting to decolonize their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impostor phenomenon is a psychological construct referring to a range of negative emotions associated with a person's perception of their own "fraudulent competence" in a field or of their lack of skills necessary to be successful in that field. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many practicing evaluators have experienced impostor feelings, but lack a framework in which to understand their experiences and the forums in which to discuss them. This paper summarizes the literature on the impostor phenomenon, applies it to the field of evaluation, and describes the results of an empirical, quantitatively focused study which included open-ended qualitative questions exploring impostorism in 323 practicing evaluators. The results suggest that impostor phenomenon in evaluators consists of three constructs: Discount, Luck, and Fake. Qualitative data analysis suggests differential coping strategies for men and women. Thematic analysis guided the development of a set of proposed solutions to help lessen the phenomenon's detrimental effects for evaluators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychological theory suggests that evaluators' individual values and traits play a fundamental role in evaluation practice, though few empirical studies have explored those constructs in evaluators. This paper describes an empirical study on evaluators' individual, work, and political values, as well as their personality traits to predict evaluation practice and methodological orientation. The results suggest evaluators value benevolence, achievement, and universalism; they lean socially liberal but are slightly more conservative on fiscal issues; and they tend to be conscientious, agreeable, and open to new experiences. In the workplace, evaluators value competence and opportunities for growth, as well as status and independence. These constructs did not statistically predict evaluation practice, though some workplace values and individual values predicted quantitative methodological orientation. We conclude by discussing strengths, limitations, and next steps for this line of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective impact (CI) initiatives provide a promising collaborative community-based approach for addressing health disparities, but they are challenging to evaluate. This paper provides a detailed strategy for addressing these challenges through a case study, with the goal of not only of evaluating the CI, but also putting organizations in a position to implement and maintain sustainable self-evaluation efforts over time. A three-phase evaluation strategy was developed and implemented via a community-academic partnership to assess the impact of the CI. Process and outcome data from a CI to address health disparities in a Chicago community were collected and analyzed. The evaluation strategy, following the developmental, formative, and summative phases, helped a CI overcome barriers and build capacity for ongoing evaluative work for its members. Considering the flexible, low-technology approach, this strategy is a valuable resource in assisting individuals seeking to create a successful and sustainable CI evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]