Several members of CCT's staff participated in the American Evaluation Association (AEA) conference, held in Washington, D.C. from November 6-10.

Wendy Martin, an associate project director, presented a paper at a roundtable that described CCT's research approach. Katie McMillan Culp, assistant director for research, participated on a panel with Barbara Means and others who contributed chapters to a book on evaluation of educational technology programs. Julie Thompson Keane, associate project director, and Deborah Keisch, research associate, ran a poster session presenting evaluation toolkits developed for the America Connects Consortium and IBM's Learning Village.

In addition to presenting, CCT's representative members attended a number of sessions that covered a range of evaluation topics and programs both inside and outside the field of education, such as criminal justice and poverty reduction. Several sessions presented evaluation topics that cut across different fields and programs. One such session concerned conducting "culturally competent research in diverse communities." Based on the work discussed in this session, the AEA is now developing guidelines and a framework to help evaluators become better at understanding the diverse contexts in which they work.

Another session, presented by a Harvard professor and representatives from Native American tribes in South Dakota and New Mexico, focused on evaluation practices built upon Native American traditions, such as councils of elders, to reflect upon, study and analyze the internal structures that already exist or could be developed to address the social needs of the tribes. These practices grew out of a participatory evaluation of the tribes' criminal justice systems.

Other sessions reflected evaluation work in educational contexts, such as evaluating professional development programs, small class initiatives and a meta-evaluation of urban and state systemic initiatives.

Overall, presenters and attendees of the conference represented an even mix of academics, program managers, professional evaluators, and agents from government entities, nonprofits and research organizations.

Wendy Martin's Presentation: Local Relevance in Education Technology Evaluation

American Evaluation Association Web site