Happy New Year! We are Alysson Akiko Oakley, PhD (Vice President, Pact) and Caitlin Blaser Mapitsa, PhD (Associate Professor and Research Director, Wits School of Governance). We serve as the new co-editors of the International Developments in Evaluation section of the American Journal of Evaluation. We are evaluation educators and practitioners and are delighted to join the AJE team. We share a love of learning, of supporting research in evaluation, and of advancing diverse experiences and perspectives. We come to our role as editors with a desire to increase the dissemination of these experiences and perspectives, with the hope of improving the practice of evaluation.
Introducing the International Developments in Evaluation section
The International Developments in Evaluation section was launched in 2021, in recognition of the common challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which both united the world and underscored interconnected divisions. This common challenge highlighted the imperative on evaluators to respond to the intersectional nature of the system that undergirds such transformative global crises. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic was a reflection of intersectional crises, such as climate change and inequality, that characterize challenges to global development, and not an outlier event. For these reasons, the International Developments in Evaluation section dedicates space to the advancements and experiences of the evaluators and evaluation stakeholders working around the world for transformative systems that are of interest to the members of the American Evaluation Association.
The broad scope of this section includes evaluation concerns that complement other AJE sections as well; it considers methods, ethics, culture, technology, and the professionalization of evaluation. What sets this section apart is that it takes the perspective of trends or innovations happening globally, and identifies areas that demand a response from the international evaluation community. Topics can range from advances in evaluation practice that embrace understudied or complex contexts and diverse cultures, innovative approaches to the evaluation of global or national development goals and of international aid, the work of VOPEs and regional evaluation movements to advance the practice of new forms of evaluation, and evaluation’s role in transforming power dynamics or inequality, among others.
Our vision for the International Developments in Evaluation section is to provide a space for evaluation practitioners, evaluation researchers, and even technical specialists whose contextual analysis is relevant to evaluators, to share their experiences. We are therefore open to manuscripts drawing from empirical data, but also practice experience and reflections on learning-through-doing.
As this section is broadly defined and inclusive; this year we will introduce a theme that will be the basis for soliciting article ideas that together speak to a larger evaluation puzzle. Articles outside that theme are still welcome and will be given equal consideration for publication in the journal. We will widely advertise the theme with more information in the coming months. Stay tuned!
Hot Tips
- Check out previous issues of the International Developments in Evaluation section to get a sense of the kinds of articles that have been published. Anyone with an AEA membership can access the journal.
- Advances in AI (including translation software) have enabled those whose first language is not English to contribute more readily to English-language publications. Make use of these!
- We accept various kinds of manuscripts – from research articles to reflections – so long as there is a clear original contribution that builds from the sector’s to-date learnings. Ask yourself the questions we always ask when reviewing an evaluation report: “What?” “So what?” “Now what?”
- The International Developments in Evaluation section is particularly interested in evaluation experiences that draw on global trends. This could happen through global learning, through comparative work, or through projects that have an international footprint.
Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.