The Preparation of Professional Evaluators

The preparation of professional evaluators is an ongoing process that engages many individuals in universities, colleges, and government agencies. This volume of New Directions for Program Evaluation addresses pivotal issues related to the preparation of evaluators and includes a directory of training programs. Criteria for judging the maturity of any profession form the basis for discussion here; the question of whether training programs are warranted is considered in that light. The skills and knowledge that evaluators need are wide and varied: some are specific to evaluation; others have been borrowed from other disciplines. The certification of evaluators is a thorny issue to which there is no definitive answer, but two possible approaches are discussed here. A model for training programs based on the programs of professional schools is proposed for the training of evaluators. Alternative approaches to a traditional full-blown academic program include single-course and nontraditional programs, the latter often housed in government agencies. Discussions of these issues provide food for thought as well as directions for the continued growth and development of the profession of evaluation.