Professionalizing Evaluation: A Time-Bound Comparison of the American Evaluation Association's Foundational Documents

Abstract

This article compares the purposes and content of the four foundational documents of the American Evaluation Association (AEA): the Program Evaluation Standards, the AEA Public Statement on Cultural Competence in Evaluation, the AEA Evaluator Competencies, and the AEA Guiding Principles. This reflection on alignment is an early effort in the third step of professionalization: defining how to use and recognize evaluator competencies. The analysis intentionally focuses on content and reflects on the implications of the differences and similarities across documents. The comparison reveals important questions of interest at both the micro level (individual evaluator) and the macro level (evaluation). The article concludes with challenges, learnings, and proposed next steps of AEA's Professionalization and Competencies Working Group.