Teaching Evaluator Competencies: An Examination of Doctoral Programs

Program evaluators may currently enter the field of evaluation through a variety of avenues. Entry into the profession at this time is uncontrolled by a professional body of evaluators, as an evaluator certification process does not yet exist in the United States of America. One avenue for evaluators to enter into the profession is through a graduate training program in evaluation. This study sought to understand the preparedness of evaluators who enter the profession in this manner. Specifically, this study aimed to determine the current state of the teaching of evaluator competencies, across 26 doctoral evaluation programs in the United States. A descriptive multi-method multi-sample approach was chosen for this study. Results revealed students, faculty and syllabi most frequently addressed other competencies, followed by competencies related to the Essential Competencies for Program Evaluators (ECPE) framework and the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) framework. Moreover, students, faculty and syllabi most frequently listed teaching or learning about data collection analysis and interpretation and evaluation analysis, planning and design competencies. Project management and ethics competencies were addressed or encountered least frequently by all three sources. However, students encountered technical competencies most frequently and non-technical competencies least frequently, whereas, both faculty and syllabi most frequently mentioned teaching technical competencies and non-technical competencies related to communication. Moreover, students, faculty and syllabi listed teaching or encountering competencies most frequently in lectures and associated activities and assignments. Nevertheless, students least frequently reported learning competencies in practical/field experiences, whereas, faculty and Syllabi stated students learned competencies through practical or field-experiences. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed.