Newsletter

REL Pacific Resources & Events
6
Multicultural Validity and Evaluation
Theory Webinar
On April 14 th , REL Pacific hosted an interactive webinar
with Dr. Karen Kirkhart, esteemed academic, professor
at Syracuse University, and former president of the
American Evaluation Association. Dr. Kirkhart guided
participants through the process of bringing cultural
competence to the forefront of evaluation theory, and
answered key questions, including:
• What is the relationship between culture and
validity in evaluation and how might we distinguish
between terms like culturally competent, culturally
responsive, multicultural, and cross-cultural?
• When mapping significant cultural dimensions
of context in evaluation, what should evaluators
consider?
• What are some key aspects of cultural location
of evaluation theory and cultural dimensions of
context that should be addressed in culturally
sound evaluations?
The presentation was based on several of Dr. Kirkhart’s
publications on the topic of multicultural evaluation
theory and validity. Participants had an opportunity to
discuss, in small groups, strategies, successes, and
challenges around multicultural validity and evaluation
theory. Additional interactive elements included polls
and a question and answer session with Dr. Kirkhart.
A recording of the webinar, including closed captioning,
will be made available on the Institute of Education
Sciences YouTube channel at http://bit.ly/1SNolHB,
and can be accessed through relpacific.mcrel.org.
Now Available!
Benchmarking the State of Yap’s Education
Management Information System
Data specialists in the state of
Yap in the Federated States
of Micronesia assessed their
education management
information system using a
rubric with four benchmark
levels that rated 46 indicators
on five aspects of system
quality. The four benchmark
levels were latent (not in
place), emerging (in the
process of implementation), established (in place and
meeting standards), and mature (an example of best
practice). The overall system was rated as established.
The five aspects of system quality were rated as
follows:
• Prerequisites of quality (the legal and institutional
frameworks that govern the information system
and data reporting, and the supporting resources):
emerging.
• Integrity of education statistics: emerging.
• Accuracy and reliability of education statistics:
mature.
• Serviceability (relevance, timeliness, and
consistency): established.
• Accessibility of education data to stakeholders:
established.
The report also provides the scores for the 46 indicators
that were used to calculate the benchmark level of the
system overall and the five aspects of quality. To access
the full report, link to 1.usa.gov/1RPV2DM.