Will Evaluation Prosper in the Future?

Abstract

The main thesis of this article is that program evaluation and program evaluators have largely missed out on the movement, now into its second decade, to make performance measurement the centrepiece of public sector management and accountability. If these developments are not strategically faced by evaluators, program evaluation runs the risk of becoming less and less relevant to public sector and nonprofit organizations. Evaluators, divided by epistemological and methodological differences, have collectively not been willing to embrace professionalization as a way to reclaim territory lost to the audit and management consulting professions. It is essential that evaluators develop and implement strategies that are intended to create a professional practice space that includes designing and implementing performance measurement systems. Evaluators are well-positioned to do so, if they act collectively.