Beyond the Classroom: Lessons Learned From Four Evaluation Labs

Abstract Information: Fieldwork experiences are the cornerstone of evaluation training. This panel brings together evaluation educators from across the United States who run evaluation laboratories (training centers). They reflect upon and share insights and experiential learning at their respective university-housed evaluation labs. Further, panelists will discuss lessons learned about developing, implementing, funding, and organizing their laboratories. Panelists will overview their efforts to train new evaluators and empower them to amplify their voices. Participatory evaluation embedded in communities, service learning, culturally responsive, and social justice-oriented evaluation within these contexts will be discussed in addition to structural and logistical considerations of evaluation labs. Each panelist will share joys and frustrations with mentoring and learning from new evaluators both in academic and community settings. The following panelists will share their expertise and insights: STEM Program Evaluation Lab (SPEL) co-located at UNC Greensboro and Arizona State University Aileen Reid, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information, Library, and Research Sciences at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). Ayesha Boyce, Ph.D. is an associate professor within the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU). Drs. Reid and Boyce have developed and field-tested the values-engaged, educative (VEE) training framework fusing the VEE evaluation approach (Greene, et al., 2006) and AEA competencies to produce high-quality mentoring and training for novice evaluators (Reid, et al., 2023). The three domains of the VEE training model are culturally responsive and anti-deficit pedagogies, social justice-oriented curriculum, and STEM education contexts. University of New Mexico Evaluation Lab Audrey Cooper, M.P.H., R.N. is the Associate Director of the University of New Mexico Evaluation Lab. Audrey began her work with the Lab as a graduate fellow in 2017 and continued taking on additional leadership responsibilities until moving into the Associate Director position in 2023. Audrey is a staff member at the University of New Mexico and an example of grow-your-own leadership in evaluation through mentorship and progressive opportunities. Western Michigan University Evaluation Lab Brandon Youker, Ph.D., MSSW is the Evaluation Lab Director at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. Brandon co-founded the Evaluation Lab in January 2024 which evaluates local nonprofit organizations with social justice missions and programming. Brandon works with multidisciplinary evaluation teams consisting of student employees most of whom are undergraduates. Northeastern University Public Evaluation Lab (NU-PEL) Tiana Yom, Ed.D., MPH, CHES is an Assistant Research Professor in Public Policy and Health Sciences and Director of NU-PEL. Dr. Yom is committed to building community-academic partnerships via evaluation research and leads a multigenerational team of students, staff, and faculty. Dr. Yom’s specialization is in teaching and developing evaluation techniques, driven by Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) frameworks.