Center For Culturally Responsive Evaluation And Assessment University .

Center For Culturally ResponsiveEvaluation And AssessmentCollege of EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigncrea.education.illinois.eduCo

CREAIt is no surprise to me that the contemporary literature ofculturally responsive evaluation (CRE) was born from elaboratingon a respected evaluation tradition alongside core questions andissues that scholars, practitioners, and evaluators of color raise(and have raised for decades). Stafford Hood’s (1998) Amistadpaper at the Stake Symposium illustrates this convergence ofold with new. We who identify with CRE have a responsibility tounderstand our historical roots in evaluation while advancingcontributions to the field.CREA is a subset of the evaluation family. It brings us togetherfor another opportunity for more nuanced professionaldevelopment and learning, building off of other developments,trainings, and collaborative discoveries in the AmericanEvaluation Association and beyond. I look forward to thecontributions of the next generation of evaluators who haveas their primary task to expand on CRE theory and applicationthrough their training and work experiences in key researchand evaluation agencies and positions in the field.- Rodney Hopson, Professor, College of Education and HumanDevelopment, George Mason University, 2012 AEA Presidentand Founder/Director of the AEA Graduate Education DiversityInternship (GEDI) ProgramCenter For Culturally Responsive Evaluation And AssessmentResearch at CREACREA’s research agenda uniquely investigates the role,impact, and utility of culture and cultural context ineducational evaluation, assessment, research and policy.This research agenda is also embedded in CREA’S coremission to generate evidence for policy making that isnot only methodologically sound but also culturally andcontextually defensible. CREA’s research and evaluationefforts prioritize culture and cultural context in the researchprojects and evaluations we undertake.

AWho We AreA strategic initiative of the College ofEducation at the University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign, the Center forCulturally Responsive Evaluation andAssessment (CREA) was establishedin 2011 with a primary mission togenerate evidence for policy makingthat is culturally and contextuallydefensible. In today’s pluralisticsocieties, to achieve relevant and validconclusions, researchers must have asubstantive understanding of the natureand influence of diverse cultural normsand practices. CREA’s focus on culturalresponsiveness is unique in that noother university-based research centerfocuses on the centrality of cultureand cultural context in evaluation andassessment theory and practice.CREA’s work increasingly has anational, international and indigenouspresence in research, evaluation andassessment efforts and continues topromote the ever-increasing importanceof cultural relevance in the formationof educational policies and practices.CREA is directed by Stafford Hood.Dr. Stafford HoodDirectorslhood@illinois.edu

A Brief Review of The Development ofCulturally Responsive Evaluation: 1998 to 2014Culturally responsive evaluation originated from two different, interrelatedstreams of educational research. It is grounded in the tradition of responsiveevaluation articulated in 1973 by Robert Stake, to focus principallyon issues of importance held by practitioners and stakeholders and less onthose held by decision makers. The second stream coalesced in themid-1990s when Gloria Ladson-Billings introduced “culturally relevantpedagogy” to underscore the importance of teaching to and through thecultural strengths of ethnically diverse students.In the late 1990s Stafford Hood drew from the work of Stake and Ladson-Billings to argue that student learning can be more effectively assessed by usingassessments that were culturally responsive in design. He named his breakthrough proposal Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) and conducted thefirst national conference on the relevance of culture and assessment while atArizona State University. Rodney Hopson subsequently founded the AmericanEvaluation Fellowship Program in 2003, followed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evaluation Fellowship Program (2008-2012) with Gerri Spilka.Hood, S., Hopson, R.K.,& Frierson, H.T eds. ( 2015) Continuing the Journeyto Reposition Culture and Cultural Context in Evaluation Theory and Practice.InfoAge Publishing Co. extends the conversation on the role of culture inevaluation.- Statement ContributorsJames D. Anderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignTerry Denny, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignRodney Hopson, George Mason UniversityKaren Kirkhart, Syracuse UniversityCore Mission:Core Focus:Core Questions:

What We DoAs an interdisciplinary endeavor, CREA bringstogether researchers and practitioners to addressthe growing need for policy-relevant studies that fullyrespond to the influence of cultural norms, practicesand expectations in social and educational interventions. The Center is led by a team of researchersand scholars, in collaboration with an international/interdisciplinary community of scholars and practitioners with a shared goal of preparing a culturallydiverse pool of highly competent evaluators, assessment specialists, researchers and policy analysts.CREA serves as a vehicle to engage in methodologically rigorous evaluation, assessment and researchto meaningfully address a range of educational(K-16), social service, and health service programsthat serve low-income, traditionally disenfranchisedand culturally diverse communities. The collectivehistory, experiences, productivity, and reputation ofits leadership provides the foundation for undertakingCREA’s critically important mission.Culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) provides atheoretical framework that locates my scholarship onculture and validity. CRE challenges me to confront theprivilege that evaluation exercises and to consider bothpositive and negative consequences of evaluation formarginalized communities. CRE anchors my attentionto equity and social justice as the ultimate goalof my work and demands that my theories be judgedagainst these criteria.CREA itself provides a community of scholars wholisten thoughtfully, critique carefully and advance oneanother’s work; my scholarship has benefited fromthis rich context. CREA conferences challenge me topresent my ideas-in-progress and to discover connections with the current thinking of colleagues. The CREAcamaraderie and shared values fuel my commitment tothis work.-Karen E. Kirkhart, Professor, School of Social Work,Syracuse University and 1994 AEA President

The View of an Ancient Evaluation SpecialistDuring the past twenty years I have read much of the CREAliterature written by Stafford Hood and his colleagues. I havefound it to be interesting, informing and promising.In a world plagued by ethnic and racial hatred, culturalprejudice and religious bigotry, CREA’s educational researchand evaluation agenda welcomes shared leadership inpromoting the relevance of culture in its work; a splendidand much-needed tactic.Although conferences, master’s degree programs andpublications are indeed sensible beginnings, they shouldnot serve as CRE’S ultimate goals.I shall offer a daunting but noble challenge: Can CREAembrace and embody the belief that people from distinctcultures can be helped by CRE to live together harmoniously?Can CRE demonstrate that diversity strengthens the globalchances of a peaceful future? If so, CREA’s promise of doinggreat things could be fulfilled.Alas, I shall not live long enough to taste the proof of thispudding.- Terry Denny,Professor Emeritus of Educational PsychologyUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignServices: Provide schools, school districtsand social service agencies withprofessional development in:o Evaluation principles andmethodso Data-driven and evidencebased decision making Provide teachers and administrators in diverse school settings withprofessional development tools,training and education in culturallyresponsive evaluation and assessment Provide graduate students withapplied training to develop expertise in the use of empiricalmethods in educational research,evaluation and policy analysisInitiatives: Grow the network and collaboration of CREA’s culturally diversenational, international and indigenous community of researchersand practitioners to generateculturally relevant policies, practices and insights in social andeducational interventions C onduct and disseminate researchon the theory and practice of culturally responsive evaluation andassessment A cquire contracts and grants withpublic and private entities to provide culturally responsive evaluations and assessments Develop a Masters of Education(Ed.M.) with a concentration inCulturally Responsive Evaluation,Assessment and EducationPolicy Studies for teachers,administrators and policy makers

CREA-Dublin City University (DCU)CREA-Hawai’iCREA-DCU was established by CREA Affiliated FacultyProfessors Joe O’Hara and Gerry McNamara as part of a formalagreement between UIUC and Dublin City University (Dublin,Ireland) and is located in the School of Education Studies. CREADCU has similarly recognized that cultural sensitivity is a vitalbut often neglected issue in evaluation efforts with increasingimportance given the changing cultural and ethnic context of education in modern day Ireland. In partnership with the DCU Schoolof Education Studies’ Centre for Educational Excellence, CREADCU’s main mission is to advance educational access and equityby focusing on programs, policiesand practices that impact the mostmarginalized members inIrish society. This collaborationis intended to move culturallysensitive evaluation to the centerof educational discourse in theyears to come.CREA-Hawai’i is dedicated to idea that “A’ohe pau ka ‘ike i kahalau ho’okahi” (all knowledge is not learned in one school).Our mission is to use a Native Hawaiian lens to offer empowering,values-based evaluation approaches that support insights andconclusions which, in turn, promote equity and justice in the diversity that is Hawai’i. To do this we will weave together and sharecultural knowledge, tools, and practices that are grounded in andaffirm a Native Hawaiian worldview.The CREA-Hawai’i was establishedin 2016 and is directed by Drs. HerbLee Jr. (Executive Director of thePacific American Foundation) andKatherine A. Tibbetts (Director ofResearch and Evaluation at theLili’uokalani Trust). ducate Together National SchoolEin Mullingar, Ireland.CREA ConferenceOur signature CREA conferences bring together a culturallydiverse group of interdisciplinary, national, international, andindigenous scholars and practitioners to focus on the role ofculture in evaluation and assessment. These conferencescontinue to forge alliances for action among conferenceattendees as well as a broader global CREA community. CREACREA-Hawai’i Hui (gathering)University of Hawai’i- West Oahucontinues to establish a strong foundation to which scholars,practitioners, and administrators can look to inform their evaluation and research endeavors.Want to get involved?Visit our website at http://crea.education.illinois.eduContact us at crea@education.illinois.edu or 217.333.2981