As our society becomes increasingly diverse racially, ethnically, and linguistically, it is pivotal that program planners, designers, implementers, researchers, and evaluators understand, appreciate, and employ cultural contexts in which these programs exist and operate to their work on a daily basis.
To even ignore or nullify the reality of the existence of culture and to be agnostic or unresponsive to the needs of the population within their ecosystems is to do the people a disservice, put the program in danger of being ineffective, and to put the evaluation in a state of being seriously flawed and meaningless.
Thanks to HSI STEM Hub for carrying my short piece on Conducting Culturally-Relevant Evaluation for all NSF grants.
Sincere thanks to Dr. Rodney Hopson and others’ tireless work in promoting the CRE framework. I have learned much from your works and I have long ways to go.
Full piece and a checklist can be found here –