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Examining the Backbone of Contemporary Evaluation Practice Credible and Actionable Evidence

T demand for rigorous and influential evaluations, and thus credible and actionable evidence, is at an all-time high across the globe. The most recent surge of activity has expanded well beyond the evaluation of traditional, largescale government programs. Evaluations are now being conducted on a wide range of problems, programs, policies, practices, products, personnel, organizations, proposals, and the like across a diverse range of community, organizational, government, and international settings (Donaldson, 2013). While a systematic review of the notable developments related to evaluation practice since the first volume of this book in 2009 is beyond the scope of this chapter, I have selected a few of these developments to set the stage for this second edition. Both the number and size of existing professional associations for practicing evaluators continue to grow rapidly. The largest national society, the American Evaluation Association (AEA), has grown to nearly 8,000 members, and the most recent annual meeting in Washington, D.C., set a new record with more than 3,500 delegates in attendance despite a U.S. government shutdown. A global grassroots movement to strengthen civil society’s evaluation capacity worldwide, EvalPartners, has now identified more than 150 Voluntary Organizations of Professional Evaluators (VOPEs) boosting an aggregate total membership of more than 34,000 (Rugh & Segone, 2013). These VOPEs are not only focused on improving the supply of rigorous and influential evaluations, many are addressing the demand side by advocating for policies and