A
Ability
Referring to ability diversity and a variety of abilities and disabilities. These variations include differences in cognitive, social-emotional, and physical abilities. Differences in abilities may need more individualized approaches to instruction and evaluation (PennState Extension, 2017
Ableism
Individual or institutional actions and language that disadvantage or disempower people with disabilities or people experiencing disabilities. Ableism includes mental, physical, and emotional disabilities (The Avarna Group, 2020)
Access
Refers to recreation access to green space in the environmental literature; access can mean seamlessly including people with varying identities and abilities in all the ways that visitors recreate in green space, while feeling safe, secure, and a sense of belonging.
Accessibility
The extent to which people are excluded or not from an activity, program, or experience on the basis of experiencing a disability. In an accessible activity, program, or experience, people with disabilities are able to do what they need to do in a similar amount of time and with similar effort as someone that does not have a disability. The concept of accessible design ensures both direct (i.e. unassisted) access and indirect access, meaning the activity, program, or experience is compatible with a person's assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). See also universal design. (Henry et al., 2014).
Accessible Language
Accessible language is language that accommodates people of all ages and abilities, including those with cognitive disabilities, people with low literacy skills, and speakers of English as another language (Bureau of Internet Accessibility, 2019).
Accountability
The way in which individuals and groups hold themselves to goals and actions as well as the values to which they hold themselves responsible. Can be internally or externally imposed (ICMA, 2021).
Adapt Instruments
When you adapt it means you first pilot-test instruments to ensure that directions are clear and that measures are appropriate for the audience. After adapting, if time allows, you might "pilot" it with a few members of your study sample to see how it works.
B
Bar Chart
A graphical representation of frequencies using rectangles drawn with lengths proportional to the frequencies concerned (OECD, 2004).
Barriers
Both a term used to point to social inequalities that limit advancement, typically due to individual, structural or system discrimination based on an identity character (e.g., race, SES, gender), that operate outside of an individual and a term that can point to barriers internal to an individual (e.g., motivation, values conflicts, etc.).
Baseline Data
The average level of a variable before a measure of the effect of the educational experience is taken (Vogt, 2005).
Behavior
An action towards something. Environmental educators are often interested in human behaviors that have direct or indirect impacts on the environment (Marcinkowski, 1993).
Belief
Something that we may think but may or may not be factually true. Beliefs are more specific than values, such that an individual may believe in sea level rise. Beliefs, along with values, influence attitudes (Krasny, 2020).
Bias
A positive or negative inclination towards a person, group, or community. It is important to note that everyone has biases and they are not inherently negative, though left unchecked or unexplored they can lead to stereotyping. See also Explicit Bias and Implicit Bias (Thiederman, 2003).
BIPOC
The acronym stands for "Black, Indigenous, and People of Color" and is pronounced as "by-pock," rather than saying each letter individually. This updates the term “People of Color” and its acronym “POC” which has been criticized as erasing Black and Indigenous lives and experiences. The “B” in the acronym stands for “Black” and refers to people who have African or Caribbean ancestry. Its addition highlights the specific forms of racism and oppression that Black Americans face. The “I” in the acronym stands for “Indigenous” and refers to groups native to the Americas who were here before colonization by Europeans. Its addition refers to the discrimination and mistreatment Indigenous people have and continue to endure from official policies and practices as well as erasure of their culture and identity. The “POC” in the acronym stands for “People of Color” and is used as an umbrella term to refer to non-White individuals, including but not limited to those who hold Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Pacific Island heritage, who often face discrimination. (Ansai, 2020; Garcia, 2020)
C
Climate Change
Climate is the average weather over a long period of time. Climate change is a result of both natural and human impacts and presents growing challenges to maintaining current states of quality of life, the economy, and the natural systems that support us (C2ES, 2019).
Co-creation Process
Collaborative development of concepts, solutions, or processes with experts and project partners (Fronteer, n.d.).
Cognitive skills
How well students can comprehend and analyze environmental issues (Szczytko et al., 2018).
Collective Evaluation
Collective evaluation extends evaluation accomplished in networked improvement communities, adding that the networked organizations share those components beyond the network for learning and improvement in the field at large (Clark et al., in prep).
Colonialism
Some form of invasion, dispossession and subjugation of a people including agricultural, urban, or industrial encroachments; this can also include colonialism as a cultural practice of influencing, standardizing, or attempting to erase the values and practices of other cultures (Racial Equity Tools, 2020).
Communities of Practice
A group of people who come together to fulfill individual and group goals. They may share a common concern, a set of problems or an interest in a topic (Cambridge & Suter, 2005).
Community
Can be geographically based (neighborhoods, towns, cities, etc.) or based on interest, identity, culture, belief, profession, etc. In environmental education the community is often thought of as a system of systems including both natural, social, and economic systems (NAAEE, 2017).
Conservation
Care and protection of natural resources (Chesapeake Bay Program, 2021).
Cultural Humility
Creating space for self-reflection and considering one's own assumptions and beliefs (Bower et al., 2015).
Cultural Responsiveness/Culturally Responsive Practices closely related to the terms “culturally relevant” and “culturally sustaining” education)
The combination of teaching, pedagogy, curriculum, theories, attitudes, practices, and instructional materials that center students’ culture, identities, and contexts throughout educational systems. Gloria Ladson-Billings’s and Geneva Gay’s scholarship are foundational to culturally responsive education. Some key principles of culturally responsive education (CRE) include (1) validating students’ experiences and values, (2) disrupting power dynamics that privilege dominant groups, and (3) empowering students (NYU Steinhardt, 2019).
Culturally Responsive Evaluation
A holistic framework for thinking about and conducting evaluations centered in culture. It is a process entailing the manner in which the evaluator plans the evaluation, engages project partners, and takes into account the cultural and social milieu surrounding the program and its participants (Frierson et al., 2010).
D
Data Ownership
Data ownership implies power and control as it applies to information; it also includes the possession of and responsibility for that information. Control of information includes the ability access, share, derive benefit from, sell or remove data (Loshin, 2002).
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics are numerical summaries of features of the data, such as correlations and averages.
Dimensions of Difference
Interactions between people who are different from you in ways characterized by mutual understanding and respect in order to enrich learning and broaden perspectives (The University of British Columbia, n.d.).
Disability
A physical, mental, or cognitive impairment or the perception of such an impairment that impacts a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities due to the way society is structured. In these cases, special accommodations are necessary to ensure an individual’s engagement. The adoption of the ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against people based on their disabilities (ADA National Network, n.d.).
Diversity
The unique differences among individuals in a group based on which we may be treated differently in society. Ethnicity is not the only way in which we are diverse as a group. There are countless visible and invisible facets of diversity. This may be race, socioeconomic background, gender (especially in the sciences), physical ability, age and how people come to environmental education at different points of their life, or sexual orientation. It includes any sort of “-ism” that brings people to the conversation, especially at different places of power. Power differentials may invite or limit the conversation. This is sometimes known as a "dimensions of difference" (The Avarna Group, 2020).
E
Ecological Knowledge
Multilogical thinking about physical and ecological systems. In this framework, Earth is both a physical system and living environment (Szcytko et al., 2019).
Education Experiences
Refers to any interaction, course, or program that results in learning; This can happen in traditional academic settings or nontraditional settings (outside-of-school locations, outdoor environments) (Great School Partnership, n.d.).
Efficacy
Efficacy can be divided into self efficacy and collective efficacy. In self efficacy the focus is on the indidivuals’ belief in their ability to succeed or accomplish a task, whereas in collective efficacy, the focus is on the groups’ belief that they can succeed and accomplish a task, or that the group has the capacity to succeed (Krasny, 2020).
Empathy
Encompasses cognitive, affective, and compassionate empathy. Cognitive empathy allows one to see another's perspective without necessarily feeling the same emotions. Affective empathy is the feelings that arise when observing the emotions/ experience of another. Compassionate empathy is driven by cognitive and affective empathy and is the ability to feel and show the appropriate concern to another's need (Jackson et al., 2017).
Environment
The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates, especially as affected by human activity; its ethical, social, cultural, and economic dimensions also play a part (Environment, 2018; Tbilisi Declaration, 1977).
Environmental Education
A process that helps individuals, communities, and organizations learn more about the environment and develop skills and understanding about how to address global challenges. Environmental education (EE) has also been used as an umbrella term that encompasses outdoor education and natural resources education to name a few (NAAEE, n.d.).
Environmental Justice
"[T]he fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. Fair treatment means no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies." (EPA, n.d.)
Equitable Evaluation
Aims to better understand evaluation efforts and their effects, both intended and unintended, by expanding the definition of validity and rigor. Equitable evaluation works to name implicit biases in order to make more informed decisions and to embrace the complexity of many lived experiences of practitioners and participants (Equitable Evaluation Initiative, 2020).
Equitable Process
A process that can and should answer critical questions about the effect on different populations and the underlying systemic drives of inequity. It should be multi-cultural and oriented toward participant ownership (Equitable Evaluation Initiative, 2020)
Equity
The guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations and that providing equal or identical treatment to all does not improve the fairness of these unbalanced conditions (Oregon State University, 2021).
Ethical principles for evaluation
Systematic inquiry, competence, integrity/honesty, respect for people, responsibilities for general and public welfare (Chen, 2015).
Ethnicity
A social construct that divides people into smaller groups based on characteristics such as a shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral, patterns, language, history, and ancestral geography (Racial Equity Tools, 2020).
Evaluation
A systematic process that critically examines a program's merit, worth or significance by collecting and analyzing information about a program’s activities, characteristics, and outcomes. The goal is to improve the program's effectiveness, and/or to inform programming decisions (Patton, 2001).
Evaluation Questions
Evaluation questions guide your evaluation. After deciding on your evaluation goals, you are ready to identify questions for the evaluation to answer. Evaluation questions may ask about a single element of your program, or the questions may focus on relationships between two or more elements of a program (e.g., to what extent does a particular output result in a desired outcome). They may also ask: To what extent were the planned activities completed? Why? To what extent are we achieving our outcomes? How well are we managing our program? What additional staff and resources are needed to meet our objectives?
Extrinsic Motivation
Instrumental motivation that can be separated from the behavior itself, yet is still aimed at achieving a particular outcome (Ryan & Deci, 2019).
F
Focus Groups
Combine both interviewing and participant observation. A focus group is not a discussion, problem-solving, or decision-making group. However, focus groups do capitalize on group dynamics to generate data and insights that would be unlikely to emerge otherwise (Frechtling, 2010).
Formative Evaluations
Formative evaluations yield findings while a program is being implemented. They help you to understand what is working well and where improvement can be made, while there is an opportunity to make adjustments. They can also explore disparities in how a program is reaching participants or members of a community.
Front-end Evaluations
Front-end evaluations investigate what community members and others who affect or are affected by a program want, know, think, or expect from a program before you design it. Needs assessments are a type of front-end evaluation. By understanding the community and its needs from the beginning, program providers and their partners can co-create programs in, with, and for communities that are more equitable and culturally relevant.
G
Gatekeepers
People who directly, or indirectly, protect a status quo. Gatekeepers create or define rules for a movement to promote their own well-being, rather than taking in a larger picture (The Establishment, 2016).
Gender Identity
This socially constructed term refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, and other characteristics a given society deems appropriate for their gender categories (in the United States, these have traditionally been identified as “boys and men” or “girls and women”). It is important to note that while biological sex is similar across cultures, gender isn’t. A personal conception of one’s own gender; often in relation to a gender opposition between masculinity and femininity. Gender expression is how people externally communicate or perform their gender identity to others. (National Multicultural Institute, 2003; American Psychological Association, 2011)
H
Heteronormativity
Believing that heterosexuality is the default, preferred, or normal mode of sexual orientation. Thus dismissing other sexual orientations (ICMA, 2021).
Hope
Believing that you can achieve a goal and taking action to meet those goals (Szczytko et al., 2019).
Humility (See also cultural humility)
A process of self-reflection in order to better understand personal and systemic biases and to develop and maintain respectful processes and relationships. Humility counters the concept of "competency", which suggests the mastery of knowledge or skills. Humility implies continuous growth (The University of British Columbia, n.d.).
I
Identity
Identity includes all the labels one uses to represent themselves, particulalry referring to social groups, including but not limited to sex, gender, ethnicity, race, nationality, ability, religion, spirituality, age, socio-economic status, political affiliation (SAIC, 2020).
Immigration Status
This is the way a person is present in their country from a legal perspective. For example, in the U.S., one can be U.S. Citizen, Legal Permanent Resident (AKA green card holder), Conditional Permanent Resident, Asylee or Refugee, Non-immigrant, Person with Temporary Protected Status, or an Undocumented Person (Esperanza United, n.d.).
Implicit Bias
Associations or assumptions (negative or positive) that people unknowingly hold. The theory of implicit bias rests on the idea that much of our social behavior is driven by learned stereotypes that operate automatically—and therefore unconsciously—when we interact with other people. Implicit bias means that racial prejudices (and other areas of diversity) affect individuals’ decisions as well as their behavior toward people of other races, whether or not they are aware of it. Also known as unconscious or hidden bias (Saats, 2013, cited in Racial Equity Tools, 2020).
Inclusion
Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals/ groups into processes, activities and/ or decisions in a way that share power (Racial Equity Tools, 2020).
Indicators
Indicators are measures that demonstrate whether a goal has been achieved. We rely on indicators in everyday life. For example, if you have a goal to lose weight and improve your overall health, you may measure success using indicators such as the number of pounds lost, a change in your body mass index, lowered cholesterol, or even an increase in your perceived energy level. In an evaluation context, indicators provide the information needed to answer the evaluation questions.
Indigenous Knowledge
"[The] understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. For rural and indigenous peoples, local knowledge informs decision-making about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life." (UNESCO, n.d.)
Inferential Statistics
Inferential statistics allow you to make predictions from the data.
Informed Consent
A legal condition entered into by a person who agrees or “gives consent” to participate in a study based on learning about and understanding the facts and implications of participation. Before being asked to agree to participate, participants should be provided with information concerning the purpose of the program evaluation, what they will be asked to do as participants, and how the information they provide will be used. Individuals should also be informed that they can withdraw their consent and stop participating at any time. In some cases involving adults, verbal consent may be adequate, but in general, it is preferable to provide written information about the evaluation and to have people who agree to participate sign and return a written consent form that is kept by the evaluator. When minors are participating in an evaluation, consent from a parent or guardian is required and additional safeguards (e.g., written consent from school district) are usually required (Zint, n.d.).
Intersectional Environmentalism
Intersectional environmentalism is a term coined by Leah Thomas and expanded upon by other scholars that emphasizes “[a]n inclusive form of environmentalism advocating for the protection of all people + the planet” and “identifies the ways in which injustices targeting frontline communities + the earth are intertwined” (Intersectional Environmentalism, n.d.).
Interviews
A method of data collection that values interpersonal contact and assumes participant perspectives are meaningful, knowable, and can be made explicit (Frechtling, 2010).
Intrinsic Motivation
Reflects internalized importance of autonomy, curiosity, and interest towards action and behavior (Ryan & Deci, 2019).
Items
A type of question or statement used as part of a survey or interview to understand a respondents' reactions or feelings. Each item measures a particular idea (Salazar et al., 2020).
Instruments
J
K
L
Languages
A means of communication used by a community including words and methods of combining them (OECD, 2004).
Learning Communities
A space for people to align a shared goal or purpose. Effective communities are both aspirational and practical, allowing participants to learn from each other (Center on the Developing Child, n.d.).
LGBTQIA+
This acronym stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual or Ally, and other non-heterosexual people (Moor, 2019).
Living Work
This refers to an on-going process of reflection, growth, and change in ideas, approach, and even language.
Logic Model
A logic model shows the rationale behind your program. It is a graphic representation of the linkages between program goals, resources (inputs), activities, and expected outcomes. Logic models illustrate the ways in which program inputs and activities are thought to lead to outputs and outcomes in both the short and long term. Logic models often include diagrams or pictures that illustrate these relationships. In program evaluation, logic models provide a basis for developing evaluation strategies. Depending on the scale of your project, you might need more than one logic model. Click here for what a logic model can look like. (Zint, n.d.).
M
Marital Status
The civil status of each individual in relation to marriage laws or customs of the country (OECD, 2004).
Missing Data
Observations which were planned and are missing, such in a survey and a respondent failed or refused to respond (OECD, 2004).
Mixed Methods
Uses a combination of both quantitative and qualitative information in an evaluation. It allows quantitative information to be collected from a large number of participants (increasing the likelihood that results can be applied to all program participants). It also allows in-depth qualitative inquiry with a smaller number of participants. A mixed methods approach requires an evaluator who is able to collect information using a variety of methods of inquiry and analyses (Zint, n.d.).
N
Nature Connectedness
Feeling of being connected and belonging to the natural community. Rooted in biophilia and humans' innate love for nature (Krasny, 2020).
Networked Improvement Community
Networked improvement communities (NIC) "...are intended to situate practice improvement efforts in a supportive social architecture to accelerate a field’s capacity to learn to improve." NICs are a collaboration of individuals who may function from one or multiple organizations (Russell et al., 2017).
O
Outcome
Outcomes are the likely or achieved short-term and medium-term effects of a program or intervention. In other words, outcomes are what happen as a result of the program or activities. Environmental education outcomes that are commonly measured include changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Zint, n.d.). A list of defined common EE outcomes can be found here.
Outcome Evaluations
Outcome evaluations examine the degree to which a program achieves its intended outcomes and can provide insights on why or why not. You might evaluate if and how a program has benefited participants in equitable or disparate ways. Outcome evaluations can reveal if program strategies and activities reinforce or curtail structural inequities. Effective outcome evaluations reveal unintended consequences or outcomes, as well as those that were intended.
Output
Outputs are the products and services that are produced by a program. Output measures can be used to indicate the degree to which products and services were produced as planned. Example outputs of an environmental education program could include a teachers’ manual, a workshop series, or the number of participants at an event (Zint, n.d.)
P
Participatory Evaluation
An approach that encourages active engagement in, and support of your evaluation. By fostering participation, you will build ownership of the evaluation, and ownership of the program itself (Zint, n.d.)
Patriarchy
Political-social system where males are inherently superior, especially to females (Youth Celebrate Diversity, 2021).
Physical Appearance
Qualities, actions, or things that are associated with one's body, this can include characteristics a person is born with (such as hair color, skin color, facial features, birthmarks, etc.), features of the way someone moves, or the types of clothing and accessory one wears.
Pilot Test
An initial trial of a program, instrument, or other activity intended to test out procedures and discover and correct potential problems before proceeding to full scale implementation. Pilot tests can be conducted either for a program (i.e., testing out the program with a small group of participants) or for an evaluation (i.e., testing out instruments and data collection procedures with a small group of people similar to program participants). When possible, a pilot test, or trial run, is conducted with a sample group that is representative of the target population. Based on the results of the pilot test, revisions and improvements can be made before wider implementation of the program, instrument, or activity (Zint, n.d.).
Population
A group of persons (or other subjects of study) that one wants to describe in the evaluation process (Vogt, 2005).
Post-test
In program evaluation, a posttest is a test or measurement administered after services or activities have ended. Posttest results are often compared with pretest results to examine the effects of the program being evaluated (Zint, n.d.).
Power
The ability to influence others and impose one's beliefs. All power is relational and unequally distributed globally and in society. Some individuals/ groups hold greater power than others, gaining them greater access to resources (Racial Equity Tools, 2020).
Power Dynamics
Relative levels of power between two or more people or groups can impact the interaction between each other. Power dynamics is an invisible force that can affect our daily lives on an intuitive basis, without knowing we are being affected by it (Hanna-Wayne, 2019).
Pre-test
A test or measurement administered before the program or activities begin. The results of a pretest can later be compared with the results of a posttest to show evidence of the effects of the program being evaluated (Zint, n.d.).
Preservation
Belief that priority should be given to preserving nature and the diversity of natural species in their original state; protecting it from humans and any alteration (Milfont & Duckitt, 2010).
Privilege
The flip side of oppression, privilege constitutes advantages we receive, consciously or unconsciously, by virtue of one or more of our identities, called “dominant identities”. These advantages are upheld by systems of power that advantage certain groups over others, and include ideologies such as racism, sexism, cissexism (transphobia), heterosexism (homophobia), elitism, classism, ableism, nativism, colonialism, ageism, and sizeism (collectively “the isms”). Privilege includes the freedom from stress, anxiety, and fear of harm related to your identity. (The Avarna Group, 2020)
Process Evaluations
Process evaluations examine how well a program is being implemented. You might evaluate the effectiveness of your activities and instructional materials, the suitability of sites and facilities, or the recruitment and preparation of staff and volunteers. Process evaluations are also appropriate to examine how to make programs more culturally relevant, engage staff volunteers who better represent the people and communities being served, or broaden your community reach.
Pro-environmental Behavior
Often understood as personal or individual actions that consciously seek to minimize one's negative impacts on the natural or built world (Kollmus & Agyeman, 2002).
Project Partners
Anyone who cares about and/ or is affected by a decision or outcome of a program, project, or initiative.
Q
Qualitative
Uses an array of approaches (e.g., interviews, observation, photovoice, drawings, free-response survey items) that seek to understand people and their social experiences. It can provide rich context for examining participants’ experiences and how a program operates.
Quantitative
Uses an array of approaches relying on numerical measurements (e.g., counting of things, website statistics, environmental quality monitoring data, close-ended survey items) that seek to confirm assumptions and understandings about people and their social experiences. Allows evaluators to test assumptions and establish causal relationships.
R
Race
A grouping of people based on skin color and/or ancestry that is based on societal, not biological, differences. Race is a false social construct that conflates skin color and ancestry with behavior, intelligence, and culture, with very real consequences for all people. (The Avarna Group, 2020)
Racism
The systems and structures and procedures and processes that disadvantage communities of color and that have created disparities in many "success indicators" including, but not limited to, wealth, the criminal justice system, employment, housing, health care, politics, and education. This overarching form of racism is harder to discern than individual racism because it is subtle, embedded, and baked into the very fabric of society. It is the process of White Supremacy. Also known as structural or institutional racism (Yancey-Bragg, 2020; Powell, 2008).
Record Number
Unique number assigned to survey participants to allow for confidentiality and ease of data analysis. Similar to Medical Record Number used by doctors (Law Insider Inc., 2021).
Resources
Refers to time, money, and other in-kind resources.
S
Sampling
Sampling is the process of collecting and analyzing information from a subset of a population for the purpose of generalizing the results across a population. It can be applied not only to a population of participants, but also to program artifacts (such as participant journals and student assessments), environmental quality indicators, and more.
Sampling Bias
Sampling bias is important to consider. For example, a sample that consists only of individuals who volunteer to participate in the evaluation (referred to as a "convenience" sample) can be problematic. The self-selected group may be different from the rest of the program participants, making it difficult to know whether results are truly representative of the larger group. This problem can even arise when individuals are randomly selected and a large percent of those selected refuse to participate in the evaluation. Keep in mind that the quality of your sample can have a great deal of influence over how well your evaluation results truly represent the experiences of all your participants.
Scale
A set of numbers or symbols used to represent characteristics of a variable in measurement (Vogt, 2005).
Self-Determination Theory
Necessity of competence, relatedness, and autonomy for intrinsic motivation. Self-determination theory also takes into account those factors that hinder self-motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Sexual Orientation
The type of attraction one feels for others, often described based on the gender relationship between the person and the people they are sexually attracted to (The Avarna Group, 2020).
Socioeconomic status
A measure of an individual’s or a group’s combined economic and social status as perceived through education, income, and occupation. Socioeconomic status (SES) identifies the social standing of that individual or group and can reveal where there are inequities in access to resources and power (Baker, 2014).
Sociopolitical Considerations
These considerations involve the intersection of social and political factors, such as social attitudes, government policies, or political preferences.
Stakeholder
In the context of program evaluation, a stakeholder is an individual who has an interest in, affects, or may be affected by a program, evaluation, or evaluation outcome. Not all stakeholders share the same investment, as one person's benefit may come at another person's expense. The term "stakeholder" has deep roots in colonial practices, with the original meaning being a person who held money while a game was played. While stakeholder is still common, "project partner" feels more inclusive for our uses (Zint, n.d.).
Statistical significance
A result is called "statistically significant" if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. This term is often used to describe differences, for example whether or not the difference in scores for two groups is statistically significant. Note though, that even if a difference between groups is statistically significant, that only means there is a difference, and does not necessarily mean that the difference is large or important. Statistical significance is represented with the Greek symbol α (alpha). Evaluators often use a rule of finding a significance level of 5% for reporting statistical significance. If a test of significance gives a p-value lower than .05, then the null hypothesis (i.e., that there is no difference between groups) is rejected, and the finding is said to be statistically significant (Zint, n.d.).
Strategic Plans
Consider what recommendations can be implemented first, which require external resources or partners, and how you can create a timeline around them. Creating an action plan will ensure your future steps resolve any issues from your program (Ernst et al, 2012). Improve outreach to your audience. You may have learned from the evaluation that your program is not reaching as many individuals as intended or a particular group. Use what you learned from the evaluation to identify ways to increase awareness of your program’s offerings.
Structural Oppression
The relationship between institutions that perpetuates and/or exacerbates unequal outcomes for individuals (National Equity Project, 2017).
Study Sample
A group of subjects or cases selected from a larger group in the hope that this smaller group (the sample) will reveal important things about the larger group (the population) (Vogt, 2005).
Summative Evaluations
Summative evaluations yield findings after a program has concluded and at milestones in the implementation of established or ongoing programs. They make judgments on how effective a program was at meeting its intended outcomes and offer insights on program strengths and areas for improvement.
Surveys
A standardized method of collecting data that consists of questions and responses. Questions can be "open-ended", but often take the form of being "close-ended" where respondents choose from predetermined answers (Frechtling, 2010).
Sustainability
"Integration of environmental health, social equity, and economic vitality in order to create thriving, diverse, and resilient communities for this generation and generations to come. The practice of sustainability recognizes how these issues are interconnected and requires a systems approach and an acknowledgment of complexity" (UCLA, 2021).
Systemic Bias
Systemic bias is prejudice or unfairness that is institutionalized or found across a particular system, such as health, educational, government, judicial, legal, religious, political, financial, media, or cultural.
T
T-Test
There are several kinds of t-tests, but the most common is the two sample t-test also known as the independent samples t-test. The two sample t-test tests whether or not two independent populations have the same mean values for a measure (Zint, n.d.).
Technical Considerations
"The technical qualities of assessments, such as validity, reliability, and fairness, are considered before drawing conclusions about assessment results. [For example, v]alidity is the degree to which an assessment measures what it is supposed to measure" (CSRC Report, 2017).
Theory of Change
A Theory of Change is the place to link what you do and how you do it. A theory of change explicitly exposes the assumptions you have for why what you do will lead to the outcomes you want. Often, practitioners and programs have a Theory of Change and don’t acknowledge or describe it. That can lead to putting in a lot of effort on activities without achieving your desired outcomes. To give an example for, this eeVAL website, an underlying Theory of Change is that infusing a culturally responsive and equitable focus to online evaluation resources will lead to three outcomes: (a) environmental educators who use the site will improve their evaluation practice, (b) organizations will increase their capacity for quality evaluation, and (c) environmental education as a field will benefit from these improved evaluation efforts.
Traditions of Qualitative Inquiry
Qualitative traditions might include phenomenological approaches, case studies, or ethnographies.
U
Utilitarian
Belief that it is appropriate and necessary to use and alter nature to meet human objectives (Milfont & Duckitt, 2010).
Utilization-focused Evaluations
Utilization-focused evaluations are designed with careful consideration of how all aspects of the evaluation process, from beginning to end, will affect use. Use concerns how real people in the real world apply evaluation findings and experience and learn from the evaluation process (Patton, 2012).
V
W
White Privilege
The unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are White. White people who experience such privilege may or may not be conscious of it (McIntosh, 1988).
X
Y
Youth Development
Asset based approach that assumes all youth have the capacity to become successful adults, given appropriate support. Assets include self-efficacy, pro-social norms, meaningful relationships, and moral competence (Krasny, 2020).