Evaluation standards for Aotearoa New Zealand

ANZEA (Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association) has worked in partnership with SuPERU to develop a set of Aotearoa-specific Evaluation Standards that set out the expectations of the evaluation process, practices and products.

The Standards provide guidance on what should occur at all stages of a quality evaluation.

The Aotearoa New Zealand evaluation standards are principle-based rather than a set of rules. They are aspirational in their entirety. They outline expectations of evaluation processes, practice and products. They provide guidance on what should occur and how to judge the quality of an evaluation. They recognise a range of evaluative activity and people involved, and sectors, contexts and cultural settings in which evaluation occurs in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The four principles framing the evaluation standards are:

  • Respectful meaningful relationships
  • Ethic of care
  • Responsive methodologies and trustworthy results
  • Competence and usefulness.

Integrity is the core value underlying these principles.

Each principle is accompanied by five standards.

The first two principles and their standards are influenced by the values and principles from Maori and Pasifika worldviews, and form the foundation for realising the other two principles.

Context of standards in Aotearoa New Zealand 

The Treaty of Waitangi (Treaty) as the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand sets out a broad framework for this nation’s development. In developing the standards we recognised the Treaty principles of partnership, participation and protection. The values and principles of Ma-ori, Pa-keha-, and Pasifika1 are threaded through the standards.

Who the standards apply to

The standards apply to all those involved in an evaluation activity, including:

  • Commissioners – funders and direct clients of an evaluation. They typically request and fund the evaluation, and receive the resulting reports or other products.
  • Evaluators – all those who undertake ‘evaluation’, for example, discrete evaluation projects, evaluative monitoring, the production of evaluative information and evaluative knowledge, evaluative learning. This includes those with professional experience and training in evaluation, and others who undertake evaluation as part of their work role.
  • Participants – providers and recipients of the ‘something’ (e.g. programme, service or initiative) being evaluated; members of families, wha-nau, organisations, iwi, Pasifika groups, businesses and communities where the ‘something is located and evaluation is occurring.
  • Users – those whose needs are addressed by an evaluation; those making decisions based on the information from an evaluation; those who will be affected by such decisions; and those benefiting from improved knowledge, skills, learning or other actions from an evaluation.

Sources

ANZEA and Superu (2015). Evaluation standards for Aotearoa New Zealand. Retrieved from: https://anzea.org.nz/assets/Key-ANZEA-Files/ANZEA-Superu-Evaluation-standards-final-020415.pdf

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