Utility

Utility standards are intended to increase the extent to which program stakeholders find evaluation processes and products valuable in meeting their needs.

The Evaluation Standards produced by the Joint Committee on Educational Evaluation, have the following 8 standards relating to utility:

• U1 Evaluator Credibility Evaluations should be conducted by qualified people who establish and maintain credibility in the evaluation context.
• U2 Attention to Stakeholders Evaluations should devote attention to the full range of individuals and groups invested in the program and affected by its evaluation.
• U3 Negotiated Purposes Evaluation purposes should be identified and continually negotiated based on the needs of stakeholders.
• U4 Explicit Values Evaluations should clarify and specify the individual and cultural values underpinning purposes, processes, and judgments.
• U5 Relevant Information Evaluation information should serve the identified and emergent needs of stakeholders.
• U6 Meaningful Processes and Products Evaluations should construct activities, descriptions, and judgments in ways that encourage participants to rediscover, reinterpret, or revise their understandings and behaviors.
• U7 Timely and Appropriate Communicating and Reporting Evaluations should attend to the continuing information needs of their multiple audiences.
• U8 Concern for Consequences and Influence Evaluations should promote responsible and adaptive use while guarding against unintended negative consequences and misuse.