Afterword: Key questions for thought and action

Abstract

In this summary article, six recommendations for the design, implementation, and interpretation of educational evaluations are presented and discussed. These recommendations are based on common “threads” that run through most, if not all, of the papers included in this special issue. The recommendations concern (1) the need for awareness of the political, societal, cultural, and economic factors affecting evaluation studies; (2) the importance of knowing and understanding the stakeholder groups; (3) the need to ensure that the purposes of the evaluation are explicit and clear; (4) the importance of allowing flexibility in the implementation of the evaluation when needed to account for issues that arise during the evaluation process; (5) the need to ensure that the data gathered as part of the evaluation process are of the highest technical quality possible; and the (6) importance of ensuring that the results of the evaluation are interpreted correctly and well understood by stakeholders and decision makers.