Historical Perspectives: Focus on Design and Method

Abstract

In chapter 1 we outlined five challenges for the development of evaluation theory and practice in language education. These challenges derive from both current perspectives on evaluation — the need to understand language education processes in program contexts, the demands of effective program management in areas such as quality enhancement, accountability and transparency, and the involvement of stakeholders — and also from the tradition of theory-building and practice in evaluation over recent decades. This chapter begins our account of these traditions by outlining the early phases of evaluation theory and practice of evaluation in social programs generally and in education in particular. The focus is on those conceptual strands that have endured across time and inform and have the potential to develop current theory and practice.