Evaluation Utilization: A Review of the Literature with Implications for Gifted Education

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Abstract
Although evaluations of education programs are conducted for a variety of reasons, there is always the expectation that findings will be used in some way. However, the utility of evaluation findings may be affected by factors related to evaluation context which are out of the evaluator's control (such as economic and political concerns), and by factors which may be at least to some degree within the control of the evaluator (such as evaluator competence, evaluation design, identification of and communication with audiences, and clarity and quality of the evaluation report). Unique goals of programs for gifted learners provide special challenges to evaluators. Findings from the general literature of evaluation utilization offer guidance to evaluators of gifted programs regarding factors which may increase the likelihood that evaluation findings will be used to produce program change, but there is a clear need for research delineating specific factors which may facilitate or impede utilization of findings from evaluations of programs for the gifted.