The Credibility of a Local Educational Program Evaluation Report: Author Source and Client Audience Characteristics

Abstract

The judged usefulness and objectivity of a simulated evaluation report and client agreement with the report’s recommendations were examined as functions of the evaluator’s simulated professional background e.g., “researcher,” “evaluator,” or “art educator” and the client’s organizational role status (teachers or administrators). The results suggest that source and audience characteristics influence client ratings of the evaluator but do not effect changes in agreement with the evaluator’s recommendations.