Introduction

By the late seventies the extensive evaluation activities of the federal government in the United States had been roundly criticized by a large number of people. The National Institute of Education decided to try a significantly different approach to evaluation that might address some of the strongest criticisms. The fundamental idea was to have others participate in the evaluation itself, and this participatory attempt was called the stakeholder approach because these who were to participate were those who had a stake in the program. The story of this particular attempt to democratize evaluation is encapsulated in this section of the book. It is not an entirely happy story.