An Evaluation of

The question of who evaluates the evaluators is explored through the experiences of an external evaluation team. Some have called evaluating evaluators and their work evaluation auditing, but it could also be viewed as a form of meta-evaluation. At the request of the Director of Research and Evaluation for the "ESU 18 " (named for a county administrative unit) evaluation team in Lincoln (Nebraska), three directors of research and evaluation in other school districts (DREs) formed an external visitation team (EVT) to conduct a meta-evaluation of the Evaluation Team of the initiative (ET). The ET has a unique relationship to the Lincoln Public Schools because it is housed in the same building but is administratively separate, reporting to a county administrative unit. This gives the ET the advantage of being independent, and less subject to pressure to conduct evaluations that create positive public relations for the school district. By the same token, their independence lends credibility to their studies an