September 27-29, 2017 in Chicago

Heightened community unrest sparked by the death of unarmed citizens; disproportionate inequities in education, poverty, health care, and rates of incarceration; and an intensely divisive U.S. presidential election require even more vigilant attention from our global CREA community. It is critically important that we focus on the generation, analysis, and usage of substantive evidence “that matters” in the evaluations and assessments we undertake. To address the issues our communities face, we are compelled and responsible to raise questions about what is being done to correct inequities and aggressively translate this evidence into action that has meaningful impact on our collective future. 

Therefore the Evidence Matters: Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment Translating to Action and Impact in Challenging Times   will focus on the following areas:

- Program evaluation, measurement and assessment as sources of evidence

- Challenging the status quo regarding whose evidence matters. Cultural responsiveness as foundational to more equitable public policy

- Moving from evidence generation to advocacy and action. Policies and practices of influence and consequence in the quest for social justice

- Ethical challenges in complex areas of inquiry; whose justice is advanced?