Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation (CREE) is an approach to policy and program evaluation that centers culture, equity, and community in every phase of study design and implementation. It builds on the integration of diversity, inclusion, and equity throughout the evaluation process. All measures and analytics acknowledge the role of cultural, structural, and contextual factors (i.e., historical, social, economic, racial, and ethnic) through participatory processes drawing upon the knowledge and experiences of individuals and their communities. CREE is not just one method of evaluation; it is included across all evaluation methodologies, advancing equity by informing strategy, program improvement, decision-making, policy formation, and change.
The concept of CREE has multiple intellectual roots, including efforts to evaluate social programs in the early 20th Century. One particular stream originated from the tradition of Responsive Evaluation associated with the work of Robert Stake, who first articulated the concepts that became CREE in the 1970s, focusing on issues of importance to program practitioners and stakeholders rather than decision-makers. More recent efforts include those of Westat and the National Science Foundation.
Several principles distinguish CREE from conventional evaluation practice:
Context. Culture is understood as a cumulative body of learned and shared behavior, values, customs, and beliefs common to a particular group or society, and being “responsive” fundamentally means attending substantively and politically to issues of culture and race in evaluation practice.
Equity. A culturally responsive and equitable approach is multiculturally valid, values the voices, knowledge, and expertise of systemically minoritized and underrepresented groups, and aligns evaluation objectives to address equity.
Power. Evaluators examine the role of power, privilege, and oppression in their work and actively avoid contributing to systemic harm. Evaluation practices should routinely explore program context and incorporate the voices of individuals potentially affected by the program.
Scope. Research is not limited to understanding program operations and effectiveness. It also focuses on who is impacted, in what ways, and why, by examining the underlying social, political, and historical contexts of a program and the communities it serves.
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References
Frechtling, Joy (2002). The 2002 User Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation. Division of Research, Evaluation, and Communication.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3): 465-491.
(1975). To evaluate an arts program. In (Ed.), Evaluating the Arts in Education: A Responsive Approach (pp. 13–31). Columbus, OH: Merrill.
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