aes19 International Evaluation Conference

Sue Leahy (ARTD Consultants), Helen Simons FAcSS FRSA (University of Southampton), Delyth Lloyd (Department of Health and Human Services )

Evaluators around the world are seeking to identify the unique set of skills needed to successfully practice evaluation and professionalise our work, through systematic approaches to training and in some cases, credentialing schemes. In Australia, we have been supported to develop as evaluation practitioners through conferences, training programs and resources, such as the Australian Evaluation Society (AES) competency framework and guidelines for ethical practice. But in other respects, our journey toward professionalisation is in its infancy and there is an appetite for more structured pathways to support peoples' professional journeys into and within the evaluation sector. In some countries evaluators have been trialing self and peer assessment schemes to help structure learning and offer professional development support. This paper showcases the experience of the United Kingdom Evaluation Society (UKES) in piloting its Voluntary Evaluator Peer Review System (VEPR). It involves a videoconference link with the convenor of the UKES Professionalisation subgroup and a facilitated question and answer session that will allow participants to explore the implementation of the UK peer assessment process. This makes a strong link to the Society's capabilities framework and informs future training. Reflections and learnings from the session will be provided to the AES to inform the possible development of a peer-assessment scheme in Australia.