What is Metaevaluation?

Michael Scriven introduced the term in 1969 to describe his evaluation of a plan to evaluate educational products.

Simply stated, metaevaluation is the evaluation of an evaluation, evaluation system or evaluation device.

Why is Metaevaluation important?

Dr. Scrivens argued that many consumers base their educational product buying decisions on evaluations of those products. Since the quality of these products can impact the education of children and youth, it is critically important that the evaluations of these products be accurate and unbiased. Thus the need to conduct metaevaluations which insure such evaluations are valid is critical to the welfare of consumers.

An Operational Definition

Operationally, metaevaluation is also defined as the process of delineating, obtaining, and applying descriptive information and judgmental information - about the utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy of an evaluation and its systematic nature, competent conduct, integrity/honesty, respectfulness, and social responsibility - to guide the evaluation and/or report its strengths and weaknesses. ~ Daniel L. Stufflebeam ~