Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations editorial assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

An Avondale College lecturer’s doctoral thesis has earned an invitation to contribute to a blog that aims to publish a tip a day for evaluators.

“Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs: a case study” by Dr Wayne Miller examines the use of empowerment evaluation with the Australian Red Cross’s Good Start Breakfast Club. It forms the basis of Wayne’s post on the American Evaluation Association-sponsored blog, AEA365.

Wayne, a senior lecturer in health and physical education and outdoor recreation in the Faculty of Education, reflects on his experience as “coach” of 80 club personnel who engaged in a process of self-evaluation and developed practical evaluation tools. His “hot tip”: establish trustworthy relationships; partner with “champions” committed to their communities; and seek commitment by senior managers to support empowered staff by providing the staff with the resources to remain so.

Professor David Fetterman, a former president of the American Evaluation Association, comments on Wayne’s post, recommends to others a collaborative journal article written by Wayne and includes a link to Wayne’s dissertation.