Smith (education, Syracuse U.) and Brandon (education, U. of Hawai'i, Manoa) present a collection of revised and expanded papers from the American Evaluation Association's 2004 conference of the same title. Following an overview of the topic, 11 contributions by 22 academics, researchers, and consultants from the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand examine issues in evaluation theory, method, practice, and profession. Coverage includes the influence of practical knowledge on the practice of evaluation; dealing with cultural competence and gender, disability, political, racial, and ethnic diversity; building a better evidence base for evaluation theory; synthesizing evaluation and social science research findings; setting program standards in collaborative evaluation; understanding the difference between evaluation and research; and ethics and values in the evaluation of indigenous cultures. For students, academics and researchers. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)