Endorsed by the Canadian Evaluation Society and supported by the Ontario Chapter, the two considerations for evaluation ethics and standards guidelines are the CES Guidance for Ethical Evaluation Practice and the Evaluation Standards. These two documents outline codes of conduct that are to be maintained by all CES members when they conduct evaluations.
Evaluation Ethics Guidance
The Canadian Evaluation Society has published the Guidance for Ethical Evaluation Practice. All CES members are expected to adhere to these guidelines, which are current as of 2023. The Guidance for Ethical Evaluation Practice is comprised of two sections, both of which are available on their website: , and evaluators are encouraged to refer to the full document.
Core Values of the Ethics Guidance
1. Rights and well–being of persons and peoples.
2. Truth–seeking, honesty and transparency.
3. Responsibility to stakeholders and society.
Questions for values–based ethical reflection
Evaluation Standards Guidelines
All CES-ON members are expected to adhere to the following evaluation standards. These program evaluation standards were developed by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. There are five standards:
- Utility
- Feasibility
- Propriety
- Accuracy
- Evaluation Accountability
CES is a sponsoring member of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (JCSEE), which has produced evaluation standards for Program Evaluation and for Personnel Evaluation.
Published in 2011, in 3rd Edition, the book The Program Evaluation Standards provides a guide to evaluators and as well evaluation users. It was written by Yarbrough, D. B., Shulha, L. M., Hopson, R. K., and Caruthers, F. A., and can be purchased from Sage publications.