The Oral History of Evaluation: The Influence of Edmund Wyatt Gordon on Evaluation

Since 2003, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have made substantial contributions to evaluation theory and practice. The previous interviews were conducted with individuals who have a major identification within the field of evaluation and whose professional development has been intertwined with the history of evaluation as a distinct field. Over a similar period some members in the field of evaluation have worked to highlight more of the field’s history, especially in pointing out the contributions of individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups, including those who were early in addressing how perceptions and realities of race and class affect our programs and their evaluations. This is especially the case in educational evaluation, where a “collective ignorance” about the scholarship of African Americans has sparked efforts to more fully represent voices that can enlighten and enrich our scholarship and our recorded history (e.g., Hood, 2001; Hood & Hopson, 2008). In keeping with this endeavor, the present interview extends the previous scope of the oral history project to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Edmund Wyatt Gordon, a leading intellectual in the field of education. Dr. Gordon is a centenarian who remains actively engaged in research at The Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) within Teachers College at Columbia University. This center, founded by Dr. Gordon in 1974, was renamed in his honor in 2021 to recognize his contributions in educational justice, equity, and education. Long-time members of the Oral History Project Team (Robin Lin Miller, Melvin M. Mark, Valerie J. Caracelli) along with Rodney K. Hopson conducted three interviews with Dr. Gordon between October 2021 and December 2021. The interview transcripts have been combined and edited for clarity, length, and content. Dr. Gordon reviewed and approved the final product prior to its submission to the American Journal of Evaluation.