Racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity has become of global importance in places where many never would have imagined. Increasing diversity in the U.S., Europe, Africa, New Zealand, and Asia strongly suggests that a homogeneity-based focus is rapidly becoming an historical artifact. Therefore, culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) should no longer be viewed as a luxury or an option in our work as evaluators. The continued amplification of racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity and awareness among the populations of the U.S. and other western nations insists that social science researchers and evaluators inextricably engage culturally responsive approaches in their work. It is unacceptable for most mainstream university evaluation programs, philanthropic agencies, training institutes sponsored by federal agencies, professional associations, and other entities to promote professional evaluation practices that do not attend to CRE. Our global demographics are a reality that can be appropriately described and studied within the context of complexity theory and theory of change (e.g., Stewart, 1991; Battram, 1999). And this perspective requires a distinct shift from “simple” linear cause-effect models and reductionist thinking to include more holistic and culturally responsive approaches. The development of policy that is meaningfully responsive to the needs of traditionally disenfranchised stakeholders and that also optimizes the use of limited resources (human, natural, and financial) is an extremely complex process. Fortunately, we are presently witnessing developments in methods, instruments, and statistical techniques that are mixed methods in their paradigm/designs and likely to be more effective in informing policymaking and decision-making. Culturally responsive evaluation is one such phenomenon that positions itself to be relevant in the context of dynamic international and national settings where policy and program decisions take place. One example of a response to address this dynamic and need is the newly established Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA) in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. CREA is an outgrowth of the collective work and commitments of a global community of scholars and practitioners who have contributed chapters to this edited volume. It is an international and interdisciplinary evaluation center that is grounded in the need for designing and conducting evaluations and assessments that embody cognitive, cultural, and interdisciplinary diversity so as to be actively responsive to culturally diverse communities and their aspirations. The Center’s purpose is to address questions, issues, theories, and practices related to CRE and culturally responsive educational assessment. Therefore, CREA can serve as a vehicle for our continuing discourse on culture and cultural context in evaluation and also as a point of dissemination for not only the work that is included in this edited volume, but for the subsequent work it will encourage.

"In the electric, pulsating world around us, the essay lives a life of abandon, posing questions, speaking truths, fulfilling a need humans have to know what other humans think and wonder so we can feel less alone." -Katherine Bomer Sadly, many students only know "essay" as a 5-paragraph, tightly structured writing assignment that must check all the boxes of a standardized formula. How did essays in school get so far away from essays in the world? Katherine makes a powerful case for teaching the essay as a way to restore writing to think-that it is in fact necessary for students' success in college and career. "Essay helps students write flexibly, fluently, and with emboldened voices," she writes in The Journey Is Everything, "qualities they can translate into any assigned writing task in school or in life." She argues that the close reading of essays fulfills the recommendations of state and national standards, while practice in essay writing leads to better academic and test writing. More importantly, "Essay gives its author the space, time, and freedom to think about and make sense of things, take a journey of discovery, and speak her mind, without boundaries." Don't students deserve the chance to develop their own topics, discover their own writing voices, and learn to structure prose organically, according to the content? Katherine gives you tools, strategies, and activities to bring a unit on more authentic writing into your practice. Rediscover the power of the essay to bring out students' true thinking-their true selves. Because after all, the journey is everything.

“When Yahweh became a man, he was a homeless vagrant. He walked through Palestine proclaiming that a mysterious kingdom had arrived...He called people to follow him, and that meant walking.” — Charles Foster Humans are built to wander. History is crisscrossed by their tracks. Sometimes there are obvious reasons for it: to get better food for themselves or their animals; to escape weather, wars, or plague. But sometimes they go—at great expense and risk—in the name of God, seeking a place that feels sacred, that speaks to the heart. God himself seems to have a bias toward the nomad. The road is a favored place — a place of epiphany. That’s all very well if you are fit and free. But what if you are paralyzed by responsibility or disease? What if the only journey you can make is to the office, the school, or the bathroom? Best-selling English author and adventurer Charles Foster has wandered quite a bit, and he knows what can be found (and lost) on a sacred journey. He knows that pilgrimage involves doing something with whatever faith you have. And faith, like muscle, likes being worked. Exploring the history of pilgrimage across cultures and religions, Foster uses tales of his own travels to examine the idea of approaching each day as a pilgrimage, and he offers encouragement to anyone who wants to experience a sacred journey. The result is an intoxicating, highly readable blend of robust theology and lyrical anecdote — an essential guidebook for every traveler in search of the truth about God, himself, and the world. When Jesus said “Follow me,” he meant us to hit the road with him. The Sacred Journey will show you how. The Ancient Practices There is a hunger in every human heart for connection, primitive and raw, to God. To satisfy it, many are beginning to explore traditional spiritual disciplines used for centuries . . . everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. Compelling and readable, the Ancient Practices series is for every spiritual sojourner, for every Christian seeker who wants more.

“Through this wonderful book, frustrated golfers can learn to swing like Moe [Norman] and improve their games.” —Anthony Robbins, #1 New York Times–bestselling author The mysterious and reclusive genius Moe Norman is acknowledged as the best ball-striker in the history of golf by many of the game’s greats. The Single Plane Golf Swing: Play Better Golf the Moe Norman Way reveals the secrets of the swing that enabled him to hit the ball solidly with unerring accuracy and consistency—every time. Norman’s simple, efficient, and easily understood Single Plane Swing has improved the games of thousands of golfers. Golf professional Todd Graves, known as “Little Moe” and regarded as the world authority on Norman’s swing, comprehensively teaches readers the mechanics, drills, and feelings of the Single Plane Swing that Moe called “The Feeling of Greatness.” Graves shares Norman’s brilliant insights and liberating approach to the game and demonstrates why the conventional “tour” swing is too complex and frustrating for the majority of amateurs. Illustrated with more than 300 photographs and written with Tim O’Connor, Norman’s biographer, the book also engagingly tells Norman’s bittersweet life story and explores the teacher-student bond forged between Norman and his protégé Graves. “One of golf’s greatest untold stories, Moe Norman’s life illustrated a simple and powerful truth: greatness is built from practicing the right swing in the right way. In this book, Todd Graves has given us a blueprint for that swing, for those practice habits, and most of all for a process that builds success.” —Dan Coyle, New York Times-bestselling author of The Culture Code

Using his distinctive and empowering coaching style, internationally-known business coach and entrepreneur's best friend, Brandon Seigel, takes private practice entrepreneurs on a journey to unlocking key strategies for surviving--and thriving--in today's business environment. Much has changed in the world over the past several years, as businesses, and private practices in particular, have become increasingly regulated. In The Private Practice Survival Guide, Seigel unveils the "big picture" on how to create and scale ethical and prosperous business models, to overcome the current barriers hindering success. From defining a private practice vision to developing a bulletproof business foundation to staying compliant in a challenging infrastructure, Seigel covers ten core competencies that every entrepreneur must implement, when strategically building a private practice. Utilizing real-life stories and experiences, Seigel showcases common challenges and pitfalls that can quickly derail a private practice that lacks proper planning, metrics, and strategy. He covers the essential how-to questions, when identifying the necessary steps to creating a practice that delivers greatness and financial viability! For those already in practice, and worried about profitability at a time where competition is increasing, Seigel offers some of the most leading and creative strategies to tap into a new age of innovation and deliver proven results.

For more than a quarter of a century, Pat Schneider has helped writers find and liberate their true voices. Now, Schneider's acclaimed methods are made available in a single well-organized and highly readable volume.