King, Jean A.

(b. 1949, Glens Falls, New York). Ph.D., M.S. Curriculum and Instruction, A.B. English, Cornell University.

King is Associate Professor of Education, University of Minnesota. She has served as Co-coordinator of the University of Minnesota's Patrick Henry High School, has been a member of the faculty at Tulane University, and has taught secondary school English in New York State.

Her primary contributions to the field of evaluation include the development of participatory evaluation practice, evaluation capacity building, free-range evaluation, and interactive evaluation practice. King works primarily in K-12 education and underfunded social service agencies, providing assistance conducting high-quality, useful evaluations with limited resources. She is known for her commitment to pragmatic solutions in evaluation and her valuing of reflection on practice. King's position as Coordinator of Research and Evaluation at Anoka-Hennepin ISD #11, Coon Rapids, Minnesota, from 1999 to 2002 demonstrates these attributes. Her main intellectual influences are the late measurement expert Jason Millman, [Page 220]Marv Alkin and his studies of evaluation utilization, and Michael Quinn Patton's utilization-focused evaluation.

King's involvement in the American Evaluation Association as Associate Conference Chair and Conference Chair from 1992 to 1999 and as the founder of the topical interest groups on collaborative, participatory, and empowerment evaluation and evaluation in precollegiate education demonstrate her commitment to the profession of evaluation. She is also committed to the improvement of quality education for evaluators. She is Founding Director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota. She has been Coordinator of Evaluation Studies, helped to establish a program evaluation minor and a post–master's certification program, and founded the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute. She is Editor of New Directions for Evaluation.

King is a Phi Beta Kappa member and has received the American Evaluation Association's Myrdal Award for Evaluation Practice and the Ingle Award for Service to AEA. She received the University of Minnesota Robert Beck Award for Faculty Excellence in 1999 and the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002.