CLTW Roles and Responsibilities:
Dr. LaFrance has served as the lead evaluator
for CLTW. She has directed and trained a team of CLTW Fellows
in doing a range of evaluation assignments. She teaches program
evaluation for the CLTW on-line course curriculum
Primary Research Interests:
Culturally competent research methods and evaluation
practice in American Indian and Alaskan Native communities.
Recent publications:
• In progress: LaFrance, J. and Crazy Bull.
C. a chapter on tribal internal review boards and negotiating
research in Indian communities to be included in the Handbook
of Social Research Ethics, D. Mertens and P.Ginsberg (Eds.) to
be published by Sage.
• Nelson-Barber, S., LaFrance, J., Trumbull, E., Aburto,
S. (2005). Promoting Culturally Reliable and Valid Evaluation
Practice. In Role of Culture and Cultural Context in Evaluation,
pg 59-83.
• LaFrance, J. (2004). Culturally Competent Evaluation in
Indian Country, New Directions in Evaluation, No. 102.
Other Relevant Professional Information:
Joan LaFrance is owner of Mekinak Consulting,
a management and evaluation service specializing in program evaluation,
research, and management studies. In addition to doing program
evaluation of educational, social services and health programs,
Mekinak consulting has developed a specialized expertise in providing
services to Indian tribes and organizations. She is currently
working with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium to
develop an Indigenous framework for evaluation. She holds a Doctorate
in Education from Harvard University and a Masters in Public Administration
from the University of Washington. In addition to conducting evaluations,
she has taught research and evaluation methods in graduate programs
for the University of Washington, Western Washington University
and Evergreen State College. She has experience in municipal budgeting,
program development and management, group facilitation and curriculum
development.
