Evaluation in the Branco Weiss Institute: From Social Vision to Educational Practice

This article presents the unique development of the evaluation unit at the Branco Weiss Institute (BWI) in Jerusalem, an educational nongovernmental organization designed to enhance individual and social growth and to reduce educational gaps in Israeli society. The Institute, which operates a network of schools for at-risk students along with comprehensive high schools, develops and implements educational and social programs in Israel's social and geographic periphery. The article describes the evaluation unit at the Institute as a democratic and culturally responsive mechanism that promotes social justice through the participation of all stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue that generates new knowledge for the organization and its programs. The article includes an illustration of the implementation of the model in a school program for pupils of Ethiopian origin.