Educational evaluation in the light of construal level theory: The case of cognitive tuning

The aim of the present study is to examine the relation between stakeholders as internal evaluators and their systemic positions in light of construal level theory. The study examines the two samples of county representatives, teachers and principals who answered the questionnaire regarding evaluation of the Norwegian assessment program. In addition, the data from interviews which were simultaneously performed are presented. The overall results showed that there was a clear tendency in county representatives relative to principals, and principals relative to teachers, to hold favorable attitudes toward program evaluation. This indicated that the distance between stakeholders’ positions in the system and the object of evaluation may influence the favorability of evaluation. The implications of these results are discussed.