According to the philosopher Peter Singer (2016), “whatever cannot be said clearly is probably not being thought clearly either” (p. x). Similarly, Nobel laureate in physics Richard Feynman said that if we cannot explain a concept at the freshman level, we really don’t understand it (Feynman, Leighton, & Sands, 2011, p. xxii). A challenge for professional evaluators is explaining clearly what it is that we do—to loved ones, customs officials at the airport, and potential clients. Miranda and Stadler’s (2009) Eva the Evaluator provides a children’s book version of a layperson’s introduction to evaluation. Now, thanks to Donna Podems’s excellent new book, Being an Evaluator: Your Practical Guide to Evaluation, we have an adult version of such a text. It is the most clearly written and accessible introduction to evaluation that I have ever come across. While its accessibility is what really makes this book stand out, Podems also contributes new ideas and important guidance not often found in other introductory texts. In the remainder of this review, I first discuss some of these contributions, followed by a description of the ways in which Podems has made Being an Evaluator the go-to text for introducing evaluation to new audiences.

中文翻译：

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书评：成为评估者：评估实用指南

根据哲学家彼得·辛格 (Peter Singer) (2016) 的说法，“任何不能说清楚的事情也可能没有被清楚地思考”（第 x 页）。同样，诺贝尔物理学奖获得者理查德·费曼说，如果我们不能在新生层面解释一个概念，我们就真的不理解它（Feynman, Leighton, & Sands, 2011, p. xxii）。专业评估人员面临的一个挑战是向亲人、机场海关官员和潜在客户清楚地解释我们的工作。Miranda 和 Stadler (2009) 的 Eva the Evaluator 提供了外行人对评估的介绍的儿童读物版本。现在，多亏了 Donna Podems 出色的新书《身为评估者：评估实用指南》，我们有了此类文本的成人版。这是我见过的最清晰易懂的评估介绍。虽然它的可访问性是这本书脱颖而出的真正原因，但 Podems 还提供了其他介绍性文本中不常见的新思想和重要指导。在本评论的其余部分中，我首先讨论其中一些贡献，然后描述 Podems 使作为评估者成为向新受众介绍评估的首选文本的方式。