The purpose of this study was to understand how the process and findings of evaluation affect literacy instruction. There are two research questions as follows: (1) How does program evaluation affect the individual, interpersonal, and collective understanding and practice of literacy instruction? (2) What factors affect the evaluation use and influence of a literacy improvement program?

Based on those research questions, I adopted a qualitative case study using semistructured interviews and document review. I used purposive sampling to select informants at three stages. First, I chose one school district that was committed to building evaluation capacity which would support the use and influence of evaluation. Second, based on the suggestions of key informants, I identified two elementary schools that had been affected by the evaluation of a literacy improvement program. Third, I identified teachers and administrators who were directly associated with the evaluation and program in the district and schools. A total of 26 interviewees participated in the study.

All interviews were transcribed and then coded using the NVIVO qualitative data analysis program. The analysis constantly compared and contrasted the themes that were developed in the same interviews and across different interviews, paying attention to internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity. A comparative analysis was conducted after the individual units were studied in detail.

This study describes different types of evaluation use and influence individually, interpersonally, and collectively. Evaluation use/influence at one level was found to affect those at the other levels. In addition, the research identifies three categories of factors that affected evaluation use/influence. Comparisons across the cases indicated that one of the schools had more evidence of evaluation use and influence than the other one. The most salient factors were associated with human aspects, particularly the principal's expectations and support. The study concluded with implications for research and practice.