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Language program evaluation has the potential for positive program impact by providing an opportunity for program stakeholders to reflect on their goals, examine their outcomes, and determine ways to move forward to maximize a program's effectiveness. However, many stakeholders are either unaware of the affordances of program evaluation or unable to access it for their programs. Moreover, many stakeholders have an incomplete understanding of what program evaluation entails and frequently confuse it with assessment. This paper examines the current capacities and needs of program evaluation for K‐12 world language programs, including the extent to which K‐12 world language professionals in this study currently utilize evaluation, and provides information on the kinds of language program evaluation workshops and tools that could be helpful for these populations. The Challenge: Program evaluation can help language programs maximize their effectiveness, but how can that occur if those involved don't understand the purposes and implications of program evaluation? How do world language teachers and administrators understand the meaning of program evaluation? This article examines how current beliefs about the meaning of program evaluation can help increase the use of program evaluation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed‐methods study explores the efficacy of a multidimensional identity measurement tool that aims to represent the diverse language experiences of heritage language learners (HLLs) and heritage language speakers (HLSs). Drawing on the thematic commonalities across 13 definitions of HLLs, a questionnaire was developed to capture age of acquisition, self‐reported proficiency level, home exposure, language maintenance efforts, and cultural and familial ties to the heritage community. Questionnaire data spanning HLSs (N = 135) of 41 heritage languages were submitted to K‐means cluster analysis to investigate identity‐based trends across respondents. Interviews (n = 10) and autobiographical essays (n = 4) from a subset of respondents from each resulting cluster were thematically analyzed and used to corroborate descriptive HLS profiles from cluster analysis results. Three HLS profiles emerged from the data set, and their defining characteristics (based on the five HLL identity themes) illustrate the complex interplay of language, culture, family, and education within the HLS population. Qualitative analysis of respondents' perspectives highlights the challenges of quantitatively measuring inherently qualitative experiences. The study concludes with implications for how questionnaire‐based instruments derived from bottom‐up statistical analyses can be leveraged in future research, advancing the agendas of linguists and educators to better understand and support HLSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]