This presentation is part of the AEA 2012 Conference Session 691. The presentation highlights the primacy of building trust before introducing any funded programs in district/schools. The presentation shares how the different approaches to the program implementation and evaluation were negotiated as the levels of trust within the organization progressed. Presentation Abstract: Your program evaluation timeline is ticking yet the client is not ready to have the program evaluators in the district! This district is under the continuous improvement category. Some schools are under academic watch. There are serious academic improvement demands and economic challenges in the district, not to mention competing personal stresses on teachers and administrators. And specifically, teachers are wary of evaluators. Clearly, building trust is foremost before even introducing the federally funded science improvement program to teachers. The presenters will share the process they used to build relationships in the district prior to program implementation and evaluation. Kramer’s and Tyler’s (1996) three levels of trust became apparent as the presenters reflected on the emerging relationships they experienced. These three levels of trust considerations prompted vital adaptations to program implementation and evaluation. Focus will be on how administrators and teachers valued program evaluation after trust was established.#Prek-12EducationalEvaluation #2012Conference #trustandevaluation