This document considers both self-examination and external evaluation of gifted and talented education programs. Principles of the self-examination process are offered, noting similarities to external evaluation models. Principles of self-evaluation efforts include the importance of maintaining a nonjudgmental orientation, soliciting views from the insider's perspective, and triangulating data. The most important techniques in self-evaluation are observation, interviewing, and participation. While self-evaluation maintains an educational program's quality on a daily basis, expert external evaluation is essential to an in-depth and objective understanding. Important considerations in external evaluation include working with an external evaluator and understanding qualitative and quantitative approaches. Clear communication of evaluation findings is important for both internal and external evaluations. General evaluation guidelines and specific guidelines for evaluating gifted and talented education programs are given. A case study illustrates many of these guidelines, including the importance of context; preparing a program description; the use of verbatim quotations; assessment and analysis; review of the standard program mechanisms (referral, identification, and selection); refinements; analyzing underlying factors; addressing larger sociopolitical concerns; and communicating evaluation findings. Appendices provide further explanation of evaluation components. (Contains 42 references.) (DB)