Abstract: Based on the social paradigm of constructivism, the theoretical framework of new managerialism and professionalism, and the development history of foreign social work evaluation, this current research found that the local social work evaluation standards were changing and developing through the data collected by the author who participated in social work project evaluation in District D of Guangdong from 2010 to 2018. The article summarized the evolution of social work evaluation standards in District D into 4 stages and types, namely the work-report type, management-norm type, professional-norm type and professional-experience type. Also, the article argued that in the past eight years, social work evaluation had become professional for the reason that the government and the social work industry had adopted negotiation strategies with compromise and persistence when they tried to implement their own minds in the evaluation standard design, resulting in a temporary balance during the dynamic game between the government purchasers’ managerial mind and the service providers’ professional mind. However, as the service users had little access to the construction of the evaluation standards, the author believed that the social work evaluation in District D indicated an unfinished professionalization of social work. Therefore, it is suggested that the government should continuously improve the management level, the evaluators should actively participate in the design or modification of evaluation standards, social work agencies and project social workers should take the initiative to summarize and share professional experience, and the service objects should be empowered to participate in the evaluation.

Key words: new managerialism, professionalism, project evaluation, social work