Evaluate fools beginning to skive (6)
I believe the answer is:
assess
'evaluate' is the definition.
('assess' can be a synonym of 'evaluate')
'fools beginning to skive' is the wordplay.
'fools' becomes 'asses' (ass is a kind of fool).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'skive' is 's'.
'asses'+'s'='ASSESS'
(Other definitions for assess that I've seen before include "Evaluate, estimate" , "Estimate, decide the value of" , "Put a value on" , "Make estimate or appraisal of" , "Estimate the worth or quality of" .)