Youth Participatory Evaluation: Strategies for Engaging Young People

Preface x

The Author xiii

Foreword by Naomi Ortiz xiv

PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION

CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION TO YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION 3

What Is Youth Participatory Evaluation? 6

The Benefits of Youth Participatory Evaluation 9

CHAPTER TWO: DEVELOPMENT, PLAY, AND PERFORMANCE 19

Development and Play 24

Transformation of Totalities and Development 26

PART TWO: DESIGNING AND CONDUCTING YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION PROJECTS

CHAPTER THREE: STARTING YOUR OWN YPE PROJECT 35

Do Youth Really Want to Participate in Evaluation? 36

Which Youth Should Participate? 37

How Many Youth Should Be Involved? 38

Should Youth Be Compensated for Their Participation? 38

How Old Does Someone Have to Be to Participate? 39

What Is the Value of Engaging Youth of Different Ages and Capacities? 40

Can Young People Really Conduct Effective and Useful Evaluations That We Can Trust? 40

Who Should Facilitate the YPE Process? 41

What Happens When a YPE Project Is Conducted in a Program That Is Not Participatory? 41

How Do We Engage and Prepare Additional Stakeholders in the Process, Particularly Those in Positions of Power? 44

CHAPTER FOUR: DEVELOPING THE ENSEMBLE YPE TEAM 45

Getting Started 46

Moving from Adult Facilitator to Performance Director 47

Discovering All That the YPE Team Members Have to Offer 49

Performing the Ensemble 55

Creating the Environment 60

Monitoring the Ensemble 66

Summary 72

CHAPTER FIVE: DEVELOPING A YPE PLAN 73

Articulating How Your Program Operates 76

Formulating Evaluation Questions 86

CHAPTER SIX: TRAINING YOUNG PEOPLE AS INTERVIEWERS 90

CHAPTER SEVEN: TRAINING YOUNG PEOPLE AS CREATIVE FOCUS GROUP FACILITATORS 102

Helping Young People Conduct Focus Groups 104

Creative Group and Focus Group Activities 110

CHAPTER EIGHT: WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE TO DEVELOP SURVEYS 117

Hints for Creating and Administering Surveys 119

Creative Approaches to Surveying 125

CHAPTER NINE: USING PERFORMANCE AS A DATA COLLECTION STRATEGY 130

CHAPTER TEN: USING JOURNALING IN EVALUATION 140

CHAPTER ELEVEN: APPROACHING DATA ANALYSIS AND REPORT WRITING CREATIVELY 146

Creative Approaches to Data Analysis 147

Creative Strategies for Presenting Data 155

CHAPTER TWELVE: ENCOURAGEMENTS 160

Five Tips for Maintaining Your Performatory Posture 162

Concluding Thought 164

Appendix A: Tips for the Interviewer 165

Tips for the Note Taker 167

Appendix B: Tips for Conducting Focus Groups 168

Tips for the Facilitator 169

Tips for the Note Taker 170

Appendix C: How to Determine the Appropriate Sample Size 171

References 173

Index 176