Participatory Evaluation
When program participants are equal partners with evaluators, meaningful change occurs.
What It Is
In a participatory evaluation, a partnership exists between program evaluators and program participants. While a trained evaluator is there to facilitate the process of understanding the ways a particular program or service is making a difference for children, families, and communities, participants themselves are actively at the center of the entire evaluation process. Although the term participatory evaluation has been used to describe a variety of evaluations, the extent to which participants hold responsibility for the approach determines whether it truly can be considered a participatory evaluation. Both parties should play a role in decision making, and participants should be involved in each stage of the process — from designing the evaluation to collecting and analyzing the data to reporting and using findings for program improvement and organizational change.
How It Works
An important step when beginning the evaluation process is determining which community participants should be involved. The process works best when participants represent the different groups or interests of the program. In family engagement efforts, participatory approaches can include both families and staff, who have often had little opportunity to be evaluation partners. These key stakeholders have a say in defining outcomes, posing and refining evaluation questions, making decisions about data collection processes, and analyzing and interpreting the data.¹ The evaluator facilitating the process is charged with balancing the needs of these different participants and resolving any conflict that might emerge. Building and maintaining trust within these partnerships is essential as well.² Importantly, evaluators should avoid jargon, and together with participants, co-create what questions they want answered and how to elicit the answers to those questions. Accordingly, the evaluator and participants need to look carefully at the evaluation questions they want answered and determine which methods will most thoroughly achieve their goals.³
What Changes
Through engagement in a participatory evaluation process, participants gain both an understanding of the evaluation process and of their own work at a deeper level.⁴ Participatory evaluation provides individuals with knowledge of the process and with the confidence to understand and use data for improvement.
In terms of program improvement, participants develop relevant insights into their work and the functions of their organization while engaging in the evaluation process. They are then able to use those lessons to make changes to the program and organizational processes while the evaluation is still taking place. This is known as process use and is often cited as a primary benefit of engaging in participatory evaluation.⁵ The extent to which participants learn from the process, however, is influenced by their level of connection — participants who are less involved do not gain the same benefits as those who are more committed.
Approach in Action
The Parent Leadership Indicators Project (PLI), an initiative of Metro Center at New York University, builds parent leaders who are empowered to take action in their local communities and to use their voices on behalf of their children. In evaluating these parent leadership initiatives, the project utilizes a participatory approach to evaluation. This approach aligns with the organization’s mission of empowering parent leaders as it builds their ability and capacity to conduct evaluations.
For example, as the first phase of evaluating its work, PLI collaborated with parent leaders, researchers, practitioners, and experts in the parent leadership field to co-create a draft theory of change to describe how the parent leaders who emerge from these initiatives effect change in themselves and their children, families, and communities. To test the theory of change, the parent leaders and researchers conducted focus groups and interviews with diverse parent leaders, staff of parent leadership-development initiatives, community leaders, and public officials. The purpose of this evaluation was to verify whether the guiding theory aligned with the lived experience of participants. The results of the process helped to refine and corroborate elements of the theory of change, including how parent leadership builds capacity, helps families undergo personal transformation, and assists public officials in seeing parents as assets.⁶
Overall, the approach recognizes the experience and expertise that the parents as well as the PLI staff members have and uses that knowledge to inform evaluation efforts. The ultimate aim of engaging in these evaluations is learning and growth.
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End Notes
¹ McAlister, S., & Geller, J. Evaluation for equity: Measuring what matters in parents leadership initiatives. Executive summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://parentleadershipevaluation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/inline-files/PLI_Concept_ExecSummary.pdf
² Jagosh, J., Bush, P. L., Salsberg, J., Macaulay, A. C., Greenhalgh, T., Wong, G.,… Pluye, P. (2015). A realist evaluation of community-based participatory research: Partnership synergy, trust building and related ripple effects. BMC Public Health, 15, 1–11. doi:10.1186/s12889–015–1949–1
³ Moreau, K. A. (2017). Twelve tips for planning and conducting a participatory evaluation. Medical Teacher, 39(4), 334–340. doi:10.1080/0142159X.2017.1286310; Simmons, V. N., Klasko, L. B., Fleming, K., Koskan, A. M., Jackson, N. T., Noel-Thomas, S.,… Gwede, C. K. (2015). Participatory evaluation of a community-academic partnership to inform capacity-building and sustainability. Evaluation and Program Planning, 52, 19–26. doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2015.03.005
⁴ McAlister, S., & Geller, J. (n.d.).
⁵ Jagosh, J., Bush, P. L., Salsberg, J., Macaulay, A. C., Greenhalgh, T., Wong, G.,… Pluye, P. (2015).
⁶ Henderson, A. T., Kressley, K. G., & Frankel, S. Capturing the ripple effect: Developing a theory of change for evaluating parent leadership initiatives. Final report, phase 1. (2016). Providence, RI: Brown University, Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Retrieved from https://www.annenberginstitute.org/sites/default/files/capturingtherippleeffectreportweb.pdf
