This workbook is for young people who want to develop knowledge for action and change, whether through program evaluation, community assessment, policy analysis, or other studies. It is based on the belief that people have a right to participate in the institutions and decisions that affect their lives, and that evaluation is a vehicle for participation.

This workbook draws upon our work with community partners in the South Bronx, Mississippi Delta, Albuquerque, East Oakland, Des Moines, and Providence, and with youth evaluators from rural areas, small towns, and urban neighborhoods in Michigan.

We have tried to provide practical tools for participatory evaluation, including evaluation questions, steps in the process, methods of gathering information, and strategies for creating change. You can approach this book from cover to cover, or you can go directly to the sections most relevant to your situation.

We have featured a variety of learning activities, such as small group exercises and other hands-on methods for problem-solving and program-planning. You can use these activities as an individual, but they are primarily for use with small groups of people or with several groups in a training workshop.

Participatory evaluation is “learning for action,” and this workbook is meant to be used. We encourage your sharing with others, and ask that you contact us if you plan to reproduce all or part for wide distribution.

Click here for the Facilitator’s Guide for Participatory Evaluation with Young People.