tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post6561430901132073660..comments2024-03-26T11:50:32.354-05:00Comments on Youth Development Insight: Beyond boring dataUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-23054675687855350152012-01-11T08:01:30.000-06:002012-01-11T08:01:30.000-06:00Hi Brian,I apologize for the late response. I see ...Hi Brian,<br>I apologize for the late response. I see that technology isn’t helping me out because my first response didn’t make it through.<br>Some of the suggestions that I offered are based in a participatory approach. The key when involving participants, whether youth or adults, is to get feedback that makes an evaluation more grounded in the culture of the program and also increases buy-in during the process. In the field, there are mixed views on participatory evaluation. The biggest factor that weighs against this approach is the control that is lost when involving a team of participants. My suggestion is to look at what you value most in your current evaluation project- the ability to be responsive to the program or the ability to have a tight, evaluation design. Sometimes one weighs heavier than the other.<br>I would encourage you to check out resources from the American Evaluation Association on this topic. In addition, the Center for Youth Development published a research report on using youth as quality assessors. Although this wasn’t a complete participatory project, it is a nice example.<br><a href="http://www.extension.umn.edu/youth/research/quality/docs/Minnesota-4-H-Quality-Improvement-Study.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.extension.umn.edu/youth/research/quality/docs/Minnesota-4-H-Quality-Improvement-Study.pdf</a><br>Thanks for your questions!<br>Samantha<br>Samantha Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-31572360016924948442012-01-06T12:36:52.000-06:002012-01-06T12:36:52.000-06:00What are your thoughts with youth participatory ev...What are your thoughts with youth participatory evaluation? Do stakeholders and policy makers value this method. Do you have any additional resources that may shed light on this?<br>Thanks for this interesting topic.<br>Brian Hubbardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-23495626304516241482012-01-06T05:07:09.000-06:002012-01-06T05:07:09.000-06:00Hi Deborah,I appreciate that you are seeing the va...Hi Deborah,<br>I appreciate that you are seeing the value of evaluation in building a reflective practice. If we always view evaluation reports as meeting funder's needs, we lose sight of the value that an evaluation can give- information that can support the program. The one thing that I warn groups that I work with is to not follow every "interesting" lead because it often leads us to collect information that isn't useful. In reflecting about evaluation, if you think about what information you need that would either improve your program or tell about the effects of your program, you are more likely to collect useful information that can be translated into communication pieces. Have others struggled with focusing on why to evaluate?<br>Samantha Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-73377691395196741882012-01-05T10:05:22.000-06:002012-01-05T10:05:22.000-06:00Sam you have hit a big important practice dilemma ...Sam you have hit a big important practice dilemma in youth work. I think getting to the purpose of why we evaluate is also key. What if we reframed the purpose to include our natural curiosity? Could we answer "I wonder if... or I wonder why...?" questions as we started evaluation process. We have moved to conducting evaluation to please our funders as the primary purpose - which is not always motivating. It then becomes a check, done, drudgery kind of task. Thinking of evaluation as a way of reflecting, learning and sharing what we are learning is far more inviting and useful.<br>Deborah Moorenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-79027777263730061262012-01-05T04:52:45.000-06:002012-01-05T04:52:45.000-06:00Thanks for your comment Stephanie. I hope this pos...Thanks for your comment Stephanie. I hope this post will encourage some people to jazz up their presentation of data. Right now I'm in the middle of a report, and although the funders are looking for a report, I hope to make it meaningful and then spend time talking about the results with a team. We can then take that information and share in creative ways. How about others, how do you balance the needs of creativity with grant stipulations?<br>Samantha Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-40129073150755761142012-01-04T23:19:45.000-06:002012-01-04T23:19:45.000-06:00Hi Samantha,This blog post makes me so happy! &qu...Hi Samantha,<br>This blog post makes me so happy! " I argue that you must put in as much effort in communicating data as you did in collecting it." I couldn't have said it better. So true. And in my experience, asking youth for their ideas about how to present it usually brings up more options, and much more creative options, than I could ever devise on my own. I'd love to see how your reporting looks after you try some of the strategies you suggested!<br>Stephanie<br>Stephanie Evergreenhttp://evereval.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com