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In this article, Stoecker gives a theoretical overview of participatory research and evaluation, citing it as a natural and important technique for evaluating community organizing. He distinguishes participatory evaluation from empowerment evaluation by noting that empowerment evaluation focuses more on individual empowerment as opposed to the community or organizational focus of participatory evaluation. In this way, he claims that participatory evaluation is more appropriate for community change efforts.
Stoecker describes the core principles of participatory evaluation as:
§ Involving participants at every stage of the research process
§ Making sure participants "own" the evaluation
§ Focusing on the outcomes participants think are important
§ Facilitating collective work on the part of the participants
§ Ensuring the evaluation is understandable and meaningful to all
§ Using the evaluation to reinforce participants' accountability to themselves and the community
§ Developing the evaluator role as a facilitator, collaborator, and learning resource
§ Developing participants' roles as decision makers and evaluators
§ Recognizing and valuing participants' expertise
§ Minimizing status differences between the evaluation facilitator and participants
After a theoretical discussion of participatory evaluation, Stoecker provides an in-depth case study of the Toledo Community Organizing Training and Support Program's efforts to evaluate its program of developing community organizing capacity with three community development corporations.
Although the program being evaluated focused on training for community organizing capacity, as opposed to community organizing itself, the case study provides a detailed description of the participatory evaluation process within the field of community organizing. It elucidates the practice and challenges of developing an evaluation strategy with participants in a program.
Users may find the explanation of participatory evaluation thought-provoking as they determine the most appropriate methods for evaluating the impact of organizing work. They may also find the case study helpful in thinking through the process and skills needed to develop a participatory evaluation process. | 
