YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION By: Nou Yang, Padah Vang, and Pao Thao

YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION BY: NOU YANG, PADAH VANG, AND PAO THAO I.Welcome and Introductions II.Youth Leadership Initiative program III.Overview of Youth Participatory Evaluation a) Defining YPE b) Our YPE Process and the YPQA tool lV. Reflecting your own program V. Evaluation

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION PAO THAO ● HARDING SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL ● 10TH GRADER ● 16 YEARS OLD ● EMERGING LEADER FOR YLI PADAH VANG ● CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL ● 11TH GRADER ● 17 YEARS OLD ● MENTOR FOR YLI NOU YANG ● DIRECTOR FOR YLI ● PROVIDES SUPPORT AND STRUCTURE TO PROGRAM

Welcome and Introductions ●YLI’s mission is to develop leaders for today that are able to work across multicultural differences ●Youth Participatory Evaluation or YPE is a team of youth in YLI that uses the YPQA method to improve YLI’s program quality.

OVERVIEW OF EVALUATION ➢ Evaluation is a systematic process ➢ Evaluation involves collecting data ➢ Evaluation is a process for improving knowledge and decision making ➢ Everyone is an evaluator ➢ Everyone has different values ASSESS PLAN IMPROVE

WHY YPE? Pao Thao Learn new skills A chance to improve the program To give back to the program Padah Vang Learn and see YLI from a differenct perspective Be part of the change Skill building Nou Yang Opportunity to share process of evaluation with youth Align our evaluation process with our youth – adult partnership model

YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION DEFINITION ❖ Youth Participatory Evaluation or YPE is Definition from Kim Sabo-Flores “Youth participatory evaluation involves young people in the process of evaluating the programs, organizations, agencies, and systems that have been designed to serve them. ❖ The YPE process can be completely youth-driven, or it can be conducted in partnership with adults.

YOUTH PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION - OUR DEFINITION ❖ YLI Quality Team Definition By Maddy, Pao, Xe, Say Meh, ThengYeng, and Padah “A youth-driven process, in partnership with adults, that allows for youth and adults to work together, share their opinions, and co-create a process for evaluation. An opportunity for youth who have experience in the program have an understanding of the program’s core values. A process of critical analysis of the data collection, resulting in meaningful recommendations that involves stakeholders in taking action to improve the quality of the program; where youth get to evaluate and change their program that benefits all stakeholders in YLI and improve the program quality where youth and adults learn, develop and improve their various evaluation skills, while improving the program itself.”

OUR EVALUATION PLAN MilestoneDeliverable September  Conduct a quality programming workshop with youth leaders  Recruit youth leaders to take on this project October  Orientation to YPE  Define group purpose  Share past history of YLI’s evaluation efforts November  Assist the large group in having a quality experience during Action Teams as they learn about different issues  Learn about evaluation  Determine timeline December  Learn about quality programming  Learn how to assess quality in after-school programming  Observe and collect data using YPQA tool  Data entry January  Review data collected and make meaning  Determine missing data  Make recommendations to improve quality programming  Identify with staff and volunteers key behavioral changes

PRACTICE NOTE TAKING ●Observe image and take notes on what you see.

EFFECTIVE NOTE TAKING ❖ Plan on observing at least one hour of programming ❖ Notes should include quotes, actions, and other factual information ❖ Rich detail in snapshot form ❖ Focus on interactions ❖ Describe who, what, when, and where including the materials used - what you see in the room ❖ Should be objective - recognize your own bias ❖ Can stand alone - someone should be able to read your anecdote and understand them ❖ Can be used for more than one item ❖ Remember that your notes are all you have to rely on later on in the evaluation process

NOTE TAKING #2 ●Let’s practice again! ●Observe and use your new skills in note taking.

YOUTH PROGRAM QUALITY ASSESSMENT (YPQA) ●What is it? ○The YPQA is a systematic method that measures the quality of a program ●How is it done? ○By using your notes you then use the YPQA packet and rank each section with a 1,3, or 5. with 1 being the the worse and 5 being the best. ●What does it evaluate? ○It is categorized into 4 different sections: Safe Environment, Supportive Environment, Interaction, and Engagement. By evaluating all 4 of these categories it measures and averages the quality of a program.

YPQA VALIDATED INSTRUMENT The instrument consists of the domain. Within each domain there are items for which you have to score what you see. Scoring scale: 1,3,5 Ratings must have supporting evidence.

ANALYZE DATA

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON YPQA DATA #1 STRUCTURE ACTION TEAMS TO MAXIMIZE YOUTH AND ADULTS WORKING TOGETHER #2 PRACTICE OR INCREASE THE USE OF LEARNING FOCUS OR SKILLS TO BE LEARNED FOR EACH ACTIVITY #3 PROVIDE REFLECTION TIME AT THE END OF EACH SESSION SO THAT YOUTH CAN SHARE THE SKILLS THEY ARE LEARNING #4 TO HAVE A YOUTH QUALITY COACH

AGREE VS. DISAGREE My program engages youth in the evaluation process. It would be easy for my program to implement Youth Participatory Evaluation.

CLOSING Why do you ladies and gentlemen think that us youth are running this workshop?

TIPS ON ENGAGING YOUTH IN YPE Open-minded adult advisor who will work in equal partnership with youth Adults, know when to hold our hands and when to let go Be ready to put in additional time for meetings, trainings, etc. Small group size (ours is 6) Have participants who have been part of the program but still active in it be part of YPE Build trusting relationship with youth – do what you say you will do Youth, don’t be afraid. It’s your program; be the change. There is no limit to what you can do.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! AS YOU ARE ABOUT TO LEAVE PLEASE TAKE A FEW SECONDS AND FILL OUT THE EVALUATION ON THIS SESSION.