What principles should guide an empowerment evaluation? And how can these principles actually be put into practice? One of the primary tasks in an empowerment evaluation (EE) is to increase the capacity of program stakeholders to plan, implement, and evaluate their own programs. This book presents the most current formulation of the 10 principles of EE and provides professionals and students with the tools to put these principles into practice. Through case studies of diverse evaluation projects--including community health foundation initiatives, school district programs, and a $15 million corporate program aimed at bridging the digital divide--the founder and leading proponents of EE clarify key concepts and discuss important lessons learned. Coverage includes how to balance program improvement efforts with accountability requirements; how EE can be used to guide standards-based work; how to use EE in a learning organization; the differences among empowerment, collaborative, and participatory evaluation; and much more.

1. A Window into the Heart and Soul of Empowerment Evaluation: Looking through the Lens of Empowerment Evaluation PrinciplesDavid M. Fetterman2. The Principles of Empowerment EvaluationAbraham Wandersman, Jessica Snell-Johns, Barry E. Lentz, David M. Fetterman, Dana C. Keener, Melanie Livet, Pamela S. Imm, and Paul Flaspohler3. Empowerment Evaluation Principles in Practice: Assessing Levels of CommitmentDavid M. Fetterman4. Lessons That Influenced the Current Conceptualization of Empowerment Evaluation: Reflections from Two Evaluation ProjectsDana C. Keener, Jessica Snell-Johns, Melanie Livet, and Abraham Wandersman 5. Empowerment Evaluation: From the Digital Divide to Academic DistressDavid M. Fetterman6. Organizational Functioning: Facilitating Effective Interventions and Increasing the Odds of Programming SuccessMelanie Livet and Abraham Wandersman7. Empowerment Evaluation and Organizational Learning: A Case Study of a Community Coalition Designed to Prevent Child Abuse and NeglectBarry E. Lentz , Pamela S. Imm, Janice B. Yost, Noreen P. Johnson, Christine Barron, Margie Simone Lindberg, and Joanne Treistman8. Will the Real Empowerment Evaluation Please Stand Up?: A Critical Friend PerspectiveJ. Bradley Cousins9. Conclusion: Conceptualizing Empowerment in Terms of Sequential Time and Social Space David M. FettermanAuthor IndexSubject IndexAbout the EditorsContributors