One challenge mentioned in the Beyond Measure study that is similar to my experience working with the YMCA youth basketball program is limited time and staff capacity for evaluation.

In the YMCA youth basketball program, most of the focus was on running practices, games, and keeping youth safe and engaged. Because staff and coaches were busy…

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Recently, I was reminded of the importance of integrating evaluation into a program’s activities rather than treating it as an external oversight. By doing so, we can promote stronger relationships, mutual respect, and the healing of any harm caused by traditional evaluation methods. Instead of imposing evaluations, we should encourage…

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What data do you already collect as part of your program?

Number of clients served

Case notes and review updates

Attendance for events and activities

Location, age, dob, gender, name

Type of services received

Referral/opening/closure information

What data could you be collecting that you are not currently collecting?

Client stories

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Anshdeep- Thank you for sharing, indeed evaluation goes beyond reporting outcomes and becomes a tool for continuous learning and growth. It allows youth programs to listen, reflect, and adapt, ensuring that they are responsive to the needs of the youth they serve.

Thank you for sharing these insights. Certainly- program evaluation is the essential for understanding what works , what does not and improving outcomes for the youth. Collecting and analyzing data not only ensures that youth receive the best possible support but also allows programs to grow and adapt.

Program evaluation have have a profound effect on improving youth programs because it asks questions related to what is working/not working, how are these outcomes achieved, and ultimately what are the service gaps that need to be paid attention to. It is vital that youth programs collect data that provides more information on the efficacy of…

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At the tiny organization I work at (with only 2 staff including myself), the challenges with evaluation come down to lack of capacity and time – as always! While wearing so many hats and juggling so many responsibilities, running the program itself already requires a great deal of capacity, let alone completing a comprehensive and…

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I feel deeply disappointed by the limited availability of internship and apprenticeship opportunities in the youth sector, especially for skilled trades. Many young people graduating from competitive college programs—such as electricians—struggle to find apprenticeships in their field, which are essential for entering the job market. After…

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Evaluation can be a powerful tool for <em data-start=”204″ data-end=”225″>learning and growth—not just for reporting success. When used thoughtfully, it helps youth programs identify what’s working, what’s not, and why. Instead of only collecting data to satisfy funders or prove outcomes, evaluation becomes a way to continuously listen,… Read more

Evaluation helps youth programs show what’s really working and what needs support. Through honest feedback, we can improve services and build trust. Stories from youth help others understand the impact of our work. Using tools like surveys or group talks makes it easier to collect true stories. It’s also a chance to learn from each other and grow together.

love the empowering “youth influencers” idea!

That’s right! Depending on what platforms are available, data visualizations can be amazingly complex or simple. I lean heavily on PowerPoint although in my previous role we had access to qualitative research analysis software called MAXQDA. It is similar to NVivo, but can also do mixed methods analysis. When I was sharing research results to…

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A great tip I have seen is using data visualization to capture the audience, it displays the information in a way that can be straightforward and engaging. You want people to be able to easily understand what you are telling them, and it is important to make it accessible. You also want to make it appealing, so it is not just another report…

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Our program utilizes Sharepoint, wherein all program data is saved electronically, any hard copy files are scanned for ease of access.
Files are managed by Cohorts, and then participants- all relevant client files can be found and managed there.
This can be improved with a linear and consistent file management system implemented by team…

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The program collects the following data:

• Client registration which includes demographics ranging from age, gender, immigration status, indigenous status,
• Workshop attendance
• Submission of assignment
• Client surveys

The program could implement surveys based on program activities and workshops so program staff can understand if the activities… Read more

Evaluation can improve youth programs because it centers youth voices and experience which can enhance service delivery. Evaluation allows for reflection, it offers understanding of how service is perceived by participants, and the impact of services. It lets you know what you’re doing right and where the gaps are. It allows you to come up with…

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The key components to our youth program’s “recipe” include:

• Providing clear expectations and outlining instructions throughout the program
• A monthly calendar, and daily agenda so clients know what to expect and prepare for
• Building relationships and using transparent communication with clients, and maintaining relationships even after client has…

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Good practices for making sure that youth can make an informed decision about participating in an evaluation of a youth program include:

• Inform participants about the evaluation being conducted, the purpose, the scope and potential impact of the results, as well as the risks and benefits involved
• Make resources and supports available…

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A major challenge faced by organizations and youth programs is a lack of funder engagement wherein, “funders do not spend
enough time at programs and therefore do not have a good understanding of the context and realities of the
youth sector”. Funders understand and evaluate a program primarily based on reports, which often seek to…

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Evaluation is like a disco ball because it casts a light on all those in the room (in this case the program) and ensures that multiple perspectives are seen and acknowledged during that time.

Evaluation is like a puzzle piece because once all the pieces correctly fit, you have a completed puzzle (or picture) that fits together perfectly. And the process of putting the pieces all together takes time, can be messy (mistakes along the way) and you have to make a conscious effort to stay consistent to reach the end.

I think this question could be answered in many ways depending on the type of evaluation being utilized. For example, we are working on an implementation process evaluation. So we aren’t really trying to “prove” anything, but rather understand what is going on. In this case, I think for the evaluation to be impactful and truly improve the…

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The many examples shared here are wonderful and feel so accurate! Here is my attempt:

An evaluation is like a movie trailer because it contains all of the big moments to capture your attention and then when you watch the movie you will discover all of the finer details and unique elements that make it up.

Critical ‘ingredients’ in our programs ‘recipe’ are:

– Building relationships and partnerships with school divisions

– Recruiting youth with different experiences and abilities to be “youth influencers”

– Empowering the youth influencers to lead peer education sessions

– Supporting the youth to contribute to a podcast on topics important to…

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There are many ways to support youth to make an informed decision regarding participating in an evaluation. One of the most critical in my experience is having clear and open communication. This communication must flow through many networks – potentially their parents/legal guardians, their school, other organizations/programs they are…

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A few ways we could deal with this: 1) ask for volunteers (and hope everyone doesn’t volunteer?) 2) include youth who have been involved the longest, or 3) have them nominate each other. Open to other suggestions if anyone has any! Thanks!

We are currently struggling with the challenge of ensuring that youth are being engaged meaningfully in the evaluation. There are areas where I think we are achieving this, however, a specific area where we are struggling is with forming an advisory committee. It is very difficult to make decisions regarding which youth/how many youth to have…

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Evaluation is essential for improving programs. Evaluation should engage with all stakeholders of a program – program participants, program staff, community members impacted directly/indirectly by the program, etc. These stakeholders should all have the opportunity to share their feedback and satisfaction with a program, as well as any…

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Our program has a few key activities that make up the work we do:

• 8-12 granting streams (depending on funding and staff capacity)
• capacity building workshops
• relationship building workshops and panels
• outreach and engagement initiatives
• impact sharing initiatives

To evaluate these activities and ensure they’re doing what we hope they’re doing,…

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Some good practices to ensure youth participants are making informed decisions about participating in evaluation are:

• inform participants that an evaluation is happening at the start of a program
• inform participants of the evaluation purpose, method, and the reason why an evaluation is taking place
• explain how the lessons learned through…

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Evaluation is like a book report because it gives an overview and an analysis of what happened, but it’s not the full story – for that, you have to read the book/participate in the activities.

DO:
-Number of campers

-Interest in STEM (Day 1 vs Day 5)

-Understanding of STEM (Day 1 vs Day 5)

-Knowledge on Native language, traditional territory, Indigenous stories

-Understanding of braiding knowledges

-Rose, thorn, bud
DON’T

-Level of enjoyment (from 1 to 5)

The challenges around capacity to analyse qualitative data are a significant challenge my organization is facing currently. We have all these stories, quotes, advice pieces for future participants, art, pictures, lists and lists of skills youth learned – but we don’t do anything with that data. We’re collecting it, and storing it, but we have…

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I believe that evaluations can provide integral information for improving programing – especially when youth who are participating in the program are engaged with it directly. I think it is important for evaluations to center the voices of those being served and ensure that the program is meeting their needs. An evaluation may be able to…

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Having one week summer camps with children from 6 to 12 years old.

There is a tricky balance between wanted to do evaluation surveys and still being friendly and youth appropriate.

Besides, as we don’t have enough staff to have someone transcribe their answers, it needs to be written, which makes it more tedious + hard to understand their handwriting.

In previous years, we have found that the turnover of staff + lack of responsibility / ownership of the evaluation aspect made it so that it got forgotten.

I believe that the staff needs to be informed of the importance of the evaluation, why we are doing, why it is important for them to help us answer these questions / run…

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The key components of our youth program is building trust with our stakehokders, using a collaborative approach to build rapport with the youth in the community. Recruiting mentors with similar lived experiences can help youth relate better. Collecting data by doing surveys. Building positive relationships with youth from the communtiy allows…

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These challenges can be addressed by removing some of the barriers by offering more face-to-face communication, focus groups, and social inclusion. More focus needs to be placed on the possibilities that evaluation could offer youths for strategic learning instead of focusing on the outcomes.

What are good practices for making sure that youth can make an informed decision about participating in an evaluation of a youth program?

Good practices will include:

– Notifying youths that their participation is voluntary and they are allowed to retrieve from the process at any time.

– Informed consent should be given by the youth and…

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By the way, if anyone needs someone to participate as a professional in a research study, feel free to contact me.

Based on my professional experience, I think that providing definitions and education regarding any professional and agency-related terms used in an Evaluation process is important. Sometimes, we use terms that are jargon that are not known by the general public. The other thing is that there are a lot of terms misused by the public. I…

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Making sure that youth can make an informed decision about participating in an evaluation of a youth program involves several good practices:

– By having clear communication. Make sure that the information is clear and explain the purpose of the evaluation.

– Informed consent from both youth and legal guardians. Ensure that…

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For youth programs, measuring outcomes can be challenging due to factors such as participant mobility, changing life circumstances, and the time and resources required to conduct follow up evaluations. To address this challenge, youth programs can consider implementing strategies such as tracking participants over time through follow-up surveys…

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By using the Conclusions reached by interpreting the Evaluation of previous iterations of the programs and applying them on newer iterations and then evaluating what those changes did or didn’t do.

Clear and direct language and communication, having a diversity methods of explanation and evaluation, having a clear and non-judgemental option to not participate in the evaluation.

Having only a week of in person contact with our participants is a challenging barrier to evaluation. Dealing with relationships and human connections brings some barrier of human complexity and nuance of individual styles of relating. Evaluating and getting feedback from stakeholders not at camp is another barrier to be overcome.

I think Evaluation is like a Scout behind enemy lines because it helps us get important information to decide on an appropriate path to “Victory” but we need a well trained scout (good Evaluation skills) and the proper objective for the scout (focus on important questions) to be able to gather useful information and plan a good strategy.

Evaluation to me is observing the many different aspects of a particulate thing/people and coming up with a short summery of your thoughts about it.

Our program is starting from scratch. It’s a 3 year pilot project that aims to support youth involved with the hospital system. We’re currently in the process of planning how to track program engagement.