Involving program stakeholders in reviews of evaluators' recommendations for program revisions.

Why is the use of stakeholder expertise a sound rationale for involving program staff and beneficiaries in reviewing evaluators' recommendations for program revisions? What procedures might evaluators use for involving these stakeholders in this task? What can we conclude about the likely success of these procedures? This article seeks to address these questions. In the context of educational program evaluation, some of the theoretical and practical issues about the participation of stakeholders in reviewing recommendations are discussed. The participation of program stakeholders for the purpose of tapping their expertise is explained; a recent evaluation, in which program stakeholders reviewed evaluators' recommendations for program revisions, is described; and the implications of the article for stakeholder-based evaluation and practical participatory evaluation are presented.