ENHANCING VALIDITY THROUGH BENEFICIARIES EQUITABLE INVOLVEMENT IN IDENTIFYING AND PRIORITIZING HOMELESS CHILDRENS EDUCATIONAL-PROBLEMS

The participation of program stakeholders in evaluations improves the relevance, and thus the validity, of evaluation findings. Validity might be compromised, however, if special procedures are not used to ensure program beneficiaries' equitable involvement with other participating stakeholder groups, who usually have more power and familiarity with evaluation procedures. This article describes program beneficiaries' involvement in a study to identify and prioritize the educational problems of homeless children. In the study, three stakeholder groups were involved: teachers, homeless shelter providers, and parents (the program beneficiaries). The article shows how the parents equitably participated in the study and discusses how their equitable participation enhanced the validity of the evaluation findings.