The Regional Math/Science Collaborative (RMSC) of Southwestern Pennsylvania is a grassroots approach to strengthening math and science education through regional planning and evaluation. The Collaborative consists of stakeholders representing educators, students, parents, university faculty, and business and community members. External evaluation with the assistance of the University of Pittsburgh was planned to assist continuing regional discourse regarding mathematics and science education by developing a database to provide meaning and context for the indicators identified for the project. Because the issues inherent in participative evaluation are complex and challenging, a literature review was conducted to explore evaluation approaches. Three main strands of participative evaluation and many other variations of stakeholder evaluation were identified. These approaches differed in some key areas, but shared common elements, such as stakeholder involvement and the importance of dialogue between stakeholders and the external evaluator. A form of dialogue involving collective reflection and action characterized as discursive practice was planned for the evaluation. Evaluation based on discursive practice recognizes that organizations learn through joint discussion and interpretation of events and through gradual changes in the assumptions, symbols, and values of participants. It is the integral use of stakeholder dialogue, through iterative deliberation, that characterizes discursive practice. Through this form of participation, evaluation can support organizational development and fuller evaluation utilization, while building an institutionalized evaluation capacity. (Contains 94 references.) (SLD)