Effective participatory education programs are planned efforts designed to effect cognitive, social, and affective change. Although research does not yet permit unequivocal generalizations about effects, existing research is promising, especially when compared with research on effects of work experience per se. Positive effects include student, teacher, and community supervisor enthusiasm, feelings of self-efficacy and social efficacy, and increased knowledge about the domain in which the experience occurs. Assuring effective programs appears to depend most upon: (1) clarifying and prioritizing objectives; (2) communicating objectives and priorities to all concerned; (3) adapting and localizing successful efforts of others; (4) providing adequate time for planning and pilot efforts; (5) providing resources to impart knowledge and skills to school and community-based facilitators; (6) providing follow-through; (7) involving young people in serious working relationships with adults and peers; (8) designing programs to respond to genuine needs; (9) mounting efforts with visible results; (10) including opportunities for serious analysis and reflection; (11) providing "hands-on" experience and skill-training keyed to student needs and abilities; and (12) assessing student progress flexibly. (JMK)