"I've never tried to stop them [fights], now I do. If you don't understand the racial aspect, then it doesn't change the way you see things. Now nobody should do it. Before if it was my own people I might not try to stop it, because I would be a traitor. Now I don't care who is fighting, I'll try to stop it."
"It feels good to join other students of many diverse backgrounds and schools to fight for what is right. The project has given us a chance to prove to others...that they are wrong when they say young people don't ever want to do positive things and that we just want to cause trouble. Youth Together has allowed me to join different events and gain more knowledge about other cultures. I learned that we all share the similar struggle of growing up in a society that is not easy to get by in. It has opened up my eyes and shown me a better perspective on life."
- quotes by YT participants
Youth Together has been utilizing empowerment evaluation techniques begun in a longitudinal evaluation study led by Dr. Pedro Noguera, currently with Harvard University's School of Education. Click here to read the Executive Summary from this evaluation study.
Youth Together's current evaluation study is a partnership effort with Dr. Joe Malloy, principal of Kensington Research Group, a research and evaluation agency that has worked extensively with community based organizations and schools, including evaluating youth prevention programs.
To determine whether the goals and objectives of YT are being met, we designed an evaluation plan that incorporates a variety of strategies derived from both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis. The quantitative methods include conducting student participant and staff surveys to be administered at the beginning and end of the project's implementation, annually, and/or when a student enters or leaves the project. We survey the broader school community to assess the impact our efforts have had on them and the school. We collect school violence and other data to assess the impact on the school. We also collect school records of student participants to enhance the analysis of the program's impact on them. The qualitative methods produce descriptive data on project implementation and progress. They include 1) focus groups with students; 2) interviews with coalition members, project staff, and school officials; and 3) review of student products.
The evaluation team provides ongoing feedback to staff to improve the program. Also, YT youth and staff are provided on-going opportunities to critically reflect on their work at their school site as well as on YT as an organization. Their critical feedback is used to improve programming as well as organizational operations. Moreover, peer evaluations for staff and youth are conducted annually.
Questions that guide our evaluation study are based on developmental and community building indicators that seek to measure the outcomes we hope to achieve: 1) increased political consciousness, critical thinking, self-esteem, academic engagement, leadership, race relations, violence prevention, and community organizing skills of youth; 2) positive mentoring relationships between YT core youth and incoming 9th graders during YT's summer program; 3) increased institutional responsiveness to youth needs and solutions; 4) increased equity of resources for youth in school communities; and 5) improved connections between youth and adults in our targeted school communities.
An annual report will be made available and disseminated to the broader field of practitioners, school staff, policymakers, funders, researchers, and technical assistance providers through our national networks, conferences, special forums, etc.
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