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Session Title: Building Capacity for Evaluation: A Tale of Four National Youth Development Organizations
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Panel Session 667 to be held in Hopkins Room on Friday, November 9, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
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Sponsored by the Organizational Learning and Evaluation Capacity Building TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Suzanne Le Menestrel,
United States Department of Agriculture,
slemenestrel@csrees.usda.gov
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| Karen Heller Key,
National Human Services Assembly,
kkey@nassembly.org
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| Discussant(s):
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| Hallie Preskill,
Claremont Graduate University,
hallie.preskill@cgu.edu
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| Abstract:
This panel session features presentations from researchers representing four diverse national youth development organizations that are members of the National Collaboration for Youth, a coalition of the National Human Services Assembly member organizations that have a significant interest in youth development. Members of the National Collaboration for Youth include more than fifty national, non-profit, youth development organizations. The presenters are currently engaged in evaluation capacity-building efforts that are focused on the following major themes: (1) Measurement and instrumentation; (2) Training; (3) Obtaining buy-in and participation; and (4) Applying evaluation results to youth development practice. The presenters will share specific strategies that their respective organizations are developing to address one or more of these themes. Throughout the panel, the presenters will describe ways in which participants can apply these strategies in their own work.
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Evaluating for Impact in the 4-H Youth Development Program
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| Suzanne Le Menestrel,
United States Department of Agriculture,
slemenestrel@csrees.usda.gov
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| Mary Arnold,
Oregon State University,
mary.arnold@oregonstate.edu
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Dr. Suzanne Le Menestrel is a National Program Leader for Youth Development Research at National 4-H Headquarters, U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is an experienced presenter with expertise in child and adolescent development, program evaluation, and out-of-school time programs. Dr. Le Menestrel is co-chair of the -Evaluating for Impact- National 4-H Learning Priority team. Dr. Mary Arnold is a 4-H youth development evaluation specialist at Oregon State University with a special focus on teaching program evaluation. She is co-chair of the -Evaluating for Impact- team and the 2007 chair of the Extension Education (EEE) TIG of the AEA. She has presented on the topic of 4-H program evaluation at several recent national meetings of the AEA. In 2004, she was awarded the national Excellence in Evaluation Training award by the EEE-TIG. She has published numerous articles on the evaluation of 4-H programs.
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Developing the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Impact Survey
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| Keoki Hansen,
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America,
keoki.hansen@bbbs.org
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Keoki Hansen, Director, Research and Evaluation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA), has been with BBBSA for almost 8 years. Over the past four years, Keoki has been the BBBSA Project Director for the two-phase BBBSA School-Based Mentoring Research Project, which includes an evaluation of effective practices and an impact study utilizing randomized treatment/control groups. She is an experienced presenter and through her work at BBBSA, understands researchers' need to create a reliable and valid measures and practitioners' need to have a simple measure that is easy to use and communicates change in areas of relevance to their communities. Before joining BBBSA, Ms. Hansen taught Research Methods and Statistics in Boston and worked as a consultant for the Army and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Building Capacity for Evaluation - The Girls, Inc. Approach
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| Heather Johnston Nicholson,
Girls Incorporated,
hjnicholson@girls-inc.org
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| PeiYao Chen,
Girls Incorporated,
pychen@girls-inc.org
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Dr. Heather Johnston Nicholson, the Director of Research at Girls Incorporated, has been with Girls Inc. for 25 years, directing research and evaluation and contributing to program development and advocacy, all with a multicultural focus on girls and young women ages 6 to 18. Dr. PeiYao Chen is the Research Analyst at Girls Inc. Their presentation focuses on strategies and issues involved in the development of a national evaluation system to support and coordinate affiliates' efforts in documenting changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes of participants in specific Girls Inc. identity programs. The presenters will discuss the collaborative process through which a national organization and its affiliates work together to create appropriate outcome measurement tools that are developmentally appropriate and girl-friendly to streamline data collection and analysis for affiliates, provide concrete evidence of the outcomes of their programming to local audiences, and use results to improve program delivery.
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Prove It: Evaluation Tools To Measure Youth Development Outcomes
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| Barry Garst,
American Camp Association,
bgarst@acacamps.org
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| M Deborah Bialeschki,
American Camp Association,
moon@email.unc.edu
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Dr. Barry Garst is an educator, researcher, presenter, and facilitator. Currently the Director of Research Application with the American Camp Association (ACA), Dr. Garst is a former Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in youth development at Virginia Tech. Dr. Garst's background includes more than 10 years of programming experience as a municipal outdoor day camp manager, a wilderness mental health counselor, and a residential 4-H camp and conference center program director and staff development trainer. M. Deborah Bialeschki, Ph.D. is a Senior Researcher at ACA. She is also a Professor Emeritus from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill after 20 years of faculty service. She has co-authored a book on evaluation and conducted numerous evaluation projects. This presentation focuses on a national evaluation process used by administrators with staff to focus on goals and desired youth outcomes. They will also discuss specific outcome tools developed and psychometrically tested by ACA.
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