Badging Breakfast: Preparing for Summer Badging Tuesday, June 13, 2017 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Welcome & Introductions David McAuley Director of Summer Learning Welcome & Introductions

Chris Smith Executive Director A vision for badging

target skills & Logistics Kelsey Cowen Data Partnership Manager target skills & Logistics

What is badging?

What is badging? A visual representation of learning An opportunity to recognize success in SEL: Achievement Growth

Boston Beyond’s Badging Initiative 4 Skills Communication Critical Thinking Engagement in Learning Perseverance Teamwork 2 Types of Recognition Achievement Growth X Eight badges to earn Achievement Growth

Since 2015, 3556 badges have been awarded to Boston youth.

Practical demonstration of skill-development BASB’s badges currently rely on one of three ways to measure skill development Student self-report Adult observation Practical demonstration of skill-development Young people report on their own perceptions of their own grasp of certain skills, either by completing a survey or responding to interview questions Advantages: Captures youth’s sense of their own strengths and challenges Reflects extent to which young person is developing image of self as skilled individual Disadvantages: Not an objective measure of change; influenced by young person’s attention to task in hand and aspects of their self-image that can impact self-perception Adults working closely with young people in school or program settings observe and rate changes they see in a young person’s skill mastery over time A degree more subjective Captures ability of young person to display skill through behaviors and attitudes Some skills are more externally demonstrated than others e.g. an improvement in organization may be easier to observe externally than an improvement in self-awareness Does not necessarily imply change has been recognized by the young person Young people work on tasks, activities or projects that provide personal or public demonstrations of their exploration and development of a certain skill Tangible outcomes that can demonstrate growth to the young person and to other people Creates evidence of skill gain that can be used by young people and programs to demonstrate progress Qualitative measure; difficult to quantify degree of change, or to aggregate to draw conclusions about a program’s efficacy.

To award badges, BASB’s partners use the SAYO T to assess skill development Validated pre/post survey completed by educators about each individual student Developed by NIOST and Massachusetts DESE Measures 7 skill areas

Process for awarding badges Educator who knows (or will know) each student best records pre and post SAYO-T observations of student Program records student attendance Students with >80% attendance are eligible to earn badges

Process for awarding badges (cont.) Students who were observed demonstrating these skills “most of the time” by the post assessment (4 out of 5 on the SAYO-T) are eligible to earn an achievement badge Students whose SAYO-T score increases by at least 1 point between the pre and post observation are eligible to earn a growth badge Given this criteria, badges are awarded at the discretion of the program.

A Tour of Badging through Cityspan boston.cityspan.com

All SAYO T Post surveys complete. Two Weeks Before End of Programming: 1. Input instructors and assign participants. 2. Send a reminder to instructors that Post is coming up. Badging Timeline Week Before Programming Begins: 1. Set up YouthServices to track attendance. 2. Input instructors. 3. Send introductory email to instructors. First Day of Programming: 1. Record attendance at the end of the day and assign participants. 2. Send Pre surveys to instructors. 3. Monitor progress. Week Before Programming Ends: 1. Send Post surveys to instructors. 2. Monitor progress. One Week After Last Day of Programming: All SAYO T Post surveys complete. One Week After First Day of Programming: All SAYO T Pre surveys complete.

Discussion David McAuley Director of Summer Learning

Discussion Questions What excites you/worries you? How do you envision implementing badging this summer? How do you think each site can make this an intentional practice linked to SEL? How can we document your efforts this summer so we have an updated resource for best practices, lessons learned? What would be most helpful to you, between now and summer and post summer, for your efforts?

Badging Study Opportunity Lisa Gomi Hui Director of Measurement and Improvement

Key Questions Encourage students? Positive badge culture? Increased STEM interest? Downsides?

Details Student Interviews (few students who did, didn’t earn badge) Student Focus Groups (equal # of students who did, didn’t earn badge) Online Student Survey (16 questions on badging process) Staff Interviews (few staff who can comment on badging process)

If yes… Anonymous feedback on badging for continuous improvement BASB can help with timeline, incentives