Suzanne Le Menestrel, Ph.D. A National Program Leader’s Perspective on Developing National Outcomes and Indicators: 4-H SET Initiative Presented by Suzanne Le Menestrel, Ph.D. Evaluation 2009 November 13, 2009
4-H Context Public -private partnership Nearly 6 million youth ages 5-19 Three national Mission Mandates Science, Engineering, and Technology Healthy Living Citizenship
Why are Indicators Important? PART/Portfolio Review-”Show Me the Data” Public value of 4-H Program Improvement
Steps to Identifying Indicators Commissioned paper written by Dr. Ben Silliman, “Critical Indicators of Youth Development Outcomes for 4-H National Mission Mandates”: http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/library/Indicators_4H_MM.pdf
Evaluation Goals Track and monitor the implementation of 4-H SET efforts at the state level More fully understand the nature of promising and best program practices and how they can be replicated More fully understand the impact that 4-H SET efforts have on positive youth outcomes
Overview of 4-H SET Evaluation Design
Overview of Annual Youth Engagement, Attitudes and Knowledge Survey (YEAK) Goal: Obtain annual data on 4-H youth’s engagement, interest, attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, and educational and career aspirations. Sample of youth ages 9-18 from each of the five Extension regions On-line and pencil and paper formats Assess the short-term outcomes of the 4-H SET Logic Model Informed by the domain frameworks outlined in current research
Developing the YEAK Survey Created a matrix with all short-term indicators from logic model Worked with national 4-H SET Instrument Design Team to identify relevant reliable, valid measures for these indicators Survey will be in the field shortly, pending IRB approval from participating universities (16 Land-Grant Universities)
Challenges/Lessons Learned/Wish List Sampling Expense Institutionalization Disparate efforts Focus on the other national Mission Mandates
Contact Information Suzanne Le Menestrel slemenestrel@nifa.usda.gov 202-720-2297