Youth Radio, an after-school media production program, consists of a main campus in Oakland, CA, and regional bureaus in Atlanta, GA, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, CA. Youth Radio’s model is to engage underserved young people in broadcast journalism, radio and web production, engineering, and media literacy through media projects that are relevant to the students’ lives and communities. In doing so, Youth Radio prepares young people for college programs and careers in media. The organization also supports young people in their transition from school to career through an externship program
WGBH Boston (wgbh.org) was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to, in part, develop outreach materials based on the children's television series FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman. The outreach materials were designed to help typically underserved kids learn about science in informal camp or after-school settings. The centerpiece of this effort was the Camp FETCH! Guide (the Guide). The Guide is meant for anyone who wants to lead hands-on science activities with six- to ten-year-olds: camp counselors, afterschool providers, teachers, librarians, museum staff, and others. WGBH hired
Goodman Research Group, Inc. conducted a comprehensive multi-method external evaluation of the first season of the Design Squad TV series and outreach initiative. The broad evaluation goals were to: assess the extent to which children's knowledge, interest, and awareness of engineering increased as a result of watching the Design Squad series, document the implementation of community events resulting form the November 2006 Engineering Summit, and assess the effectiveness of the Afterschool Educators Guide with leaders and students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peggy VaughanEmilee PressmanIrene GoodmanWGBH
Listening to the River (LTTR) is a watershed science education project funded by the National Science Foundation. Its aims are to deliver education experiences in the local area, Traverse City, Michigan, and also to develop a model that could be replicated in other locations. Inverness Research was contracted by the Listening to the River project to conduct both formative and summative evaluations. Our work began in 2005 when the project received a planning grant, and continued through the life of the project. Primarily through interviews and product reviews, along with some direct program
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark St. JohnHeather MitchellDawn RoblesElizabeth HorschLaura StokesLand Information Access Assocation
During the spring of 2006, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted an evaluation study on behalf of WGBH. The purpose of the study was to gather data related to the effectiveness of the FETCH! Activity Guide, which was designed to extend the teachings of a new children's show, "FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman. The four main study objectives were to: Assess the activities' appeal for children (for example, do children enjoy the activities, do they realize they are learning about science, etc.?) Assess whether the facilitators liked the Activity Guide and deemed it appropriate for their after