hi folks- last week i asked for input on evaluating kids' programs. several people asked me to post the results. here they are (as well as two attachments)
thank you to everyone who sent me their helpful insights! megan **** I know that the Food Project has a model for evaluation. You can visit them at www.thefoodproject.org ...they actually have a really great program going that I've looked at when setting up my own garden programs. **** i do a school garden program with K-8 in NYC. We use a simple half-page evaluation at the beginning and end of the school year to assess what students' progression. We ask the following four questions: 1. List 3 things plants need to grow 2. List 2 things to do in the garden 3. What are the 4 parts of a plant? 4. What is your favorite plant? They are pretty broad, open-ended questions with a variety of "right" answers. This is partly to keep it from being too much of a "test" and partly because answers give us an idea of what kids really paid attention to and were interested in. We aggregate the responses to the first three questions as % students who accurately listed 3 things a plant needs to grow, % who accurately listed 2 things, % who accurately listed 1, and % 0 ¯ following the same pattern for the next two questions. Answers to the last question can be particularly interesting, because the range of favorite plants grows so much from beginning of program to end. It also helps to give kids a sense that plants are something they have a relationship to, especially at the time of the pre-test. **** There is a magazine published called Gardening with Kids, 800-538-7476 or http://store.kidsgardening.com. The magazine is great and I got it for the school to use. www.kidsgardening.com/school/register.asp-- this is where you can register your school garden. **** Here are my pre- and post survery's that I admionister at my garden program at a local women's shelter. The results that I find that are useful are the one's where they don't eat fresh vegetables and then afterwards they do. (documents attached) **** Megan Cain Friends of Troy Gardens Children's Garden Program Coordinator 608.240.0409 Friends of Troy Gardens Room 171, Bldg. 14 3601 Memorial Dr. Madison, WI 53704 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Surveyout.doc
Description: MS-Word document
Monarch Lane Gardener Survey.doc
Description: MS-Word document
