By Samantha Grant
Put down your smiley face surveys. I mean it. Put them down inside of the garbage can.
I know that as youth workers we want to get evaluation feedback from our youngest audiences. So, what do we do? We create cutesy evaluations that make little sense to kids and even less sense for reporting.
Check out a video that I hope will make you think twice before using a smiley face evaluation scale in the future.
In the video you will learn why I think this scale shouldn't be used. But it still doesn't answer the question, "How can you collect feedback from really young people?"
Youth in grades K-2 are learning to read. By third grade, those who read at grade level are reading to learn. So I typically set the lowest grade level for written surveys at third grade. I expect that some of those third graders will still need a survey read aloud to them to fully participate in the data collection. Keep in mind that in a typical third-grade class, only about 55% of youth are reading at grade level.
Just because they are young and not fully reading doesn't mean they can't contribute! A first grader can still take part in evaluative exercises, but they need some special considerations. Here are a couple of ideas that you could try:
Try out one of these strategies and I guarantee you'll get better feedback than you get from a smiley face evaluation. Check out even more ideas about youth evaluation at Evaluating education programs.
What ideas do you have to creatively collect data from youth?
You are welcome to comment on this blog post. We encourage civil discourse, including spirited disagreement. We will delete comments that contain profanity, pornography or hate speech--any remarks that attack or demean people because of their sex, race, ethnic group, etc.--as well as spam.
Put down your smiley face surveys. I mean it. Put them down inside of the garbage can.
I know that as youth workers we want to get evaluation feedback from our youngest audiences. So, what do we do? We create cutesy evaluations that make little sense to kids and even less sense for reporting.
Check out a video that I hope will make you think twice before using a smiley face evaluation scale in the future.
In the video you will learn why I think this scale shouldn't be used. But it still doesn't answer the question, "How can you collect feedback from really young people?"
Youth in grades K-2 are learning to read. By third grade, those who read at grade level are reading to learn. So I typically set the lowest grade level for written surveys at third grade. I expect that some of those third graders will still need a survey read aloud to them to fully participate in the data collection. Keep in mind that in a typical third-grade class, only about 55% of youth are reading at grade level.
Just because they are young and not fully reading doesn't mean they can't contribute! A first grader can still take part in evaluative exercises, but they need some special considerations. Here are a couple of ideas that you could try:
- Get into the habit of leading reflection activities at the end of your youth program. Gather as a group and have youth all answer a question. Not only will they reflect on their learning, but they will be able to hear what others in the group experienced, too. Now write down what they said, and you have some rich data plus some stories.
- Try a visual form of data collection. Prompt them with a question such as, "What is the most important thing you've learned in 4-H this year?" Then ask them to write or draw a picture about it. Just make sure to take photos of the cool images they have created, because you'll likely be impressed!
- Journals are another ongoing way to collect data from youth. At the end of each session, give youth time to write, draw, cartoon or otherwise express themselves in their journals. Embed technology into this strategy and allow youth to complete photo journals. Send them out with cameras to document what they have been doing in their program.
- Use some creative strategies, like using a dartboard to vote, or writing postcards home. Creative strategies can add some energy to your program and get youth thinking differently.
Try out one of these strategies and I guarantee you'll get better feedback than you get from a smiley face evaluation. Check out even more ideas about youth evaluation at Evaluating education programs.
What ideas do you have to creatively collect data from youth?
-- Samantha Grant, evaluation director
You are welcome to comment on this blog post. We encourage civil discourse, including spirited disagreement. We will delete comments that contain profanity, pornography or hate speech--any remarks that attack or demean people because of their sex, race, ethnic group, etc.--as well as spam.
It is such a great opportunity to allow youth to express their own creativity during data collection. In addition to strategies such as drawing / writing, I have seen successful collection of data through youth skits and dances. I love the dual purpose nature of these strategies to both collect valuable information while also providing an environment that fosters youth creativity!
ReplyDeleteFun idea of using even more creative strategies. I would love to see that!
DeleteGreat ideas. Your strategies inspire me to want to get out there and ask youth some questions! One question: when you report data collected during reflection activities do you report it differently than data collected in a more directed evaluation activity? Or do you recommend asking questions that are used for program improvement in reflection activities rather than trying to collect impacts that you would include in a report?
ReplyDeleteHi. I like to have many forms of data in my reporting and have had no push back from stakeholders when presenting data from more creative strategies. I usually include a footnote in reports that details the data collection method so those that care can find the information. I think you can use creative methods for both summative and formative assessments.
DeleteThank you for sharing! I look back on my early experiences in education and there were a number of instances that our team was given smiley face evaluations to report the impact of resources we received through grants. It was very challenging to analyze program effectiveness. I like the idea of using a more creative approach to collecting data from youth. Have you tried creative approaches to evaluation collection with teenage youth in 4-H?
ReplyDeleteHi! Yes, what works well with preschoolers often works well with teens and even adults. We all can benefit from interactive approaches. The difference with teens is that they are developmentally ready to talk about issues in more nuanced ways. That means, that a creative approach should give room for them to explain and expand upon their ideas. You can get such rich data from such approaches!
DeleteThanks for sharing your creative data collection strategies with us. Can't wait to try them out myself.
ReplyDeleteFor those who are interested in more creative data collection ideas, PublicProfit .net has published a good guide around this topic. You can download it here: https://www.publicprofit.net/Creative-Ways-To-Solicit-Youth-Input.
Thanks Mongkol! This is one of my favorite resources too. I love evaluators that also really understand youth.
DeleteI just had a conversation about this with my wife who work at Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. She just helped collect data for an evaluation of their pre-school programs. They used the smiley face scales and had A LOT of trouble with their little kiddos understanding what to do with it. Their choices did not seem to match their verbal or body language whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteIt's always great to hear that my ideas are carrying weight in other programs- even though I'm sure your wife wasn't happy to see the survey didn't work for her. I hope she (and you) can get some new ideas from this post.
ReplyDelete