Evaluating a Middle School Summer Equity Program: Navigating Design and Implementation With a Culturally Responsive Approach

• In Event: Consideration of Inclusive Educational Program Evaluation and Partnership

Abstract

This paper details the design of a formative evaluation for a new summer equity program for underrepresented and minoritized students at a selective-admissions school. The evaluation was rooted in a developmental design that drew substantively on social justice approaches: culturally responsive evaluation (e.g., Hopson, 2009) and democratic and values-engaged evaluation (e.g., Greene, Millet, and Hopson, 2004). The evaluation aimed to be participatory and unobtrusive by relying on traditional qualitative methods and PhotoVoice to answer questions about a) the program’s purpose and goals, 2) the students’ eligibility, 3) the students’ program experiences, and 4) the benefits of the program from different stakeholders’ perspectives. We share a constellation of methodological, logistical, ethical, and validity issues navigated throughout the evaluation.

Authors

• Melissa Goodnight, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Valerie O'Brien, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author

• Molly D Galloway, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Mostafa Hanafy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Anthony B. Sullers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jasmine Johnson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author