What does success mean? Lessons learned from data-driven program design and refinement at the Petey Greene Program

• In Event: Supporting Educational Access Among Learners who are Incarcerated: Lessons Learned from Programming, Data Collection, and Assessment

Abstract

This presentation will discuss data collection and evaluation strategies adopted by the Petey Greene Program (PGP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students while educating volunteers and the broader public on the injustice manifest in the carceral system. After a decade of operations as a local, service-focused organization, five years ago the PGP adopted a new strategic plan focused on systems change, with a new emphasis on the importance of utilizing rigorously collected data to refine its programs and prove out their effectiveness. Since then, the organization has developed data agreements and practices to collect and analyze ethically and safely academic progress data to measure the impact of its programs on student learning outcomes, while advocating for the need to include measures of confidence, motivation, and engagement in the definition of student success. Building on the experience of the PGP, the presentation will discuss how community-based organizations can collect and utilize data, the challenges they often face in securing buy-in from partners and internal stakeholders, and successes in data-driven program design and implementation.

Authors

• Nicole Delgadillo, The Petey Greene Program

• Chiara Benetollo, The Petey Greene Program