You are seeing this message because your web browser does not support basic web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.

www.HFRP.org

The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.

Terms of Use ▼

Program Description

Overview The Save the Children Web of Support Initiative promotes quality out-of-school time programs for children ages 5–18 by focusing on three desired outcomes: constructive activities, caring adults, and safe places. Save the Children provides resources and assistance to community-based organizations, including school districts, to operate both school-site and community-site after school programs.
Start Date 1997
Scope national
Type after school, summer/vacation
Location urban, rural
Setting public schools, community-based organizations
Participants kindergarten through high school students
Number of Sites/Grantees over 100 Rural Community Partners and six Urban Collaboratives
Number Served approximately 7,000–9,000 youth
Components The Web of Support Initiative provides support in three areas: funding and resources, leadership training and development to improve program practices and program quality, and technical assistance and training in how to implement and use outcome evaluation as a framework for program improvement. Rural Community Partners are typically single local nonprofit agencies serving youth in rural areas. These Partners are located in rural areas in the Southwestern, Appalachian, and Eastern regions of the United States. Urban Collaboratives typically consist of two or more nonprofit organizations working together to serve at-risk youth in low-income urban environments. Each Urban Collaborative has a Facilitator who assists with the coordination of the Collaborative. Collaboratives are located in or near large metropolitan areas.

As part of the Web of Support initiative, Save the Children sought to develop the leadership capabilities of youth involved in the programs. Save the Children provided three different types of leadership development experiences for youth: the Save the Children Youth Summit, youth internships sponsored by Save the Children through Rural Community Partners and Urban Collaboratives (e.g., youth working as interns for the youth-serving nonprofit organizations), and other leadership opportunities offered in their communities by Partners and Collaboratives.
Funding Level $32 million (over three years)
Funding Sources Save the Children ($26 million over three years), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation ($3 million over three years), Denny's Family Restaurants (up to $1 million per year), and Irvine Foundation (Central Valley, California, expansion efforts)
Other The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) provides training and technical assistance to Rural Community Partners, Urban Collaboratives, and Save the Children regional office staff to improve the quality of out-of-school time programs. Aguirre International provides evaluation training and technical assistance to Save the Children regional and home office staff, Rural Community Partners, and Urban Collaboratives on how to evaluate programs and activities. The evaluation training uses an empowerment evaluation approach. Professional consultants (coaches) provide Train-the-Trainer workshops, on-site assistance, and phone assistance to staff. Annual evaluation trainings are also held in each region.


Evaluation

Overview The Web of Support evaluation has two parts: (1) individual outcomes-based evaluations at the site level and (2) an initiative-wide evaluation.

In the first part of the evaluation, each Rural Community Partner and Urban Collaborative conducts individual outcomes-based evaluations annually, with technical assistance from Aguirre International. They are required to examine the three components of a comprehensive out-of-school time program of the Web of Support Initiative: constructive activities, caring adults, and safe places. In keeping with the empowerment model of evaluation, the data collection methods used by Rural Community Partners and Urban Collaboratives vary.

The purpose of the second part of the evaluation, the initiative-wide evaluation, is to examine three types of outcomes: child/youth outcomes, Rural Community Partner and Urban Collaborative outcomes, and Save the Children–U.S. programs outcomes. These evaluations are conducted annually, and the third-year evaluation looked at findings across the first three years in addition to that year's findings.
Evaluator Aguirre International
Evaluations Profiled 1997–98 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report.
1998–99 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report.
1999–2000 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report.
2000–2001 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report.
Evaluations Planned N/A
Report Availability Terao, K. L., Morell, L. C., Stevenson, C. L., & Sloane, K. J. (1999). 1997–98 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report. San Mateo, CA: The Aguirre Group.

Terao, K. L., Morell, L., & Stevenson, C. (2000). 1998–99 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report. San Mateo, CA: The Aguirre Group.

Terao, K. L., Morell, L., & Stevenson, C. (2001). 1999–2000 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report. San Mateo, CA: The Aguirre Group.

Terao, K. L., Morell, L., Stevenson, C., & Moulton, J. (2002). 2000–2001 Web of Support Initiative wide evaluation. Annual report. San Mateo, CA: The Aguirre Group.

Contacts

Evaluation Ken Terao
Evaluation Specialist
480 East 4th Avenue, Unit A
San Mateo, CA 94401-3349
Tel: 650-373-4900
Fax: 650-348-0260
Email: kterao@aiweb.com
Program Leigh Higgins
Save the Children Federation Inc. U.S.
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
Tel: 203-221-4000
Fax: 203-221-4082
Email: lhiggins@savechildren.org
Profile Updated August 19, 2004

Evaluation 3: 1999–2000 Web of Support Initiative Wide Evaluation: Annual Report


Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose To examine Year 3 of the initiative and three types of outcomes related to the initiative: child and youth outcomes, Rural Community Partner and Urban Collaborative outcomes, and Save the Children–U.S. Programs outcomes. The findings reflect both the third year, as well as the past three years overall.
Evaluation Design Non-Experimental: Information about child and youth outcomes was obtained through review of evaluation reports produced by 58 Rural Community Partners and eight Urban Collaboratives. Evaluators conducted additional data collection to examine Rural Community Partner and Urban Collaborative outcomes and Save the Children–U.S. Programs outcomes.
Data Collection Methods Document Review: Data on child and youth outcomes were gathered through content analysis of Rural Community Partner and Urban Collaborative outcome evaluation reports. These evaluations were conducted between October 1999 and September 2000.

Observation: Informal observations were conducted during site visits and trainings.

Surveys/Questionnaires: Youth involved in the youth leadership activities were asked to complete a survey to gather information about their knowledge and leadership skills and about internship experiences and expectations.

Surveys were administered to Rural Community Partner members to gather information about the degree to which Rural Community Partners were collaborating, their skills in developing quality out-of-school time programming and internal evaluations, and the level of resources they were able to access because of their involvement in the Web of Support.

Surveys of Urban Collaborative members gathered information about the effect the Web of Support had had on youth, their individual organizations, and local communities; the way in which internal evaluation results had been used; the value of having a facilitator; and the elements that worked and did not work well in their Collaborative.

Surveys of Urban Collaborative Facilitators gathered information on the level of collaboration between partner organizations; the resources Collaborative Partners had increased access to due to the Web of Support Initiative; the effect the Web of Support had on youth, the Collaborative, and local communities; and the extent to which organizations in their Collaborative increased their evaluation skills.

Surveys of Save the Children home and regional office staff measured their understanding of how to provide training and technical assistance to Rural Partners and Urban Collaboratives, the effectiveness of NIOST and Aguirre International's training methods, the technical assistance they and their Partners need in the coming year, and the impact the Web of Support has had on Save the Children.
Data Collection Timeframe Data were collected over the three years of the initiative, 1997–2000. Findings focus on the third year (1999–2000), with some outcomes summarizing changes over the three-year period.


Findings:
Formative/Process Findings

Activity Implementation Save the Children Partners and Collaboratives provided tutoring, computer training, leadership development, community service, education in prevention, cultural enrichment, and other programs designed to meet the needs of youth in their community.

Save the Children Partners and Collaboratives provided programs that promoted social or emotional growth, such as conflict resolution and communication, leadership development activities, cultural enrichment programs, prevention education, and other innovative programs designed to meet the needs of children in their community.

Rural Community Partners and Urban Collaboratives provided leadership opportunities for youth, including an internship program, youth councils and youth groups, workshops, conferences, trainings, tutoring and mentoring of younger children, and community service projects.

Internships provided youth with the opportunity to plan and implement projects that focused on community events, such as cultural festivals, parades, and “youth days,” performing arts activities, like plays and poetry nights, and community service projects, including food distribution and environmental beautification projects.
Parent/Community Involvement Eighty-five percent of Save the Children staff members indicated that their Community Partners demonstrated leadership skills by working with local community leaders to improve services for children.
Systemic Infrastructure Rural Community Partners received training and technical assistance in program improvement, community and leadership development, and resource mobilization from NIOST or other program development specialists.

Urban Collaboratives received training and technical assistance in program improvement, youth leadership development, and collaboration from Save the Children.

Both Rural Community Partners and Urban Collaboratives received training and technical assistance in evaluation from Aguirre International, in collaboration with Save the Children's home office (in urban areas) and regional office staff (in rural areas). Most Rural Community Partners and Urban Collaboratives surveyed reported that the training they had received was “helpful” or “very helpful.”


Summative/Outcome Findings

Academic Of the 4,057 youth evaluated, 83% exceeded or achieved the desired result in one or more areas of cognitive/intellectual growth. (The desired result varied by each Partner's evaluation criteria.)

Of the 1,412 students attending tutoring/homework assistance programs who were evaluated, 84% maintained high standards or showed improvement in one or more of the following: grades, homework completion, study habits, or other measures of academic success.

Of the 907 youth evaluated in reading programs, 88% exceeded or achieved the desired result in reading ability, comprehension, or interest. (The desired result varied by each Partner's evaluation criteria.)
Community Development All of the Rural Community Partners and all of the Urban Collaborative facilitators reported that their community was aware that Save the Children provides services in their communities; 74% of Rural Community Partners and all Urban Collaborative facilitators said that this awareness had increased since their involvement with the Web of Support.
Systemic Ninety-four percent of the Rural Community Partners reported collaborating with other Save the Children Community Partners, and 41% of those indicated that their collaborations have increased over the course of the initiative. The various ways in which they collaborated included regular communication, joint planning, joint decision making, resource sharing, or joint program implementation.

Among the seven Urban Collaboratives, working relationships between organizations in 57% of the Collaboratives were rated by stakeholders as either “strong” or “very strong” and 57% reported that they had strengthened their working relationships either “somewhat” or “a lot.”

Among Rural Community Partners, approximately one-half reported that they had improved their evaluation skills and practices over the course of the initiative “quite a bit,” and an additional one-quarter had improved skills “a lot.” The evaluation skills and practices improved included: developing evaluation plans, developing or identifying instruments, collecting and analyzing data, and writing evaluation reports.
Of the six Urban Facilitators reporting on various evaluation skills and practices that Urban Collaboratives had acquired, 17% to 50% reported that their Collaboratives had improved “quite a bit” and another 20% reported that they had improved “a lot.”

Rural Community Partners had access to additional resources as a result of participation in Web of Support. In particular, resources included technical assistance, materials, and technology.

Urban Collaboratives had access to additional resources such as materials, technology, and facilities or space due to Web of Support.

Eighty-six percent of regional and home office staff surveyed said that communication between Community Partners, regional office staff, and home office staff improved.

Ninety-three percent of regional and home office staff reported that Community Partners showed increased awareness of national opportunities and efforts on behalf of children.

Ninety-three percent of regional and home office staff interviewed reported that they gained the skills to provide technical assistance to Community Partners (rural and urban) in improving their programs.

All of the regional and home office staff said that they gained the skills to provide technical assistance in helping Community Partners with their evaluation efforts.

Sixty-two percent of the regional and home office staff surveyed reported that the Train-the-Trainers model was “very effective” in helping them to become evaluation coaches for the Rural Community Partners or Urban Collaboratives.
Youth Development Of the 5,208 youth evaluated, 86% exceeded or achieved the desired result in one or more areas of social or emotional growth. (The desired result varied by each Partner's evaluation criteria.)

Of the 2,066 youth evaluated in programs designed to develop social skills, 85% showed improvement or maintained good behavior.

Of the 704 youth evaluated in cultural enrichment programs, 81% increased their interest, appreciation, or pride in their cultures.

Ninety-six percent of the youth interns who attended the Youth Voice 2000 Millennium Leaders Summit reported that Save the Children had given them valuable leadership skills and that they had learned new ideas.

Over 95% of the youth interns enhanced their communication skills and their ability to get along with a wide range of people, to collaborate, to take responsibility, and to lead.

© 2016 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
Published by Harvard Family Research Project