Next Steps and New Findings

By Susie Robinson 

In our sixth year of Next Steps programming, First Stage sought to implement a formal evaluation of Next Steps to identify the program’s impact and to inform the program’s growth and future. Thanks to the Stackner Family Foundation’s generous support last season, First Stage was able to do just that.

With the guidance of Derute Consulting Cooperative, First Stage created a formal participatory evaluation of Next Steps. The evaluation was a fully participatory process and evolved through the collaborative dialogue and decision-making of the Derute consultants, Dr. Elizabeth Drame and Mary Stone, and the Next Steps Academy Director, Brenna Kempf. Evaluation activities took place throughout five phases over the past year.

Retrospective data and the Spring Break pilot evaluation provided the team with an abundance of information. From their findings, they made modifications to the Next Steps program and evaluation materials with a deeper understanding of our students. They focused on enhancing the positivity that Next Steps brings, introduced thorough and thoughtful lesson planning templates, and restructured how they would assess our Next Steps students. In all the team’s redesign choices, they prioritized meeting students where they are.

This past summer, the team implemented the revised evaluation and assessed 16 students. Of the 16 students, nine were returning and seven were new. Ten students participated in the one-week program and six participated in the two-week program. Data from the headmaster’s observations, and teacher meeting notes was recorded in a Pre-Rubric and Post-Rubric for each student. By comparing a student’s unique rubrics side by side, the team was able to identify decrease, maintenance, or growth in the life skills for each individual student. With this, the evaluation was operating on a more holistic approach, allowing First Stage to truly meet each student where they were.

For new students, it was important to capture the change (decrease or growth) in life skills as they participated in Next Steps for the first time. For returning students who already have a foundation of the life skills, highlighting the maintenance—in addition to the growth—was imperative; consistency, regulation, and maintenance are learned skills for the Next Steps students. Presence and further development for the returning students was a sign of success.

The summer evaluation demonstrated the following statistics:

·         71% of new students grew in their engagement (participation and confidence)

·         71% of new students grew in their expression (communication, emotion recognition/expression and empathy)

·         89% of returning students grew or maintained their engagement (participation and confidence)

·         100% of returning students grew or maintained their expression (communication, emotion recognition/expression and empathy)

The numbers from this summer are worthy of celebration, yet they cannot capture the value and depth of the individual students and their triumphant accomplishments. Some of the most compelling classroom stories and parent testimonials of students’ life skill development in engagement and expression are as follows:

Engagement

“He looks forward to coming each day and participating… he can come to a place where he is accepted and valued.” - Returning Parent

“...The best part of the presentation was when Anton, who refused to dance all week long, did all of the choreography upstage of the cast.” - Lead Teacher

“Seeing [her] confidence… She looked relaxed and was welcomed and accepted for who she is. [She] was noticed!” - New Parent

Expression

A younger two-week student developed calm and articulate communication for discussing her needs throughout her time in the session. By the end of the week, she wasn’t having as many loud outbursts when she was bothered. During a break in the quiet room, when asked if she was ready to go back to class, she calmly responded, “I’m still not regulated.”

“He told me that he was nervous today—when in the past would have held that in until he had a meltdown!!” - New Parent

There are countless more stories of students lending a hand, giving a hug, sharing a fidget toy, initiating a compromise, and being a friend. Friendships and connections blossomed throughout the two weeks, and many students took initiative to keep friendships alive; they connected their parents and asked about playdates, exchanging phone numbers, and following each other on YouTube and Instagram. Every Next Steps teaching artist provided an equal effort to foster both life skills and stage skills in each individual student. The Next Steps final presentations concluded with acknowledgements, smiles, hugs, and a stress-free atmosphere. It was a wonderful, enriching experience for all.

Keeping the goal of growth in students’ life skills at the forefront of the preparation and execution of the evaluation and program led to a successful session this past summer and has laid the groundwork for a bright future.

First Stage plans to implement this evaluation of the Next Steps program every three years.