EVER-GREEN AFTER-SCHOOL LEARNING

PROGRAM IN STARKVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL

EVALUATION PROPOSAL

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

Background Information

According to the data collected in the previous school year, lots of the eighth-grade students

in Starkville Middle School in Mississippi didn’t achieve state’s benchmarks in both math and

science. In order to improve students’ academic achievements in Starkville Middle School, the

Ever-Green After-School Learning Program was established at the beginning of this school year.

Introduction

The Ever-Green After-School Learning Program was established in 2022. The main

purpose of the program is to provide additional activities and courses for middle-school students

in eighth grade who want to improve their academic performances in math and science, especially

those perform below the grade level at school. Ever-Green After-School Learning Program

provides additional courses after school hours, including Math and Science. In addition, the

students can choose to stay at the school after the courses are finished to attend the sport events

with their parents. The program begins in August and ends in May. The courses of the program

are scheduled from Monday through Thursday after the school hours.
OBJECTIVES/KEY QUESTIONS

The general goal of the Ever-Green Program is to:

1. Provide additional courses and activities for middle-school students in eighth grade

who want to improve their academic achievements in Math and Science to meet the

state’s benchmarks.

The Ever-Green Program’s objectives are to:

1. At least 85% of the participating students will achieve the state’s benchmark at the end

of this school year.

2. Eighth-grade students, who did not meet the state’s benchmark in the last school year,

will be able to improve their academic achievements in math and science by at least

50% at the end of the program.

3. 80% of the parents will be satisfied with the result of the program in terms of both

students’ academic achievements and family engagement.

The general goal of Ever-Green After-School Learning Program is to provide additional courses

for eighth-grade students who didn’t meet the state’s benchmarks in the last school year.

Specifically, the key questions are:

1. Does the program effectively help the students improve their academic achievements

by 50% and meet the state’s benchmarks in math and science?

2. How did the program impact the relationships between students and parents in terms

of family engagement?

3. Does the program meet all objectives and goals stated earlier?

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RATIONALE FOR EVALUATION

Ever-Green After-School Learning Program provides eighth-grade students in Starkville

Middle School who did not meet the state’s benchmarks in Math and Science last school year. By

providing additional after-school course in Math and Science, the students’ academic

performances should achieve the state’s benchmarks at the end of the program. In addition, to align

with the state’s education goal, all students proficient and showing growth in all assessed areas.

Opportunities and choices to attend sport events and other physical activities for the students who

would like to stay after the primary courses are finished are also provided.

CLIENT AND AUDIENCES FOR THE EVALUATION/KEY

STAKEHOLDERS

There are several stakeholders in this evaluation. The key stakeholders of Ever-Green

After-School Learning Program include the students, parents, teachers, and all faculty and

employees who are involved in the program. The progress and results were presented to the main

stakeholders both during and after the program in the formative reports. A summative report was

also presented to the main stakeholders after the evaluation was done.

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PROPOSED EVALUATION MODEL/METHODOLOGY

EVALUATION PLAN

The methodology of this evaluation will be both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative

assessments include pretests and posttests, which determine students’ academic performances

while qualitative assessment methods include perceptions and satisfaction of teachers and parents

about this program. During the program, both formative and summative evaluation will be

conducted to determine whether the program has met the objectives and goals stated in the first

place. A pretest of students’ academic performances will be conducted before the program starts

to have a baseline data. Mid-reviews will also be implemented monthly to monitor students’

progress and improvements while the program goes on. Interviews and surveys for both teachers

and parents will also be conducted every month to identify if there is any problems or obstacles

during the progress. A posttest will be implemented after the program ends to have data to be

compared with the baseline data.

To ensure the evaluation will not be biased by the needs and interest of any stakeholder, an

external evaluator will be hired to conduct both the formative and summative evaluation for the

program. It not necessary or expected that the applicant know the identity of the evaluator in this

stage. However, the external evaluator will have to meet the following requirements and

qualifications. The external evaluator must submit a resume and a letter of reference to show that

he or she is qualified for the position. He or she must have at least five years of experiences

working as an evaluator in any kinds of programs and have the experiences and abilities to conduct

both quantitative and qualitative evaluation. In addition, the external evaluator must fill out a

conflict of the interest disclosure form to ensure that he or she must not have vested interest in the

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Ever-Green After School Program. This requirement excludes anyone who is the original grant

writer, family members of applicants, participants, partners, and employees. The contract with the

external evaluator must be limited to a fiscal year with renewal options for each subsequent year

of the program. The external evaluator will have access to all necessary data to complete the

evaluation. We will limit the amount to be paid to the external evaluator to at most 2.5% of the

annual grant award amount. The results of the evaluation will be presented to the main stakeholders,

including parents, teachers, and faculty at the beginning of every month. A final report and

presentation of the whole evaluation will also be presented to all stakeholders after the program

ends.

EXPECTED REPORTING OUTCOMES – FORMATIVE EVALUATION REQUIREMENT

In terms of formative evaluation, all evaluation must be conducted thoroughly and

documented in written reports by the external evaluator of the program. The formative evaluation

will indicate how each activity and course satisfies the measures of effectiveness. Each subgrantee

will undergo periodic formative evaluation to assess progress toward the objectives and goals of

improving eighth-grade students’ academic achievements. Additional courses in math, science will

be provided to the students. The formative evaluation will involve both quantitative and qualitative

data and must contain the following elements: student attendance, program operation, objective

assessment, and recommendations.

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 EXPECTED REPORTING OUTCOMES – SUMMATIVE EVALUATION REQUIREMENT

A summative evaluation report must be completed every school year. It must include a

detailed summary of the whole program and progress towards each stated objective and goal. The

summative report must contain sections for overview and history, student attendance and

enrollment, program operation, quality of staffing, objective assessment, progress towards

sustainability, and overall recommendations.

EVALUATION PROCESSES TO BE IMPLEMENTED

In order to determine whether the Ever-Green After School Program has met the objectives

and goals, there are several assessments must be done in the evaluation process. The evaluation

will obtain both quantitative and qualitative data from the following stakeholders: students,

teachers, and parents. Quantitative data will be collected based on the pretests, mid-reviews, and

posttests of students. The data will be able to determine students’ academic performance at the

baseline and monitor students’ improvements as the program goes on, and most importantly, to

disclose the overall changes and improvements in students’ academic performances. The

qualitative data will be gathered based on interviews and surveys for both teachers and parents.

This data will be able to show perceptions and satisfaction of teachers and parents toward the

program.

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TIMELINE / EVALUATION SCHEDULE

The evaluation schedule of the Ever-Green After-School Learning Program is as below.

The main goal of the program is to provide additional courses and activities for middle-school

students in eighth grade who want to improve their academic achievements in Math and Science

to meet the state’s benchmarks. To achieve the goal, the following assessments will be conducted.

Evaluation activity When

Meet with the external evaluator July 20th

Evaluation process begins August 1st

Interviews with teachers August 10th / monthly

Surveys for teachers August 10th / monthly

Pretests August 10th

Interview with parents August 20th / monthly

Surveys for parents August 20th / monthly

Mid-reviews September 10th / monthly

Posttests May 20th

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CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS / EVALUATION CONSULTANTS

Ever-Green After School Program is a group of experienced instructors and staff. For all

personnel hired in this program, a clear criminal background is required. The program cooperates

with Starkville Middle School in Starkville, Mississippi. In addition, this team contains many

experienced teachers who have over 10 years of experiences teaching and facilitating after-school

courses. All the staff involved in this program will have to support collecting data and conducting

evaluations.

Serving as the program director, Allen Peterson, has a PhD degree in evaluation and

profound experience in the field of both evaluation and education. As the result, with his

involvement in the program in both designing and implementing stages, the program and

evaluation will be successful. In addition, the side coordinator, Maddison White, has a profound

background in the field of evaluation. She has a PhD degree in evaluation and education. Maddison

White will be supporting the program during the process.

An external evaluator will be hired to assist conducting all the evaluation processes. The

external evaluator must meet the requirements. First, the person must have over 5 years of

experience working as an evaluator for any types of evaluation. Second, the person must not have

vested interest with anyone involved in the program. Third, the person must also have the

competency and ability to conduct both quantitative and qualitative evaluation.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Director: Allen Peterson

Phone: (662)338-6215

Email: aproject@gmail.com

Side Coordinator: Maddison White

Phone: (662)367-9812

Email: mcoordinator@gmail.com