Starting and Maintaining a Program

Transcription

1 Getting Started at a Glance Starting and Maintaining a Program Starting and Maintaining a Program This section summarizes key steps that you will need to take before starting an Education: Our Best Legacy program and delivering each class, as well as steps to take after facilitating each class and completing the program (all classes). Note: The information in this section makes assumptions that the program setting is in a school. If you are planning your program for a community setting, you would work with the agency staff as you would with school administrators. Before Starting the Program 1. Download and print resources. a. Access the Education: Our Best Legacy program resources and download all of the files. b. Print one copy of the complete facilitator guide. It is recommended that you make a 2-sided copy, in black and white, on 3-hole punched paper. Place the entire guide in a binder. c. Also print one copy of the Education: Our Best Legacy Class Sessions at a Glance resource found in the Marketing Tools and Program Management Aids section at the end of this facilitator guide to keep as a handy reference for your planning. Download a print-friendly version of this resource from the Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Website. 2. Read and review content. Read through the Introduction section, and this Starting and Maintaining a Program section of the facilitator guide if you have not already done so. Scan through all seven lessons so that you get more familiar with the flow of the overall program. The Education: Our Best Legacy Class Sessions at a Glance resource found in the Marketing Tools and Program Management Aids section is another handy reference to keep at the ready. 3. Identify and establish your facilitation team. See tips for Establishing a Facilitation Team later in this section. 4. Select a potential site. You most likely have a school in mind for using this program. You may even work for a school, and are intending to offer this program to your school and only your school. (In this case, you may be able to skip this step, as well as steps 5 and 6 as described below and on the next page.) If not, research and identify a potential middle school that may be a good candidate to receive Education: Our Best Legacy programming. Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Guide 19

2 5. Set an informational meeting. Schedule and prepare for a meeting with the principal of a potential school partner. At this meeting you will introduce the Partnering for School Success project and the Education: Our Best Legacy program. Highlight the important role that the program has in building parent-school partnerships and supporting children s graduation from high school. Review the aspects of assistance you will need from the school to support the program, such as providing space, equipment, child care, meal arrangements, recruitment of participants, coordination of school speakers, and more. You may wish to use the marketing resources that have been developed for this program before, during, or after the conversation to help strengthen the potential of the school to sign on as a partner with you. See tips for Establishing Program Partners later in this section for more guidelines on leading a successful meeting with potential school program partners. 6. Follow up with school staff. In some cases, you may want to follow up with the principal or other school representatives to nudge them to partner with you. You may want to hold meetings with several school representatives, such as cultural liaisons, teachers, administrators, or parent advisory board members in order to secure a commitment from the school. See tips for hosting these meetings in Establishing Program Partners later in this section. Leave follow-up marketing resources about the program for school representatives to share and discuss as needed. If you have offered the program before, leave testimonials from past program participants, as well as testimonials and contact information from past program partners. You may also need to follow up with the principal following your meeting via or phone. This will be especially important if a principal tells you that this is not the right time for the program, but he or she may be interested in the future, such as the beginning of the next school year. 7. Confirm program specifics. After you confirm that a school is interested in the program, discuss and confirm the members or your core program partnership team. Finalize the timing and program details with the principal or other lead school administrator. You will most likely need several weeks to recruit participants and arrange supplies and speakers, so keep that in mind when finalizing the start date. See Establishing Program Partners later in this section for more details about the decisions that should be made. You ll also need to work with school officials on developing a recruitment plan. See Recruiting Program Participants later in this section for recruitment tips. You ll also need to decide which evaluation method would be best for the situation. See Evaluating Your Program later in this section for information on different methods you can use. 8. Recruit participants for the program. Follow the recruitment plan you develop with the principal, lead school administrator, or program partnership team. See Recruiting Program Participants later in this section for recruitment tips. 20 Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Guide

3 9. Order and purchase necessary materials for the class. Refer to the Materials sections of each lesson for the specific needs of each class. 10. Plan roles. Meet with your co-facilitator or assistant to prepare for delivering the program. Read through each of the lesson plans and sort out which of you will facilitate each lesson and complete the necessary program management steps. Confirm the specific role that other program partners will fulfill during the program. See Establishing a Facilitation Team later in this section for more information on how the two of you can work together in planning a program. 11. Start making arrangements for the guest speakers. Guest speakers are needed in classes 5, 6, and 7. You might need to allow extra lead time a month or more to make arrangements for a speaker from a higher education institution. See Using Guest Speakers later in this section for more information on making preparations for guest speakers. 12. Check on recruitment efforts. If necessary, work with your program partnership team on ramping up existing recruitment efforts or initiating additional strategies to obtain the desired number of participants. See Recruiting Program Participants later in this section for more recruitment ideas. 13. Prepare the materials for the Tree of Knowledge and Reflection activity. See instructions in Key Program Resources in the Introduction section of this facilitator guide. 14. Do a final check in with the principal, lead school administrator, or program partnership team. Remind him, her, or them of the program timeline and class dates. Tell them how many people have registered, and which guest speakers have confirmed. If you still need to line up more guest speakers, such as the school panel for Class 5, ask your school partners for help. See Using Guest Speakers later in this section for more information on this process. 15. Do a final check in with your co-facilitator or assistant. Work out any remaining details. Decide how you will distribute the workbook to participants. Will you print the entire workbook and distribute it during Class 1, or print it section by section for distribution during each corresponding class? Before Delivering Each Class 1. Read through the entire class Lesson Plan and presentation carefully. 2. Download the relevant presentation onto your laptop or a USB drive. 3. Call guest speakers a few days before to remind them of the class date and time, and ask if they have any questions. 4. Secure an interpreter, if needed for the guest speakers. Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Guide 21

4 22 5. Download and prepare the relevant templates from the Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Website. 6. Create a roster, to use in preparation for the reminder calls to participants. You can use the Education: Our Best Legacy Roster Template included with this package of resources. A sample of this script template is included in the Marketing Tools and Program Management Aids section of this facilitator guide. Download an adaptable version of the template from the Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Website. 7. A few days before class, call participants who have registered to remind them of the upcoming class. It is recommended that you draft a script for this conversation using the Education: Our Best Legacy Reminder Script Template. A sample of this script template is included in the Marketing Tools and Program Management Aids section of this facilitator guide. Download an adaptable version of the template from the Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Website. During the calls, record on the prepared Education: Our Best Legacy Roster who will be attending class, and who will be in child care. 8. Confirm arrangements with the child care provider, if necessary. 9. Confirm arrangements for the meal or snack. 10. Copy the relevant handouts and workbook section from the Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Website. 11. Gather and prepare the other materials needed for class. 12. Do a quick check in with your co-facilitator or assistant to ensure that you both are ready for the upcoming class. After Facilitating Each Class 1. If applicable, distribute the end-of-session evaluation form to participants. Collect them before participants leave the room. 2. Send thank you notes to any volunteers or guest speakers. 3. Complete any follow-up activities, such as connecting participants to resources in their communities. 4. Check in with your co-facilitator or assistant on how the class went. Discuss and make a plan for any changes required before the next class, particularly if changes are needed to increase participant engagement. See Engaging Program Participants later in this section for tips. After Completing the Program (All Classes) 1. If applicable, distribute the reflective pre/post evaluation form to participants. Collect the completed forms before participants leave. See Evaluating Your Program in this section for more information. 2. Gather and save the leaves that were placed on the Tree of Knowledge and Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Guide

5 Reflection. Review the thoughts and actions written on the leaves for valuable anecdotal feedback from participants. See Evaluating Your Program in this section for more information on using information gathered in the Tree of Knowledge and Reflection activity to evaluate your program. 3. Congratulate and thank program participants for their involvement. Collect testimonials as appropriate. 4. Meet in person to thank the principal, lead school administrator, and program partnership team for their support. If you have initial evaluation information, share it. You may want to share some stories of progress made by participants of the class as they are often more powerful than data, keeping names anonymous. Discuss next steps, such as a celebration gathering, an evaluation report distribution, and so on. See Establishing Program Partners for ideas. 5. Meet with your co-facilitator or assistant to reflect on the overall program and determine next steps as needed. Make sure that you take any necessary follow-up steps related to participants, partners, or evaluation. Establishing a Facilitation Team It is recommended that you find someone (a co-facilitator) to help facilitate if possible. It is also helpful to have someone (a class assistant) identified to help you deliver the program. Ideally, one of the facilitators would be someone in an official school liaison role, or someone who works or volunteers at the school in a support function, e.g., a cultural liaison. You may also want to consider enlisting a past class participant as a co-facilitator or class assistant. The co-facilitator or class assistant does not necessarily need to be experienced in teaching adult learners you can take on the role of main facilitator while he or she provides support. Reasons for Co-Facilitating There are many reasons why working with a co-facilitator or class assistant makes sense. Here are some of the reasons. A co-facilitator or assistant can keep the class running smoothly and keep your class on time. He or she can assist with switching presentation slides, timing activities, distributing handouts, and assisting with activities. Also, while you are teaching it is helpful to have another person available in the room who can handle other logistics, such as accommodating parents who arrive late or leave early, greeting guest speakers as they arrive, or dealing with child care or food related arrangements or questions. The co-facilitator or assistant can help fulfill the vital role of interacting and engaging with parents, leaving you to focus on facilitation. This doesn t mean you (as lead facilitator) should not strive to interact with and engage parents! It just means a co-facilitator or assistant can help you accomplish this important goal of the Education: Our Best Legacy Facilitator Guide 23