Ask Dad and/or Mum Parents as Key Facilitators: an Inclusive Approach to Sexual and Relationship Education on the Home Environment WP 2: Project Quality Assurance Quality Manual Country: Denmark Author: Bodil Mygind Madsen Partner Organization: Aarhus Social and Health Care College This project has been funded with support from the European Commission (538399-LLP-1-2013-1-DK- GRUNDTVIG-GMP). This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The project "Ask Dad and/or Mum. Parents as Key Facilitators: an Inclusive Approach to Sexual and Relationship Education on the Home Environment" (ASK) is a project under the Lifelong Learning Programme. The partners in ASK all work with initiatives that relate to sex and relationship education, training of trainers, training of adults, health promotion and health dissemination. All partners have experience in working with sexual health promotion, and some are extremely highly skilled in that area. Partner Country Organisation P1 IT ANLAIDS Sez. Lombardia P2 LV Latvia s association for family planning and sexual health PAPARDES ZIEDS P3 LT FPSHA - Family Planning and Sexual Health Association P4 DK ASHCC - Aarhus Social and Health Care College P5 AT ECSWPR - European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research P6 DE KATHO - Katholische Hochschule Nordrhein-Westfalen The main goals of ASK are to develop a methodology and materials (a training programme and a Tool Kit) to help parents give sex and relationships education to their children aged 10-14. Furthermore it is a goal to promote the project to parents and other stakeholders. To reach these goals in the best way possible, it is of paramount importance to secure well-functioning processes as well as quality assurances. The function of this Quality Manual (QM) is to describe and implement the quality assurance policy of ASK based upon Work Package 2 - Project Quality Assurance. The general idea of the QM is to prevent errors and misunderstandings through feedback loops with an ongoing systematic evaluation of the process. For each work package, the QM will describe who is in charge of it, which methodology will be used, what are the expected results or products and which quality indicators are relevant. The Quality Manual will also list a set of indicators, organized as a dashboard, for monitoring trends in project processes, impact and results. Finally the QM contains a blueprint of a satisfaction questionnaire to be administered to partners. The questionnaire will collect information about overall project management, communication and cooperation between partners, perceived quality of products, compliance with the procedures and deadlines, etc. The ongoing evaluation of ASK will be carried out every six months by partners with the help of a specialized external project evaluator.
Each project partner is responsible for at least one of the Work Packages acting as a WP Leader. The partners report to the WP leader concerning their respective tasks in each WP. The leader reports to the coordinator concerning the completion of the deliverables. Each WP Leader have the responsibility to design each WP in accordance with the project description and the QM. They must ensure that the tasks within each WP are explained to the partners, and that any doubts are solved. Furthermore they are obliged to support the partners in their work and to secure fulfilment of deadlines. Finally they have the responsibility to collect the contributions from the different partners and develop the final product of each WP. WP leaders will be responsible for the management of each WP in collaboration with the Coordinator. The project coordinator furthermore ensures that the processes and results comply with the quality standards as described in the QM and each WP. The evaluation exercise will be carried out every six months by partners with the help of a specialized external project evaluator. The project evaluator will be appointed by each WP responsible partner. The external evaluator will collect information by accessing messages exchanged between partners and the deliverables on the internal website. The evaluator will also have access to the Progress Reports and assess the activities carried out by every partner in relation to the relevant WP. Furthermore the external evaluator will take part in the partners Skype sessions and directly collect information through administration of the satisfaction questionnaire to partners. The evaluator will keep the dashboard updated and write an Evaluation report every six months. The evaluation of the project is fixed on three dimensions: Project process, impact and results as described in the project application. 1. Project process: it must be assured the project work plan is carried out smoothly, deliverables are produced as planned and cooperation between partners is good. Indicators: respect of deadlines and partners satisfaction collected by partners by a questionnaire. 2. Impact: it must be assured target groups know and use the products and methodologies developed by the project, and targets planned for dissemination and exploitation are met. Indicators: numbers of target group members that know, learn how to use and really use the methodologies and products developed by the project. Results: it must be assured products and methodologies developed by the project are considered of high standard and appreciated by the target groups. Indicators: evaluations collected by target groups on products and methodologies using questionnaires (Likert scales) and focus group.
The dimensions will be an integrated part in the quality assurance for each WP as described in section 5 Quality in the Work Packages. They are also incorporated in the dashboard presented in section 7. The main areas in the ongoing evaluation of the project process will be presented in section 6 Project Monitoring. Impact and Results will mainly be described in section 5 Quality in the Work Packages concerning WP's 7-9. WP1 When WP Leader Project Management ANLAIDS Sez. Lombardia Main content and deliverables Planning: Securing a timely development of the project, create internal website and Management Handbook. Communication and coordination: General meetings, Skype meetings, Minutes, Progress Reports. Finances: Collection and compiling of financial data. Main reports: Interim Report and Final Report. Methodology The Project Management is based upon a democratic principle with equal partners. The Project will be managed by a Steering Committee formed by National Project Managers and chaired by the Project Coordinator. The Steering Committee will take decisions concerning the strategic management of the Project, while day-by-day activity will be managed by the Project coordinator and WP Coordinators. Management rules are described in the Handbook for Project Management. The WP Leader (the coordinator) has the responsibility to keep the project process on track, and establish a work plan and a meeting plan to secure a timely development of the project. In every direct and Skype meeting the partner will plan incoming tasks and discuss how to structure incoming deliverables, discuss quality of deliverables already produced, discuss and solve eventual difficulties. Quality indicators All the partners are aware of the overall aims of ASK, of the projects ahead in the near future, and their role in that respect. All the partners participate in all the meetings. Partners are clear about the expectations to each other and the process is characterised by trust in each other and positive attitudes. The partners are satisfied about the management of the project.
Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - Good communication between WP Leaders and partners. - Ongoing information about the development of the project. - Are deadlines kept? Why? Why not? WP2 When WP Leader Project Quality Assurance ASHCC - Aarhus Social and Health Care College Main content and deliverables Assuring the quality of the project through the QM. Supporting the project management in general and the management within each WP. Describing general evaluation dimensions. Helping the project evaluator with Project Evaluation Reports. Describing quality indicators for each WP. Creation of a blueprint of satisfaction questionnaire. Methodology Quality indicators are assigned to each WP. Working with systematic feedback loops to ensure that the project is on track. An external evaluator will review the process and assess the activities in the project. Quality indicators Quality is ensured throughout the project. The evaluation and the feedback loops prevents errors. The external evaluator is able to make use of the feedback material. Everybody with leadership responsibilities are able to make use of the feedback material. The data from the questionnaires are sufficient for further action. Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind the WP Leader will focus on: - Is the questionnaires understandable to all?
- Does the analysis of data require action, and are actions taken?
WP3 When WP Leader Needs and Cultural Differences Analysis about Sexuality and Sex Education KATHO - Katholische Hochschule Nordrhein- Westfalen Main content and deliverables Analysis of the needs of the main direct beneficiaries target groups (parents and children) taking into account national cultural differences about sexuality, parents-children relationship, sex and relationship education initiatives. Creation of national reports and an overall Needs Analysis Report Establishing questionnaires for parents and children Methodology The scope of the needs analysis is to collect information about national cultural differences about sexuality and parents-children relationship, so to produce materials carefully tailored to each national context. To make the data as comparable as possible, a blueprint of the questionnaire will be made and it will be translated in all partner organisations. The content of the national reports will include the same sections. The work methodology concerning each national report will be described in the national reports. Each partner will collect 50 questionnaires from parents and 50 from children. In each country a focus group with 5 stakeholders will be created to give feedback to the analysis. Quality indicators Ensure that the questionnaires are distributed to different groups in each partner country. Ensure that the focus groups consist of people with varied backgrounds. Ensure that the national reports are comparable with regards to data collection. The collected data give valuable insights into different national contexts. Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - That the process of data gathering and literature research is alike. - That the collected data are reliable and valid.
WP4 When WP Leader State of the Art Analysis in Sex Education Activities and Parents Involvement ECSWPR - European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research Main content and deliverables Gathering and reviewing the best practises and related tools in sex education. National descriptions in work papers of the methods used in sex education. Building on the work papers and on specialized literature and previous EU funded projects a Study on state of the art for parents as sex educators will be created. Methodology All partners describe their own practises in sex education the best available resources for sex education at national level. All partners describe how the role of parents as teachers in sex education is perceived in their country. Through the national practises it will be possible to share the best practises at a European level. The Study on state of the art for parents as sex educators will have the opportunity to give feedback on the study before it is finalized. Quality indicators The methods described in the work papers should be well described to allow for the best opportunity of transfer and gathering of the best practises. The study will be an integral part of the process concerning the design of Toolkit for parents acting as sex educators (WP5) Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - Have all partners contributed with best practise? - Can the methods be better explained - to ease transfer or adaptability to national contexts?
WP5 When WP Leader Development of the Toolkit for Parents Acting as Sex Educators ANLAIDS Sez. Lombardia Main content and deliverables Development of a Toolkit for parents acting as sex educators in two versions (before and after the pilot). To improve possibilities for exploitation, the Toolkit will be structured as a self-help, stand-alone resource that the parents can use on their own without assistance. Feedback from the partners on two drafts for the toolkit. Methodology The Toolkit will be produced in version 1 and version 2. Both versions will be differentiated by country according to the need analysis and feedback received at different stages of the project (see also WP3 Needs and Cultural Differences Analysis and WP7 Pilot of Tool Kit). In this WP the first set of feedback will be collected on the draft of the Toolkit Version 1 produced by the responsible partner and translated in national languages by partners. Feedbacks will be collected in each partner country with one focus group consisting of 10 parents interested in acting as educators for their children and one focus group with the members of the Stakeholders Committee. Both feedbacks will be used to finalize national versions of Toolkit Version 1. Every partner will produce a National report listing the main outcomes of the focus groups and the main changes to be done to the draft of the English version 1 to adapt it to its national context. The focus groups will be audio recorded for a better analysis of results. Quality indicators A great variety of parent types can use the toolkit and find it relevant. The participants in the focus groups would recommend the toolkit to parents they know. Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - Will all relevant material be included in the toolkit? - Is the toolkit understandable and usable for parents with short or no education? - Is there a conflict between best practises and fitting into national contexts? If so, finding the best fits in cooperation with the partners.
WP6 When WP Leader Development of the Training Programme to Support the use of the Tool Kit FPSHA - Family Planning and Sexual Health Association Main content and deliverables Development of a 40 hours training programme to support the use of the Tool Kit (WP5), so that parents that do not have the capabilities to use it as a standalone resource will be able to use it through education. The training programme shall be able to be used face to face or at a distance as E-learning. Creation of two blueprints of the training programme before and after a pilot (WP7) is done. National reports on the training courses. Methodology Feedback about the training programme will be collected through a focus group at the end of the course. Every partner will write a national report on the results and experiences of the training courses. Quality indicators Feedback is incorporated in the second blueprint of the training programme. The training programme adapts to different national contexts. Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - Whether the feedback is of general importance for the training programme, or relates to national contexts. - Secure that the blueprint can function within different educational styles.
WP7 When WP Leader Pilot of the Tool Kit for Parents Acting as Sex Educators PUMS - Poznan University of Medical Sciences Main content and deliverables Test of the tool kit in different national contexts in the partner countries and in different modalities. The deliverables will consist of blueprints for questionnaires, national reports and an overall report. Methodology The pilot will be carried out with 30 parents in every partner country (180 in total). The parents will deliver sex and relationship education to their children (180 in total) by using the Tool Kit. The parents will be divided in three groups and test the tool kit: 1) As a standalone tool, 2) with limited support through the E- training programme (WP6) and 3) with significant support through face to face sessions. The testing in different modalities gives an opportunity to assess how the tool kit functions in various settings. The parents involved in the pilot will be hired on a voluntary basis. If it is possible the tool kit will be tested in cooperation with existing actors in the area of sex education. Both elements secure motivated participators. Feedback by participants in the pilot will be collected using questionnaires and focus groups. National reports and an Overall report on pilot will be produced. Quality indicators The teachers of the programme should feel well prepared to undertake the task of teaching the programme. Everyone involved in the project give feedback Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - Whether the feedback is of general importance for the training programme, or relates to national contexts. - Are all teachers able to make use of the methods?
WP8 When WP Leader Dissemination of Project and Results ASHCC - Aarhus Social and Health Care College Main content and deliverables Making sure that the project as well as its methodologies and deliverables are well known by the target groups of the project. That is children from 10-14, parents to children from 10-14, and various stakeholders in sex education. Deliverables: Creation of a Dissemination Plan, a Database of stakeholders, an External Project website and a Project logo. Creation and distribution of a Newsletter and Printed materials. Organising of national final conferences. Methodology Every partner will be responsible for dissemination in its own country. Establishment of a local Stakeholders Committee with 5 members in every partner country plus the project partner and representatives of targets groups. The Stakeholders Committee will held periodical meetings with the project country manager. Each partner will make a Dissemination Plan, describing in the detail dissemination strategy and activities. The dissemination plan will list different activities for each target group, so to make dissemination more effective. Each partner will deliver contacts to a Database to be used for newsletters. At least 80 contacts will be provided by each partner based on its own networks and 120 will be found on a European level. Project website visitors will also be able to insert their email in the mailing list. In total at least 600 persons or organisations should be in the database. The Project logo shall make instant public recognition of the project possible. The project website will have different paths for navigation so to address each target group. The website will be optimized for search engine (SEO). Additionally, every partners website will have 1 page describing and linking the project. And it will be accessible in each partner language. At least 7 News releases will be communicated informing about the Project. Creation of 1000 printed materials for dissemination (poster, post cards, leaflet, stationery - USB keys, pens, pencils with project logo) Every copy of the printed materials will be multilingual. Through advertisements on Facebook and Google 14.000 people will visit the project website. It is also expected that the project will generate 1.000 extra visitors on each partners own webpage. A final conference will be organized in every partner country addressed to parents and other stakeholders. 50 participants are foreseen in every conference. Quality indicators All the partners are active in the dissemination of the project within and outside their organisation. People subscribe to the newsletter independently of the organisations.
Stakeholders contact the partners to learn more about ASK. The project is mentioned in media stories in local, regional or web-based news. Relevant information is available on the website, and the website is regularly updated. Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - Creation of ideas for press releases/media stories that can be "sold" to relevant media. - Support the partners so they can make their dissemination work as well as possible. - Advance transfer of ideas between the partners.
WP9 When WP Leader Exploitation FPSHA - Family Planning and Sexual Health Association Main content and deliverables This WP will assure that the products of the project are known by decision makers and used by target groups and continue to be used after the end of the Project. Deliverables: Exploitation plan, Copyright Agreement, Videos, Workshop, Post project exploitation plan, Grundtvig training course Methodology The exploitation plan will describe in the details the actions each Partner will carry out to assure specific exploitation towards each target group. The main focus is on making other members of the target groups use the methodology and tools developed by the project. This will be made possible by easy and free access to the deliverables of the project. Furthermore it is relevant to focus part of the communication strategy on decision makers and other important stakeholders so the methodology and tools created in the project can be exploited even more than in the project. The copyright agreement will describe how the materials produced in the project can be used by partners and external parties during and after the project. It is expected that deliverables from the project will be downloaded 600 times. The videos will inform on how to use the Toolkit and the training course and summarize the advice given in the Toolkit, so parents and stakeholders may be interested to use the Tool kit. The WP leader will create a blueprint for the workshops. Every partner organise 2 one-day workshops addressed to parents, sex educators and other representatives of target groups. Participation will be free of charge. The workshops will present the methodology and the content of the Tool Kit. It is expected that at least 10 people will attend each workshop. The post project exploitation plan will build on previous experience with projects as well as with ASK. A number of tasks have already been describe e.g. access to website and materials, continued use of methodology and continuation of Grundtvig training courses for 3 years. In every partner country, it is expected that an additional 170 parents will use the Tool Kit (20 will use the Tool Kit with the full support (face to face training course), 50 with limited support (E-training) and 100 will use the Tool Kit as a standalone resource. The Grundtvig training course will be based on the tool kit and arranged by the WP leader. 15 participators are expected at the course. Quality indicators All partners reach other members of the target groups through the exploitation plan. All partners have meetings with decision makers and important stakeholders to exploit the results of the project outside the project. The methodology and the tool kit will be used after the end of the project.
Tasks Having the quality indicators in mind, the WP Leader will focus on: - is it necessary to produce specific material targeting decision makers and important stakeholders? - How can the partners benefit from the successes and failures of each other concerning exploitation? - is all necessary tools available after the project ends, so people and organisations that want to use the methodology and tool kit will be able to use it without large difficulties? It is an important aspect of this project to evaluate on the project process in an ongoing manner. This is done to ensure that the project work plan is carried out smoothly, deliverables are produced as planned and cooperation between partners is good. The following areas are especially relevant when monitoring the project process. - Communication - Meetings - Deliverables The project process including the above areas will be monitored throughout the project and the process w ill be addressed through the Dashboard and questionnaires. Communication Communication is vital in every process. It is important that the communication in the project is based on a positive tone and trust. And that challenges are dealt with in a constructive manner. The project makes use of as well partner meetings and virtual meetings to ensure proper communication. Furthermore a website will be created for communication and document sharing. The project coordinator and the WP Leaders have a responsibility to create and maintain a high level of communication and to take into account any feedback that can strengthen communication. Meetings In general terms, in every direct and Skype meeting the partner will plan incoming tasks and discuss how to structure incoming deliverables, discuss quality of deliverables already produced and discuss and solve eventual difficulties.
The national meetings are important because they give the partners a direct opportunity to deal with the development of the project face to face. This gives the possibility of quick collective development of ideas and solutions. Furthermore it enables the partners to take important decisions based on a collective sharing of opinions and arguments. The value of face to face interaction should not be underestimated. And it is important to secure a positive physical environment around the meetings as well as a well prepared agenda for the meetings. Deliverables The quality of the project process is likely to be reflected in the quality of the deliverables. This is an important reason for the focus upon the project process in this project. A process with positive communication and satisfying meetings will in all probability have a better chance to lead to the desired results, than a process with negative attitudes and chaotic communication and meetings. The project consists of more than 35 deliverables, and the quality of a lot of these build on the quality of deliverables produced earlier on in the project. This is the main reason for a quality manual that describes quality indicators for each WP as well as a general approach to the project process. The idea of the dashboard is to monitor trends in the project process, impact and results. The evaluator will keep the dashboard updated and write an Evaluation report every six months. These reports will be focused on all the three dimensions of quality assurance described above in section 3 Dimensions of Evaluation and include the set of indicators from the dashboard below. Project process Name Value(s) Description Partner participation Partner satisfaction Late deliverables Total late deliverables Measured in percentage and shown in actual numerical values. Measured in actual numerical values according to the satisfaction questionnaire. Name of late deliverables Responsible partners Measured in percentage and shown in actual numerical values. Actual participants in project meetings including Skype meeting related to potential participants. The sum of the average sum of partner satisfaction with project meetings and the average sum of partner satisfaction with the overall project management divided by 2. The number of late deliverables divided by the number of total deliverables planned until the date of the last update of the dashboard. Impact Name Value(s) Description Participation of target groups in projects Measured in actual numerical values The number of projects where the desired amount of participators are reached divided by the number of deliverables with participation of target groups planned until the date of the last update of the dashboard. Target groups Measured in actual numerical The number of projects where the desired amount
informed values of informed persons in the target groups are reached divided by the number of deliverables with information of target groups planned until the date of the last update of the dashboard. Results - methodologies and products Name Value(s) Description Feedback by participators in the training programme Feedback by Target groups using the tool kit Percentage that has found the training programme good or very good. Percentage that has found the tool kit good or very good. Goal of 75% on a Likert 4 points scale. Scores for each target group. Goal of 75% on a Likert 4 points scale The questionnaire will collect information about overall project management, communication and cooperation between partners, perceived quality of products, compliance with the procedures and deadlines, etc.
This questionnaire shall be used after ever project meeting including the Skype meetings. The answers are kept anonymous. Please rank your experience with 1 being the lowest score (Very Poor) and 4 being the highest (Very Good) 1 2 3 4 N/A Did you receive the information you needed to prepare for the meeting? Did the partners contribute to the meeting? The meeting encouraged open and clear communication? Interaction between members of the meeting was positive? Did the meeting achieve its objectives? How is your general project understanding? How is your understanding of what is expected of each partner going forward? How clear are the next steps/tasks to you? In total, are you satisfied with the meeting? Was there any issues not discussed during the meeting that in your opinion should have been approached?
If any additional remarks and/or suggestions please use this box.
This questionnaire should be answered once every ½ year, and the results are part of the evaluation of the external evaluator. The answers are kept anonymous. Please rank your experience with 1 being the lowest score (Very Poor) and 4 being the highest (Very Good) How would you rank the quality of project management? Are you satisfied with the support and answers from the project coordinator? How would you in general rate communication and coordination within the project? Is the information you receive clear? Is the information you receive timely? How would you evaluate your participation in the project? How is your general project understanding? How is your understanding of what is expected of each partner going forward? Is deadlines respected? Do you feel that expectations to each other are clear? Do you feel the process is characterised by trust and positive attitudes towards each other? Is the feedback you give taken serious? How would you rate the quality of the deliverables in the project? 1 2 3 4 N/A
Do you feel that ideas are transfered between partners? How satisfied are you with overall project management? What do you feel is the most important step to take in the near future to strengthen the project? If any additional remarks and/or suggestions please use this box.