Programs

In 2004, Leading for Quality sponsored 4 consecutive, monthly training events from December to March. This intensive series was designed to progressively build participants' knowledge and skills related to "engaging youth and stimulating their thinking and learning". Participants were expected to attend events in organizational teams consisting of program staff, mid-managers and organizational administrators. Consistent team attendance was encouraged in order to give team members a common theoretical base from which to build knowledge as the training series progressed. The model assumed that this shared knowledge of concepts and practices would maximize the likelihood that participants would be able to implement new ideas and sustain positive changes back at their sites. All four training events were led by a team of six curricular specialists from the Greater Boston area and encompassed the four topic areas below with an imbedded theme of promoting greater youth involvement and leadership in the design of program activities. Individual Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligences Links to Learning Project Based Learning Critical Thinking & Inquiry-Based Communication Overall attendance at the four training events was high with each event attended, on average, by 91 participants. In total, 135 individuals representing 41 programs participated in the series. Sixty percent of all participants were able to attend at least three of the four events. It is clear from the attendance data that L4Q was extremely effective in reaching its goal of engaging more program teams in training this year. Approximately 90% of those attending events participated as part of their organizational team with a peak of 95% attending as a team at the February event. A closer look at attendance patterns, however, revealed that the model of "consistent team composition" at all four events, was not reached for the majority of programs, with more than half (51%) of programs not able to send more than one consistent individual to all four trainings. Despite the less than desirable team consistency, many programs were able to create generously sized teams with three quarters of the programs able to create teams of at least four individuals that attended one or more events. When examining the combination of size and consistency of teams, it was found that 85% (22 programs) were able to send a minimum of four individuals to events, including a core of at least one or two consistent team members. "Lowest" participation level is 1 member not consistently , "Low" participation level is 2-3 members no one consistently , Moderate participation level is 3-4 members with 0-2 members attending consistently , High participation level is 4-8 members with 1-2 members attending consistently and Very High participation level is 4-6 members with 2-4 attending consistently . (Coding & Analysis by Susan Richards)