Impact Strategy for a Preschool Art Program at the Flint Institute of Arts
Client: Flint Institute of Arts | Location: Flint, MI | Funding: PNC Foundation
We advised the education department at the Flint Institute of Arts on the expansion of an in-school preschool program focused on artmaking.
OVERVIEW
In 2020, we worked with staff at the Flint Institute of Arts to focus and clarify the impact of their early education program, JumpSTART, and to build their capacity for evaluating this program in the future.
The JumpSTART program had received a grant to expand the program to accommodate children with cognitive and behavioral deficits, especially those resulting from lead poisoning during the Flint water crisis. The Flint Institute of Arts wanted to understand the impact of its program, but first needed to articulate their intentions for the program and develop a plan for evaluation.
APPROACH
We supported the Flint Institute of Arts through three workshops, each resulting in deliverables they could use to guide their future work, and a set of evaluation instruments:
A Clarifying Impact workshop to articulate the desired impact of JumpSTART as well as outcomes and measurable indicators
A Best Practices in Evaluation workshop to introduce staff to evaluation basics and best practices
An Evaluation Planning workshop to define evaluation methods that would suit their evaluation goals and staff capacity
Evaluation instruments to use with children, parents, and teachers in the program
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
Despite the disruptions from the pandemic in 2020 and onward, Flint Institute of Arts made meaningful progress in defining its goals for the JumpSTART program and developing a plan for evaluation that could be executed when regular programming resumed. Staff have shared the Best Practices in Evaluation presentation with others around the organization, fostering a foundation for evaluative thinking.
