HOUSTON (July 17, 2006) - On July 6, Prepared 4 Life gathered a crew of innovative thinkers at the Galleria headquarters to develop the “FYI Card,” a tool to evaluate student performance in the P4L program. This brainstorming session wasn’t a typical business meeting, though. These movers and shakers were thirteen years old.
The FYI Card is a way for participating middle school students in the Prepared 4 Life program to keep track of their progress as they become more proficient in the P4L competencies. Through asset-based, experiential after-school programs that range from banking to dance classes, students shape and fine-tune skills, but more importantly, they build character and self-reliance. For every class a P4L participant takes, various life skills-character competencies are evaluated. And, consistent with the P4L objective, staff leaders Sara Speer Selber and Debbie Dalton charged the students with designing the card. In essence, the kids were constructing their very own report cards.
Five members of the Youth Advisory Committee presented their ideas for the FYI Card to P4L staff as well as members of P4L’s outside graphics team from Limb Design. The students were in agreement that the measurement tool should not be an online form, but a card they could touch and carry around.
“We want the card to be something creative that kids will like and carry with them. We also want it to be made of something that lasts so that they can save it,” said Youth Advisory Committee member Monica Barahona.
The committee considered all kinds of media for the card: lanyards, bracelets, book covers and even dog tags.
Via the FYI Card, students will be “graded” on achieving core competencies, such as honesty or the ability to face challenges. The committee suggested several ways these competencies could be depicted on the card from a simple checklist to a puzzle in which each puzzle piece represents a competency.
Students will be evaluated on a Get It, Got It, Give It scale for each competency:
- Get It (Level 1): The student has a basic understanding of the competency, can discuss its meaning and relate it to life.
- Got It (Level 2): The student utilizes the knowledge, facts and/or techniques related to the competency in problem-solving situations simulated in the P4L program.
- Give It (Level 3): The student reaches a high level of understanding and demonstration of the competency through the completion of a project, and he or she has taught the concept to others.
“So whom do you think determines if you Get It or not?” Prepared 4 Life President Speer Selber challenged the Youth Advisory Committee.
After a brief debate, both the committee and the P4L staff agreed that program directors should decide whether or not a student is at the Get It or Give It level and the student also must evaluate him or herself.
The committee proposed the best way for the program participants to self-evaluate would include not only checking off when they Get It, Got It or Give It on the FYI Card but to also write notes on their performance in an online journal.
“We are so excited to hear the Youth Advisory Committee’s ideas. This is more than a teaching exercise for them. They are not just practicing presentations; they are giving them. Their input is incredibly helpful to us,” said Speer Selber.
The Prepared 4 Life staff and the Limb Design team compiled the committee’s suggestions and are currently working on the FYI Card prototype. The Youth Advisory Committee will have a chance to see their ideas take shape in the upcoming weeks and further develop them into a final product ready for use in the fall 2006 school year.
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