Educational and Health Data Regarding Afterschool Programs - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages To assess the effectiveness of FitMath, researchers have decided to conduct an in-depth survey on the participants of five FitMath centers in Massachusetts. By obtaining quantitative and qualitative data, researchers will have a better understanding of FitMath’s impact on students, staff, and families. The survey will also reveal any program deficiencies, thus enabling and guiding program managers and educators further in improving the quality of education. A fairly large number would be recruited to take the evaluation so that researchers would have a representative sample from which to make deductions. For each population group, the survey would be tailor-made for adaptation to experience. Another approach to noting the effect of FitMath programs is through scrutiny of progress reports that would have been formulated at program centers. Assessing improvement is also key to discovering the practical impact of FitMath at the student’s day-curriculum of study so that researchers receive permission from principals to make a comparative study of previous grades prior to entering the FitMath program.

1.3 Participants
Participants in this survey are 200 students, 20 educators, and 80 parents of students. The targeted age group for students is 10-15 years (grades 6 to 9). A 50/50 gender distribution between male and female students is preferred for better cohort comparison. Seeing that a wide performance gap exists between ethnicities, both minority and majority students will be approached to take this assessment to determine FitMath’s ability to close the vacuum and equalize achievements. Participants that will be excluded from this study are infrequent attendees that have missed more than a month of work for the year to date. This step has been taken to ensure that respondents have been receiving optimal training from the FitMath program. To protect the identities of assessment takers, surveys have been resubmitted anonymously to ensure that respondents are allowed the freedom to express views unhindered, without fear or favor.

1.4 Qualitative study
The qualitative component of the study seeks to acquire from respondents their views on school, FitMath, teachers, and social development. Opinions gathered are confidential and will only serve to understand the social, economical, and educational backgrounds of participants. Questions seek to elicit from respondents their own estimation of their social and educational abilities and their perspectives in their core relationships, forming the support network. Data collected here would help boost the knowledge base on student lifestyles that ultimately affect study habits.

1.5 Quantitative study
Statistics gleaned are confidential and will only serve to understand social, economical and educational backgrounds of participants. Personal information questions such as weight, age, marital status, occupational experience, and the itemized answer ranges define participants and establish general trends among the intake at FitMath program centers.

1.6 Sources of Data
In addition to the constructed survey, information is also extracted from state and federal archives, scholarly literature, and scientific journals which treat the same issues of afterschool, juvenile delinquency, obesity and education. ...Download file to see next pages Read More