Summary
The ARTReach is a communal project that was established specifically to give women aged between sixteen and twenty-five years a chance to explore their potentials in arts through developing life skills in therapy techniques. Through the project, women have an opportunity to express what is deemed significant in their daily lives.
They are able to achieve their objectives through the creative process that is related to self-discovery, life skills, group communication, communal associations, and festivities. The project offers a wide range of activities, including mosaic, sculpture, life mapping, societal banners, and working with canvas and paints.
The project is intended to promote and support women annually in such a way that they will be able to interact with the community through providing essential services. Studies show that the works of art play an important role in empowering involved members, as well as the wider community. This is because it allows participants to express themselves and recognise their talents.
Moreover, participants are in a position to come up with some of the problems that interfere with talent development and career development. The ARTReach is a communal project with several stakeholders, such as Geelong, Karingal, Encompass, and Geelong Mood.
These stakeholders will have a specified role to play, which is related to assisting participants to adapt to the new environment (Butterfoss 2007, p. 12). After the project, stakeholders would also be included in the evaluation plan.
Background of the ARTReach Project and its Description through a Logical Model
As already noted in the introduction section, ARTReach project aims at empowering women in developing their talents in arts such as modelling. The ARTReach project is needed to eradicate some of the problems that have been affecting the achievement of women in society.
It is established that women are unable to achieve their economic, social, and political ambitions due to lack of adequate resources and empowerment projects (Rossi, Lipsey & Freeman 2004, p. 112). The project is critical in ensuring that development among women is achieved.
The main problem affecting the performance of women in society is male chauvinism and neglect whereby they are believed to belong to the domain of the home. Many women are never appreciated in the places of work, as they are assigned secondary responsibilities, such as secretary and personal assistants. Due to this, they are incapable of funding economic and social projects that can give them an advantage in the community.
The costs associated with women empowerment are always high. Therefore, the organisers of the ARTReach project should be determined to ensure that they develop adequate strategies that would attract funding from various governmental and non-governmental agencies.
For any project to achieve its desired goals and objectives, planning, organising, and evaluation are important. If the project were not evaluated keenly, donors would definitely pull out, making it difficult for organisers to continue with the project in the future (Reeve & Peerbhoy 2007, p. 122).
From time in memorial, the community has always neglected the contributions of women. The emerging political and economic trends dictate that women should be involved in almost everything in society hence the execution of the project is within the provisions of the major world declarations on human rights.
In the community, women empowerment projects are not well developed meaning that ARTReach project would be the first to serve their interests. The community’s view is that women should be empowered through training and financial support, but adequate resources and lack of political goodwill are the major impediments to the achievement of this dream.
Under the ARTReach project, women will be given adequate life skills that will enable them to be incorporated into the economy fully, but not as underdogs (Hurteau, Houle, & Mongiat 2009, p. 308).
Evaluation Goals and Objectives
The major objective of evaluating the project is to establish the effectiveness of ARTReach project in empowering women, who are the marginalised in the community.
The evaluation will assess the performance of the project in developing talent among women given the fact that they are unable to meet the needs of their daily lives (Mattessich 2003, p. 18). The evaluation plan will also identify the funding needs of the ARTReach project that is conducted each year.
Evaluation Strategies
The team of evaluators will consist of experts in the field of nursing who have vast experience in project evaluation. Communal members and other stakeholders, particularly the officials of the local government, will be requested to take part in the evaluation project.
The main role of the local leaders would be to review plans in order to ensure that the wishes of the participants and their desires are met effectively (Patton 2010, p. 14). Project evaluation should always be culturally competent. Therefore, an expert of culture would be invited to attend the evaluation plan.
Stakeholder Assessment
During the process of ARTReach project execution, evaluation was discussed in detail and four major stakeholders were identified, including the CREATE Geelong, Geelong Mood, Karingal, and Encompass.
The views of each project partner were incorporated into the evaluation project (Rothman, Greenland, & Lash, 2008, p. 37). The community worker with adequate knowledge on the culture of the locals was also consulted to ensure that evaluation is culturally viable. The following table summarises the stakeholder engagement plan.
Evaluation of Similar Programs
Similar programs have been conducted successfully across the country. Some of these programs are discussed below:
Learn More, Breathe Better
The program was aimed at reducing the chances of contracting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is one of the serious diseases that affect the lungs. The disease brings about complications, such as difficulties in breathing. The disease is rated as the third in causing deaths across the country.
The program was launched specifically to sensitize the members of the public on the dangers of the disease. Those targeted included individuals at the risk of contracting it, people already suffering, and the health providers in various hospitals. It is concluded that the program was successful mainly because the following:
- The organizers conducted an awareness program that targeted the locals through educating them on various issues related to the disease. The locals had an opportunity to ask questions on whether they are at risk.
- The program funded other projects that had similar aims, particular those operating at the state level.
- Empowering the locals and forming partnerships
The Heart Truth
The program was set up specifically to raise awareness on the effects of heart attack among women. It clarifies some of the factors that expose women to the deadly disease, as well as educating and motivating them on the actions that should be taken to prevent the prevalence of the disease (Rossi, Lipsey & Freeman 2004, p. 9).
A critical review of the program reveals that it was successful mainly because of partnership formation, activation of the community, and raising awareness through funding of programs.
We can: ways to enhance children’s activity and nutrition
This is another program that was successful when it was first launched in the United States. Its supporters aimed at sensitizing women and other communal members to adopt the mechanisms that would reduce the chances becoming overweight.
It supports children and families to eat healthy foods and keep off from diets that are dangerous to the normal growth and development. It was highly successful, as it consulted other organizations, community members, and health experts.
CalFresh
The program was formally referred to as food stamps, which was set up to help families in the state in order to help them achieve high living standards. The state decided to come up with a program to facilitate monthly benefits to help the low families who experience problem when it comes to meeting their daily needs.
The problem was set up upon the realization that families had to meet their nutritional levels. An analysis of the program reveals that it was successful mainly because of the partnerships that the organizers formed with the community and other concerned stakeholders (Todd, 2007, p. 7).
California Head Start
Just as the Calfresh, the program was put up to help women, the young unemployed individuals, and children to realize their dreams in the state. Among other things, the program facilitates young families to set up their homes and insurance needs.
Various evaluative reports suggest that the program has achieved its desired goals and objectives because of the support it receives from other stakeholders who feel that people are empowered through setting up communal programs (Rossi, Lipsey, & Freeman, 2004, p. 56).
Girl Scouts
Just like other similar programs in various parts of the county, the campaign seeks to incorporate many young women, particularly those in high school and fresh graduates, into political and social-economic activities of the society. The main aim o f the campaign is o protect the girl child from unnecessary discrimination and oppression that is often perpetuated by society on the minority gender.
The organization achieved its main interests and objectives mainly because it incorporated many people into the program. From the project, it is established that many organizations and individuals set up programs without involving other major stakeholders.
For instance, the project could not have realized its objectives without working with men, even though they are the major impediment to the women fulfilling their goals in society (Todd, 2007).
Focus of the Evaluation
The project will classify at least four groups of stakeholders as the main users of the assessment results. Each group would perhaps make use of the findings in a number of ways and for various reasons. The table presented below can be used to show how the results will be used.
Evaluation Strategy
The project will target women aged between sixteen years and twenty-five. Emphasis will be placed on the unemployed women who are always viewed as homemakers whose role is to serve the family by providing services such as cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children and the husband (Felton, Mitchell & Stinson 2004, p. 100).
Objectives and Questions
The main aim of the ARTReach project is to eliminate poverty through empowering women with life skills, such as modelling and mosaic. This would definitely improve the quality of life in the community. The project will have three major objectives, including the following:
- Raise the number of women in the self-employed sector by offering needed skills in establishing light industries
- Increase the number of women with adequate skills that help in economic development
- Reduce the chances of hopeless and despair, which characterise the lives of many women in the community
Stage of Development
It is factual that the project is new meaning that it is at an early stage of growth.
Description of Evaluation Design
The project will rely on community health workers who have adequate skills in matters related to women empowerment and community development. The local government employees are also considered a resource, as they will be relied upon in providing critical data (Kizer 2003, p. 115). The major inputs include the community-based organisations operating in the region since they are the main stakeholders.
Rationale for the Evaluation Design
Some of the main activities include offering extensive training to the support staff and the community volunteers. The selection of survey as a data collection method is valid in this program.
Outputs
Hiring and offering comprehensive training to the volunteers and support staff is perhaps the major output of the project. Additionally, the project officials will arrange for special seminars that give interested women specialised counselling.
The outcomes are divided into two major categories, one of them being short-term results while the other is long-term. Short-term outcomes include the appreciation of the project, which is measured by the number of women interested in taking part. Long-term outcomes include the empowerment of women in matters related to economics and politics.
Gathering Credible Evidence-Data Collection
Sample
The terms used in the evaluation process should be operationalized. This implies that meaning should be attached to such terms.
The evaluation objectives are usually vague. Therefore, determination of the benchmarks that appear reasonable would be critical. Specifically, members of the evaluation team are expected to coordinate with other stakeholders to make sure that an agreement is reached on all resolutions made.
Data Gathering Instruments
Project evaluation makes use of a number of data compilation techniques, but this evaluation will employ surveys, direct observation, and interviews to collect pertinent data pertaining to the successfulness of the project.
An interview will be used to assess the knowledge base of the staff while surveys would be employed in assessing the impacts of the project in the community. The use of direct observation is important in monitoring the behaviour of staff hence it will be utilized effectively in this study.
Plan Timeline
Justify Conclusion
In the evaluation plan, quantitative and qualitative data collection methods would be used. For quantitative analysis, simple count of frequencies would be conducted while content analysis will be the preferred qualitative data collection method.
List of References
Butterfoss, FD 2007, Coalitions and Partnerships in Community Health, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Felton, J, Mitchell, J & Stinson, M 2004, “Web-based student evaluations of professors: the relations between perceived quality, easiness and sexiness”,.Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 29, no. 1, pp 91–108.
Hurteau, M, Houle, S & Mongiat, S 2009, “How Legitimate and Justified are Judgments in Project Evaluation? Evaluation, Vol. 15, no. 3, pp 307–319.
Kizer, KW 2003, “Effects of the Transformation of the Veterans Affairs Health Care System on the Quality of Care”, New England Journal of Medicine. Vol. 348, no. 22, pp. 111-126.
Kleinbaum, DG & Klein, M 2010, Logistic Regression: A Self-Learning Text (Statistics for Biology and Health, Springer, New York.
Mattessich, PW 2003, The Manager’s Guide to Project Evaluation: Planning, Contracting, and Managing for Useful Results, Wilder Foundation, Amherst.
Patton, MQ 2008, Utilization-Focused Evaluation, Sage Publication, Thousand Oaks.
Patton, MQ 2010, Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use, The Guilford Press, New York.
Potter, C 2006, “Psychology and the art of project evaluation”, South African journal of psychology, Vol. 36, no. 1, pp 82-99.
Reeve, J & Peerbhoy, D 2007, “Evaluating the evaluation: Understanding the utility and limitations of evaluation as a tool for organizational learning”, Health Education Journal, Vol. 66, no. 2, pp 120–131.
Rossi, PH, Lipsey, MW & Freeman, HE 2004, Evaluation: A systematic approach, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Rothman, KJ, Greenland, S & Lash, TL 2008, Modern Epidemiology, Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Todd, D 2007, GEF Evaluation Office Ethical Guidelines, Global Environment Facility Evaluation Office, Washington.
Tufte, ER 2001, The Visual Display of quantitative Information, Graphics Press, Cheshire.