Utilizing Participatory Action Research to Assess the Interagency Collaboration of a Community-Based After-School Program Partnership
Presentation Format
Individual Presentation
Intended Audience
All Audiences
Presentation Description
The after-school partnership between university staff, industry professionals, and community members was formed to deliver an after-school tutoring program for youth living in low-income housing and a service-learning opportunity to university students. Based in a rural city in southeastern Georgia, the program provides a safe place for residents to obtain tutoring, socio-emotional development, and exposure to college students. Resources such as snacks, a community room within the low-income community, university students, paid community liaisons, and Ipads have been invested into program and program activities; however, partners are not sure if the investments are worthwhile. The three year-old partnership has been provisioning academic and personal development services to youth participants, but has not determined if they have or are reaching the program goals that were initially established. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to assess the impact that the partnership has made on the low-income community by assessing its collaboration.
Collaboration among organizations or agencies is increasingly being favored by grant-makers who require proof of program sustainability for time-limited funding (Frey, Bruce, Lohmeier, Lee, & Tollefson, 2006; Marek, Brock, & Savia, 2015). Proof of collaboration is increasingly required by grant-makers because it is believed to reduce duplication of services, improve likelihood of developing innovative programs, and better service delivery, but it is difficult to operationalize and measure (Noonan, Erickson, McCall, Frey, & Zheng, 2014; Cross, Dickmann, Newman-Gonchar, & Fagan, 2009). Some researchers believe that the definition of collaboration is determined by each unique partnership (Marek, et al., 2015).
Participatory action research (PAR) has recently emerged as a method of gaining community-specific insight into issues faced by program recipients (Livingstone, et al., 2014; Stringer, 2007). According to Stringer (2007), the purpose of PAR is to produce a “practical tool for solving problems experienced by people in their professional, community, or private lives” by utilizing an inclusive and iterative process of data collection and analysis (p.11). Additionally, PAR provides a platform for community members and researchers to work together to develop interventions most likely to be utilized and accessed by populations they are intended to serve. Researchers using PAR have also been able to collect more in-depth, context-specific, and culturally responsive data (Livingstone, et al., 2014; Castrechini & Ardoin., 2011). Thus, assessing such factors as stakeholder relationships and collaborative executive functioning should be place-based. For this reason, a participatory action research approach was employed to yield culturally-responsive and usable results. The purpose of using PAR in the current study is to increase the usability of the evaluation results.
Hence, conference attendees should gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using a participatory approach to evaluating interagency collaboration. Attendees should also get an overview of the complex nature of partnerships providing community-based services to low-income families. Strategies for improving partnership coordination and stakeholder relationships will be discussed relative to systems change.
Location
Room - 1220A
Start Date
4-14-2016 10:30 AM
End Date
4-14-2016 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Render, Jessica L., "Utilizing Participatory Action Research to Assess the Interagency Collaboration of a Community-Based After-School Program Partnership" (2016). Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning 2016. 75.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gss/2016/2016/75
Utilizing Participatory Action Research to Assess the Interagency Collaboration of a Community-Based After-School Program Partnership
Room - 1220A
The after-school partnership between university staff, industry professionals, and community members was formed to deliver an after-school tutoring program for youth living in low-income housing and a service-learning opportunity to university students. Based in a rural city in southeastern Georgia, the program provides a safe place for residents to obtain tutoring, socio-emotional development, and exposure to college students. Resources such as snacks, a community room within the low-income community, university students, paid community liaisons, and Ipads have been invested into program and program activities; however, partners are not sure if the investments are worthwhile. The three year-old partnership has been provisioning academic and personal development services to youth participants, but has not determined if they have or are reaching the program goals that were initially established. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to assess the impact that the partnership has made on the low-income community by assessing its collaboration.
Collaboration among organizations or agencies is increasingly being favored by grant-makers who require proof of program sustainability for time-limited funding (Frey, Bruce, Lohmeier, Lee, & Tollefson, 2006; Marek, Brock, & Savia, 2015). Proof of collaboration is increasingly required by grant-makers because it is believed to reduce duplication of services, improve likelihood of developing innovative programs, and better service delivery, but it is difficult to operationalize and measure (Noonan, Erickson, McCall, Frey, & Zheng, 2014; Cross, Dickmann, Newman-Gonchar, & Fagan, 2009). Some researchers believe that the definition of collaboration is determined by each unique partnership (Marek, et al., 2015).
Participatory action research (PAR) has recently emerged as a method of gaining community-specific insight into issues faced by program recipients (Livingstone, et al., 2014; Stringer, 2007). According to Stringer (2007), the purpose of PAR is to produce a “practical tool for solving problems experienced by people in their professional, community, or private lives” by utilizing an inclusive and iterative process of data collection and analysis (p.11). Additionally, PAR provides a platform for community members and researchers to work together to develop interventions most likely to be utilized and accessed by populations they are intended to serve. Researchers using PAR have also been able to collect more in-depth, context-specific, and culturally responsive data (Livingstone, et al., 2014; Castrechini & Ardoin., 2011). Thus, assessing such factors as stakeholder relationships and collaborative executive functioning should be place-based. For this reason, a participatory action research approach was employed to yield culturally-responsive and usable results. The purpose of using PAR in the current study is to increase the usability of the evaluation results.
Hence, conference attendees should gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using a participatory approach to evaluating interagency collaboration. Attendees should also get an overview of the complex nature of partnerships providing community-based services to low-income families. Strategies for improving partnership coordination and stakeholder relationships will be discussed relative to systems change.
Program Abstract
The study utilized a community-based participatory action research (PAR) approach to assess the development of an interagency collaborative. The strengths and limitations of using PAR to evaluate collaboration will be discussed as well as the factors of collaboration that impact a community-based after-school program partnership.