Fall Focus Group

Appendix 14: Fall Focus Group Protocol

Lessons Learned Meeting Protocol for PIs – Post Summer

Timeline: October 2011

1. Introductions & Consent (5 minutes)

2. Implementation of the Summer Activities (35 minutes)

• What do you consider your greatest achievement this summer?

• Overall, how successful was your summer program in meeting NASA’s requirements, regarding:

  • Reaching and retaining student participants in general and underserved and underrepresented students in particular

  • Reaching and retaining classroom teachers

  • Providing professional development to classroom teachers

  • Developing partnerships with schools and other organizations

• Overall, what aspects of your SoI program were most challenging? How did you address these challenges?

  • Probes – Challenges related to recruiting & retaining students; Recruiting & retaining certified teachers; Building and/or maintaining partnerships; Engaging students in NASA content; Providing professional development/staff supports

• How did the successes and challenges vary across your camps?

• How was your experience using NASA curriculum materials and other resources? What successes did you encounter? What challenges did you encounter?

• What factors influenced students’ engagement with the NASA content? Which modules or activities were most successful in engaging students? Which modules or activities were least successful in engaging students?

• How (if at all) did you modify NASA’s curriculum materials? Why?

  • Probes:

    • How did you modify the NASA activities to align with students’ needs?

    • How did you modify the NASA activities to align with local and/or state standards?

    • How did you modify the NASA activities to accommodate lesson pacing and level of content difficulty?

• How do you think your SoI program influenced student learning and achievement this summer? How do you think it will influence these areas in the future?

• If you could start over, what would you do the same? What would you do differently?

3. Capacity Building (15 minutes)

• Which aspects of working with partners worked well during the summer (and why)? What would you like to change vis-à-vis working with partner organizations and why?

• How do you plan to maintain these partnerships? Have your partner organizations provided or agreed to continue with SoI beyond this summer?

• What supports have you received/would you like from NASA as the SoI funding level shifts?

4. Planning for the School-Year Activities (25 minutes)

• What activities do you have planned for the upcoming school year? How are you planning on using NASA content and resources?

• What roles do you anticipate your partners playing?

• How do you expect to continue to engage the same students who participated in the summer activities in the school year activities?

• What roles will classroom teachers and informal educators play?

• What supports do you plan to provide classroom teachers and informal educators?

• What challenges do you anticipate encountering during the school-year activities?

5. Closing (10 minutes)

• Do you have any additional thoughts about this summer’s SoI activities that we have not discussed?

Abt Associates Inc. Appendix 14 14-3