Form 5 STAC Interview Grantee

INTERVIEW INSTRUMENTS FOR GRANTEE

TARGETED RESPONDENT: These interview questions are intended for grantees. The interview will be administered to the grantee’s executive director or designee and/or local site director(s).

CONTENT: This document contains interview questions to be asked of grantees. The timing for each question is as follows:

(1) An interview for grantees that will be administered at the beginning of the school year [PRE]

(2) An interview for grantees that will be administered at the end of the school year [POST].

We use [PP] to suggest that an interview question will be administered both at the beginning of the school year [PRE] and at the end of the school year [POST].

1. [PRE] Can you describe the activities implemented by your organization’s School Turnaround AmeriCorps members last school year?

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2. [PRE] What worked well last year and why?

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3. [POST] For each of the following, elaborate on how your School Turnaround AmeriCorps members are providing services to students and/or families and how do those services differ across schools:

1. Whole school intervention:

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2. Grade specific intervention:

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3. Student specific intervention:

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4. [PRE] What did not work so well last year and why? What changes have you made to your program for this school year?

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5. [POST] One central objective of School Turnaround AmeriCorps is to increase the school’s capacity to implement school turnaround goals. In what ways did your programming directly or indirectly address that objective? How could programming be changed to better address school capacity building?

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6. [PRE] Were you working in the same schools last year and if not, what changes were made and why?

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7. [PP] Can you describe the activities that will be/were implemented by your organization’s School Turnaround AmeriCorps members this school year?

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8. [POST] What are the commonalities and/or differences in how your organization uses School Turnaround AmeriCorps members across different schools?

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9. [PP] How are you and your staff monitoring the implementation of your School Turnaround AmeriCorps program? What tools do you use?

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10. [POST] Who serves as the primary point of contact between the school(s) and your organization?

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11. [PP] Can you please describe your collaboration with the schools and school districts taking part in the School Turnaround AmeriCorps implementation?

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12. [PRE] Why were these particular schools/ this school selected to be a School Turnaround AmeriCorps partner school(s) this year?

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13. [PRE] What are the primary roles and responsibilities of your organization and the school(s) as outlined in your partnership agreement?

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14. [PP] What challenges arose in forming and implementing the partnership with the school(s) you are working with? How did you address them?

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15. [POST] Have there been any changes in the partnership over time?

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16. [POST] What can your organization do to improve your relationship with your school partners? What can the school(s) do to create a better relationship between school staff and your organization?

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17. [PRE] Has the school district and/or school(s) previously hosted AmeriCorps members? If so, what activities were the AmeriCorps members engaged in?

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18. [PRE] Can you elaborate on the extent and type of data your organization uses for tracking program activities and monitoring program progress and outcomes, and how?

Probes:

1. Program activities and interim progress toward goals?

2. Individual student data (e.g. grades, performance on standardized tests, student engagement/behavior)?

3. School-level data (e.g., attendance, graduation rates, achievement)?

4. Demographic and other descriptive data about students, families, or schools?

5. Other types of data?

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19. [POST] Can you please describe how your organization and your School Turnaround AmeriCorps members used data for tracking program activities and monitoring program progress and outcomes throughout the year?

Probes:

1. Program activities and interim progress toward goals?

2. Individual student data (e.g. grades, performance on standardized tests, student engagement/behavior)?

3. School-level data (e.g., attendance, graduation rates, achievement)?

4. Teacher data (e.g., the approximate number or percentage of teachers who are new to the school this year)?

5. Demographic and other descriptive data about students, families or schools?

6. Other types of data?

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20. [POST] If we were to return a year from now, what indicators would tell us whether the School Turnaround AmeriCorps program is working well? What indicators would signal loss of momentum?

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21. [POST] What else should we discuss that is important for understanding how your organization interacts with school(s) engaged in this turnaround effort?

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