Capstone Proposal

 Proposal Slides

Blog #9

 Capstone project ideas.

I am interested in how transition programs meet the needs of the youth we serve. I am hoping to learn what works and what is most helpful to these youth. 

Deciding what to ask potential students, present students and those who have left our program.

Reading about how other programs function.

What type of data exists of effectiveness of transition programs

use interviews, questionnaires, and observations   

Blog #8

 What does this TUCK article raise for you? How does it help you think about yourself and others?

This weeks reading opened my mind to looking at the "other" side of research studies. While we hope that the work is done to make us aware of situations that might need change, the lasting impression of that information can be damaging to those situations we seek to improve.

What I have learned from this reading is that we should never define only deficits, we need to also highlight strengths. Then we need to allow those most affected to lead the way to change and progress.

Blog #7

What does this RESTLER chapter raise for you? How does it help you think about yourself and others? Then, spend a little time writing about what YOU do that can’t be measured.

I have worked in classrooms for over 25 years and have seen how much pressure there is to prove student progress. The measure of progress was the same for all students-to keep it "fair". Standards were given and all are measured against them, including the teachers. What is not standard are the curriculum, teaching methods, physical spaces, materials, and access to resources. Yet, each student in each grade is measure against all others in their state and across the country. So, while we hold children and teachers to rigid across the board standards, we do not hold schools and states to them. 

Restler makes me think that teachers need a wall to show their work(like we do with student work) to highlight the great things they do for our children. Often parent rely heavily on teacher to be more than just teachers but also as second parents getting them to wake up to go to school (phone calls in the am), social workers (providing needed family resources), and disciplinarians (dealing with out of school issues). These things are not considered in teacher evaluations. Teacher wear many hats and this takes time away from instruction and planning-but teachers get it done. Those in the classroom see what works and know better ways to educate our youth in today's society, yet they are not allowed the freedom to do the work without the added burden of those standards used to measure them.

I thought about what I do that can't be measured and I believe that you can't measure how much we care, give thought, plan, and act upon the things that matter in our lives. These cannot be measured because for many of us it is all consuming, a part of everything we do and think about. It would be like trying to place a measure on love. There are to many ways and factors that affect and show how we love. The only way to measure these things is how they make each of us feel and affect those around us.

Blog #6

 Blog #6 Maxwell

"In many qualitative studies, the real interest

is in how participants make sense of what has happened, and how this perspective

informs their actions, rather than determining precisely what took place."(Maxwell, p.231)

This quote expresses the direction I want to take in my Capstone project.    

IMPORTANT POINTS

I distinguish four main components of qualitative methods:

1. The research relationship that you establish with those you study

2. Sampling: what times, settings, or individuals you select to observe or inter-

view, and what other sources of information you decide to use

3. Data collection: how you gather the information you will use

4. Data analysis: what you do with this information to make sense of it

Thus, it is important that you think about the kinds of relationships you want to

have with the people whom you study, and what you need to do to establish such

relationships. I see these as design decisions, not simply as external factors that may

affect your design. Although they are not completely under your control and

cannot be defined precisely in advance, they are still matters that require systematic

planning and reflection if your design is to be as coherent as possible.

It is useful to think of all these components as involving design decisions—key

issues that you should consider in planning your study and that you should rethink

as you are engaged in it.   (Maxwell, p.234)

Blog #5

                                

In this weeks reading, SYSTEMS OF CARE, we read about the state's plan for providing a system that promotes better outcomes in health care services for the children, youth and families in Rhode Island. Written in March of 2022, it recognizes the issue made clear during the Covid 19 pandemic that many youth in Rhode Island lacked access and resources to secure health care services. The phrase that stood out is,

"Our families deserve a true System of Care for mental health and substance use conditions that

exists in a coordinated arrangement that is easy to navigate, that provides high quality care, that

meets individual needs, that recognizes and addresses trauma and historical structural racism and

other disparities, and that the state sustains financially and administratively."

This statement was relevant because it gives an overview of what is needed. While the reading gives a list of specific points the plan will address, I wonder how many goals it has achieved in the past two years since its proposal. As a parent who still struggles to get adequate services for my children I have not seen any evidence of improvement in the availability of services or ease of access.

When I think about the words research or data I think about numbers and measures. I see research as a mean to looking for answers to a question, which might also raise more questions. I see data as evidence of support to qualify something as true or false. With both research and data I believe that collection of each can be skew by the intent of the researcher's bias. I think that who and what we research and measure is chosen often by what we want to prove or disprove. Because of this I believe we should try to look at varying perspectives to try to discern the bias in research.  

For further inquiry look at this site, Dept. of Health and Human Services

Blog #4

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CAPSTONE PROJECTS

While looking at the various capstone projects from past YDEV Masters Cohorts I was surprised by the different approaches they had to their research. It gave me a sense of freedom in how I might present my research. I felt a bit more confident in being able to find a way that would work best for me and my abilities to use technology. Making the pieces of my project fit together seems more doable.

It was heartwarming to see the personal motivation behind each project. Each presentation came from a personal drive to seek answers to a question of deep meaning. The projects were like a journey we were invited to join in on as they questioned, sought answers, and continued to ponder next steps. I was drawn into their quest to find pathways of change. I hope my project illicits the same reaction.