Community Stepping Stones is an art education program whose objective is to
“provide education, mentor children and adolescents, enhance the community
economics, and enrich the quality of life in the community” (Community Steppping
Stones [CSS], 2009a). Community art education programs, particularly for youth, have
become increasingly popular as a way to address and prevent delinquent behavior.
However, art education programs have proven challenging to evaluate and sustain.
The goal of my thesis was to explore how Community Stepping Stones
implemented and evaluated a community-based youth arts education program
compared to other, similar programs and how the organization could make the program
more effective and more sustainable long-term. As part of an internship with Community
Stepping Stones, I conducted participant observation, document review, and interviews
with individuals affiliated with Community Stepping Stones and other art education
programs in the community. Data was collected between February 2009 and September
2010.Community Stepping Stones has grown significantly during my involvement with
the organization, expanding funding, programming, and staff. Current efforts to reinforce
evaluation measures and secure additional funding sources will help make the program
more sustainable in the future. Additional efforts towards collaboration with other
community and government organizations, increased community involvement, and better
program organization will also be beneficial towards sustainability efforts.
At this time, published evaluations of community-based youth art education
programs and organizational impact on youth and community are limited. Although not a
comprehensive assessment, I hope my research can help bolster the literature in this
area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USF/oai:scholarcommons.usf.edu:etd-4836 |
| Date | 04 November 2010 |
| Creators | Pedraza, Jennifer E. A. |
| Publisher | Scholar Commons |
| Source Sets | University of South Flordia |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | default |
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