Alumni Impact Project
The Alumni Impact Project is the Innovation Lab’s first multi-year, dual-generational survey project. Designed as an informal longitudinal study, the project combines family surveys with school performance data to develop a deeper understanding of the strengths, needs and interests of families in the early education centers.
During the Spring and Summer of 2010, over 240 families with children in the three-year-old program at five of CAP’s early childhood education centers – Disney, Frost, McClure, Reed and Skelly – signed up to participate in one survey a year for the next five years until cohort children are in the third grade.
Families completed either a short 15-minute or a long 60-minute survey. Survey questions were chosen based on their alignment with the agency’s Results Map which outlines the major outcomes that research has shown are critical for children, families and communities for children to reach their full potential. Questions were pulled from other longitudinal studies when possible. Both surveys included opportunities for family feedback on CAP’s programs including ways CAP can improve services.
During year two (2011), 80% of families completed a second year survey. Survey participants year two were largely similar to all survey participants year one allowing for a year-to-year comparison to understand overall change among families. Information gathered from the project will be used by CAP staff for decision making and program improvement, to inform the design of new pilot projects, document program impact, generate funding and community support, and provide a platform for client centered advocacy within and outside the organization. Updates on the project will continue to be included here in the future.
