Senior Project Proposal
Navya Dasari
October 1, 2014


  1. Title of Project:
Extracurricular Outreach Methods for Student Engagement  
  1. Statement of Purpose:
At highly ranked schools in affluent cities, like BASIS Scottsdale, extracurricular academic opportunities arrive so often that they seem a natural part of the middle school and high school experience. But while these opportunities are accessible and engaging for the privileged, many students in Arizona are unaware of the avenues they have to succeed academically outside of the classroom. In response, many educational programs unaffiliated with schools coordinate outreach efforts, targeting the demographic of students who are underrepresented in their programs. Through their efforts, these programs intend to reach students unaware of the opportunities they provide, and engage students who may not initially be motivated to participate.

I will look at outreach methods used by the i.d.e.a. Museum, which organizes exhibits and a high school volunteer program, and Young Authors of Arizona, which organizes the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, to reach and engage kids and teenagers (grades 5-12). Through my research, I hope to answer this question: How can we increase participation in these three programs from underrepresented communities?
In order to answer this overarching question, I will determine which communities have less awareness and overall participation, what methods are currently in place for reaching out to these communities,  current obstacles in outreach, and which methods are effective in increasing participation.


  1. Background:
I’ve been involved with educational service and outreach since 7th grade, when my friends and I began a local chapter of Asha for Education, an organization dedicated to improving access to education in India. I saw the impact of our work when I traveled to the Shastri School for the Hearing Impaired in Bangalore, and was able to visit the orphans whose education we were funding. However, due to the distance, I’ve been involved primarily in fundraising rather than the logistics of outreach; I’ve had little direct contact with the Shastri School. Last year, I joined the Young Authors of Arizona (YAA), the regional affiliate for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, as a Student Leader. One of YAA’s major goals is to increase participation in the Awards, and as an emerging nonprofit, we seek to build the youth artistic community throughout Arizona.
I’ve taken on more responsibility coordinating outreach for YAA, developing a plan for advertising the awards to teachers around The Valley, and taking control of the group’s social media accounts. In the process, I’ve realized how many unanswered questions I have about the methods behind outreach. I want to encourage workshop participation and awards entries from communities and schools very different from my own, but I need more effective methods to connect with those students and inspire their participation. I hope that my project can help myself and others increase access to educational opportunities in Arizona by identifying current obstacles and effective methods for engaging students.
  1. Prior Research:
The Goizueta Foundation REACHES Initiative identified obstacles to the academic success of Hispanic and Latino students in Georgia in the article “Promising Practices for Engaging Hispanic and Latino Students in Georgia” (Golzueta Foundation 2014). Obstacles to extracurricular involvement included poverty, transportation, and communication. These obstacles are certainly not specific to Georgia, with the Pew Hispanic Center reporting that 38% of Hispanics 17 and younger  in Arizona live in poverty (compared to 16% of whites 17 and younger). 90% of English Language Learners in Arizona speak Spanish as their primary language, making communication another barrier for Hispanic students (Pew Research Center). The Navajo population faced an achievement gap, with 33 % passing the Arizona standardized math test and 43 % passing in reading, compared to statewide averages of 65 % in math and 79 % in reading (Butrymowicz 2013). And poverty remains one of the biggest barriers: according to AZ Central, the Arizona Republic showed in 2004 that 85% of underperforming Maricopa County schools were in high-poverty neighborhoods with high percentages of minorities.
In “City Strategies to Engage Older Youth in Afterschool Programs,” the National League of Cities (NLC) proposed various approaches for outreach (YEF Institute). One option given was to  identify the programming needs and wants of the target group through market research (focus groups, surveys, and existing data). Focus groups had been previously used by the Nashville Afterschool Zone Alliance to better understand opportunities desired by kids and families. Another factor that NLC considered was transportation and accessibility; in many cases, these factors can be improved through collaboration between different organizations. For example, establishment of the Niles Teen Center in a shopping mall benefited both the mall and the after school program. Some youth-serving agencies and nonprofits also track local trends in youth attendance and share data between participating locations; one example is TraxSolutions, which allows students to sweep cards that track their involvement. Strategic marketing, including social media, can also increase youth engagement.
County Health Rankings recorded several benefits to extracurricular outreach in their article “Extracurricular Activities: Social Engagement” (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). These include increased self-esteem, reduced behavioral problems, and improved academic performance. Research published in the American Journal of Community Psychology showed an increase in positive social behavior and modest improvements in math and reading skill. Creative extracurricular activities especially caused improvements in confidence and self-esteem, as shown by a study published in Perspectives in Public Health. County Health Rankings therefore marked the connection between extracurricular activities and health as “scientifically supported.” Clearly, there are benefits to extracurricular involvement, and methods to increase participation.
  1. Significance
Arizona has one of the lowest rankings for overall well-being of its children; as the Annie E. Casey Foundation reported in “Kids Count” (Annie E. Casey Foundation). In addition to child poverty, health problems, and a lack of family support, education leads the list of reasons for Arizona’s status in the bottom ten. The National Center for Education Statistics claimed in “Extracurricular Participation and Student Engagement” that participation in activities was positively associated with success indicators among high school students (Institute for Educational Sciences). Students reported equal access to school-affiliated activities across socioeconomic status (SES), but also reported a lack of participation in lower SES groups. Unaffiliated activities have received less attention, but often, these can have a significant impact on a student’s future. For example, competitions like the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards provide scholarships of up to $10,000, and club athletics attract recruitment from universities across the country.
Through this project, I can better understand how to improve participation in extracurricular programs across communities, a skill that would be useful in my current endeavors as well as future projects.


VI. Description:
During my time at the i.d.e.a. Museum, I plan to note what I observe while working, as well as any relevant details from museum sign-in/ticket purchase. I will track specific indicators of awareness and participation in the arts.
I hope to develop a plan detailing best practices for organizations like the i.d.e.a. Museum and Young Authors of Arizona to engage underserved communities and demographics. I will also identify barriers to involvement in both organizations’ programs, in the hopes that these issues can be addressed in the future. What I learn about social media and practices will prove helpful in future nonprofit and/or educational work, especially from a marketing and outreach perspective.




VII. Methodology:
I will examine current outreach methods and practices used by the museum. This will include recording which types of schools and student groups have previously visited the museum, as well the number of visits (whether or not the schools/student groups were returning visitors). I will then categorize these groups according to their characteristics.
I will request access to the Survey Monkey results that have been collected on the museum’s internal website, looking specifically at questions addressing affordability and area of primary residence. I will make suggestions regarding questions that can be added to the survey to better address these issues(?), and track these results, as well.  In addition, I will create and distribute two surveys:  one for parents accompanying their children to the i.d.e.a. museum and a second for high school students volunteers (see attached).

The presence and impact of social media are also of importance to this project. I will look at overall outreach and advertising efforts through social media, tracking frequency of updates and public responses, as well as the content. This would allow me to gauge what social media content is most effective. I will also look at the i.d.e.a. Museum’s use of other methods that increase visibility, like the Culture Pass program.
I also hope to interview the current outreach/PR coordinator for the museum, the interns volunteering at the museum, and those involved in partner organizations dedicated to increasing arts engagement. This will give me perspective regarding experience developing and participating in outreach programs.


VIII. Problems:
Many ideas for my project rely on the assumption that records have been maintained consistently by the organizations I will be working with, and that I will have access to some of these records. Much of my methodology could also vary depending on the subjects’ willingness to complete the surveys, in addition to factors like survey bias. The volume of social media created by the i.d.e.a. museum and Young Authors of Arizona would also influence my ability to collect data regarding this aspect of outreach.

However, without records to rely on I could shift the focus of my project to rely more heavily on the work I will do at the i.d.e.a. Museum itself. As for the survey results, I will need to be careful in my analysis and presentation of the data to ensure as much accuracy as possible. If necessary, I could create social media content for either organization and track the response to this content over the 10 weeks of the project in order to ensure that the volume is adequate.
IX. Bibliography:
Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Kids Count.” Kids Count Data Center. n.d. Web.
Butrymowicz, Sarah. “In Native schools, hopes and fears about new nationwide standards.” The Hechinger Report. 26 May 2013. Web.
Golzueta Foundation. "Promising Practices for Engaging Hispanic/Latino Students in Georgia." Reaches Inititiative. February 2014. Web.
Institute of Education Sciences. “Extracurricular Activities and Student Engagement.” National Center for Education Statistics. June 1995. Web.
Pew Research Center. “Arizona: At A Glance.” Pew Hispanic Center. n.d. Web.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Extracurricular activities: social engagement.” County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. n.d. Web.
YEF Institute. “City Strategies to Engage Older Youth in Afterschool Programs.” National League of Cities. October 2012. Web.