NSIP Inclusion Weekly: Using Measurement Tools to Reach your Disability Inclusion Goals

[Announcement from he-sl listserv]

Goal II of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) 2011-2015 Strategic Plan emphasizes that participants in programs "consistently find satisfaction, meaning and opportunity," charging us with several objectives, among them making "national service opportunities accessible and attractive to Americans of all backgrounds"(http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/focus_areas/index.asp).
As we work to achieve these goals over the next several years, how will we know that we are making progress on the inclusion of people with disabilities in national service? How can you set yourself on a course, both to gather data and to demonstrate measurable results that "prove" the work you have done?

The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) would like to share with you our Measuring Continuous Improvements toward Inclusion Cycle. This cycle is a tool that programs can use to establish what inclusive plans they would like to make, implement them, and evaluate their success. It has five components:

1. Identify strengths and weaknesses. With regard to inclusion, what are you doing well and what would you like to do better?
-Say, for example, that you have an inclusive program, but you would like to improve upon your outreach and recruitment methods. Once you have identified a focus, you can-

2. Determine priority areas. For the idea(s) you identify for improvement, what is a priority? What can you accomplish immediately?
-To increase your outreach and recruitment, you decide a priority area may be to start a social media campaign where you can easily get the word out and link to other disability organizations. From there, you-

3. Create a plan. To implement a plan that generates outcomes you can measure, we have information on using logic models, including a blank template, here http://www.serviceandinclusion.org/index.php?page=iw#measure. -A plan which focuses on measurable outcomes may include connections with at least 250 participants or having at least 100 people view your posts/materials every week. Then-

4. Implement your plan. Conduct your activities for your targeted audience/community.
-You can send out messages regularly on sites such as Facebook or Disaboom- informing other programs, organizations, and connections about activities in your program. Finally-

5. Check your progress. Did you accomplish what you originally set out to do? Whatever your accomplishment, can you answer the question "... as measured by _____"?
-Did you reach 250 connections on a site such as Facebook, as measured by site visit statistics? If yes, great! If not, how can you adjust your plan to reach your target?

And throughout this cycle- include partners, organizational resources, and tools to help you achieve your goals. For information on partnerships, please see a previous Inclusion Weekly topic here http://www.serviceandinclusion.org/index.php?page=iw#partner.

If you have questions about using this cycle, or would like training on incorporating measurement in your program, please contact NSIP by phone at 888-491-0326 (toll-free voice and TTY) or email at NSIP@umb.edu.

Yours in service,
The NSIP Team

Find NSIP Online-
Website: www.serviceandinclusion.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/serviceandinclusion
Twitter: http://twitter.com/NSIP_Online
Second Life: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Health%20Commons/202/10/22

The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) is a training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion, under a cooperative agreement (#08TAHMA001) from Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). NSIP partners with the Association on University Centers on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, Association on Higher Education and Disability and National Down Syndrome Congress to build connections between disability organizations and all CNCS grantees, including national directs, to increase the participation of people with disabilities in national service.