Outcomes

Outcomes

General Outcomes

ICL has gathered data from programming in rural, urban, and tribal school settings over the course of the past nineteen years. Based on three agency assessments and one independent third party research study, ICL has data effectively demonstrating the following outcomes:

  • ICL curriculum directly reduces academic achievement and civic engagement disparities for students of color and low-socio-economic background.
  • Programing demonstrates increases in reading, writing, listening and public speaking skills, corresponding to state essential learning requirements.
  • Students demonstrate changes in conduct reflective of increased respect for self, respect for peers and respect for authority figures.
  • Students demonstrate decreases in negative behaviors including decrease in school suspensions, disciplinary referrals, and absenteeism.
  • Students demonstrate a decrease in defensiveness and are able to give and receive criticisms to and from others.
  • Student participants and their families increase community civic engagement.
  • Programming evidences dramatic decrease in dropout rates.
  • Students demonstrate increased self-esteem.

New longitudinal data

New longitudinal data (Bohlke, 2013) evidences high school completion (100%), college entrance (94%), degree conferral (87%), and an impressive array of career integration and business and public sector positions.

Specific Outcomes

Eight week in-school program

Specific outcomes from a quarter of weekly programming with ICL (eight workshops, two public speaking events and home visits):

  • Teachers report 93% of students demonstrate an increase in homework completion and on in-class assignments.
  • 73% show strongly improved speaking skills.
  • 50% decrease in school suspensions.
  • 42% more students report they could visualize themselves as leaders.
  • 98% demonstrate improved respect toward peers, 69% showing “dramatic” improvement.
  • One third more of the students indicate an interest in how others are doing in school.
  • One third of the students reflect a positive increase in their attitude toward responsibility.
  • Teachers report that 68% of the students demonstrate a “significant” decrease in negative behavior while 100% show “some” decrease in negative behavior.
  • 38% higher number of students reporting they believe their family heritage helps in setting goals and making decisions.
  • Teachers indicate 100% of students demonstrate an increase in concern for community issues, social justice and culture with 64% showing a “significant” increase.
  • 59% drop in students reporting spending 3 or more “do nothing hours alone in your room” daily.
  • 31% of students show an increase in reading at home for pleasure.

Summer Program

ICL summer program runs six to eight weeks with students traveling to urban, rural and tribal communities.  The participants journal daily, prepare their own meals, organize workshops and facilitate classes, public speaking events and community gatherings.  Content of the program addresses themes relating to democracy.  Summer program outcomes include:

  • Increases in Grade Point Averages (gpa) of an average .8gpa (one grade level) for students with less than a 2.5gpa prior to the summer.
  • TV viewing drops from 25 to 3 hours weekly
  • Disciplinary referrals from 1.6 per week to 0.2 per week.
  • 96% of the students participated in either an elected leadership body, or recognizable leadership role (President of Latino club, Most Inspirational Award for sports team, Key Club President) the school year after the summer program.
  • On a five point rating scale of 22 leadership characteristics students rate greatest change in the areas of
    • improved listening skills,
    • the ability to give and receive coaching,
    • public speaking skills,
    • concern for social justice and
    • concern for success of peers

High School Truancy Program

In a control group of 25 students from Yelm High School fall of 1997, the principal and vice-principal selected 25 of their “most likely to drop-out” freshman to participate in a 9th Grade language Arts class which featured teachers who were trained in ICL curriculum.   All 25 students qualified for Special Education.  These 25 students spent 90 days in two days a week of LPW and three days a week of basic remedial language arts instruction.

  • The average number of behavioral infractions for the 25 students, which culminating in being taken out of class or school was 9 infractions for the pre-ICL class semester and 0.25 infractions for the semester they were enrolled in the ICL class.
  • A pre and post high school vocabulary and contextual comprehension reading test was administered to all 25 students pre and past the ICL semester class. Test was based on results of the 90 day semester time period. Students measured an average 1.1 year reading grade level increase.
  • At the end of the freshman year, all 25 students came back to school as sophomores. This compares to a 5-7 student drop-out rate in the first year from similar control group of 25 students of previous years.
  • 24 of the 25 students graduated from Yelm High School on time.
  • 17 of the 25 students demonstrated dramatic increases in social, academic and civic engagement.