Topic Archive
YouthTruth
Appreciating an Underdeveloped Source of Insight
February 21st, 2013
Amidst a flurry of recent talk about the opportunities and challenges presented by the application of “big data” in philanthropy, one aspect of the conversation that is often overlooked is beneficiary feedback. Yet, with a growing body of research that demonstrates a link between beneficiary perceptions and outcomes, there is both a moral and an effectiveness argument to be made for listening to those we seek to help. ...
Transforming School Culture Through Student Feedback: One School’s Experience
January 29th, 2013
How do you change the culture of a school? If you have five minutes today, I hope you’ll watch Principal Brennon Sapp of Scott High School in Taylor Mill, Kentucky talking about how hard it was to change the culture of learning at his school and how student feedback from the YouthTruth survey helped him do just that. ...
We Just Need To Listen
November 14th, 2012
There is a wonderful piece in October’s The Atlantic that anyone who cares about educating kids ought to read. “Why Kids Should Grade Teachers” by Amanda Ripley makes a powerful case for incorporating student feedback into educational reform efforts. ...
Transitions at CEP and YouthTruth: Appreciating a Leader
April 19th, 2012
About four and a half years ago, I got off a plane and checked voicemail on my cell phone to find a message from Fay Twersky, then Director of Impact Planning and Improvement at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (now Senior Fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation). Fay had been talking with me about the potential for CEP to help bring the voices of intended beneficiaries – those whose lives a foundation and its grantees seek to touch – more to the fore. ...
The Unique and Urgent ‘Business’ of Philanthropy
December 22nd, 2011
The following blog post is adapted from a talk presented at a meeting of the Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington. As Suk Rhee mentioned in her introduction, I am a native Oregonian, so I know that there is no better place than the Pacific Northwest. ...
YouthTruth Announces Strategic Partnership with The New Teacher Project
December 19th, 2011
I am pleased to announce a new partnership between YouthTruth and The New Teacher Project, which will bring student perspectives to teacher performance evaluations. See the video below for details or read the press release. ...
Funder Uses YouthTruth Data to Spark Community Engagement
September 9th, 2011
When the California Endowment’s Laura Olson began working in the far northern region of Del Norte County, California, she faced a dilemma. Del Norte County (and Adjacent Tribal Lands) is one of 14 communities that make up the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities program. ...
Education, Philanthropy and Metrics
August 16th, 2011
In a recent interview with Black Enterprise magazine highlighted on the Foundation’s blog, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation U.S. ...
The Case for Looking at More Than Just Test Scores
August 10th, 2011
Phil Buchanan, Fay Twersky, and Valerie Threlfall highlight the work of the YouthTruth Initiative and argue the case for the importance of using student perceptions to gauge school performance. This piece originally appeared as an op ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on August 10. ...
assessing performance
beneficiary feedback
beneficiary perceptions
communications
community foundations
comparative data
conferences
developing strategy
Donor Perception Report
economy
effective philanthropy
Essentials of Foundation Strategy
foundation effectiveness
foundation governance
foundation performance
foundation staff/program officers
foundation strategy
foundation transparency
Funder/Grantee Relationships
funder/grantee relationships
funder effectiveness
giving strategy
goals
Grantee Perception Report
grantee perspectives
Grantee Voice
indicators
leadership
nonprofit sector
overall foundation performance assessment
performance assessment
performance measurement
philanthropy
role of philanthropy
social media
Staff Perception Report
stakeholder engagement
strategy implementation
youth
YouthTruth
Lessons from a Risk Taken
I really appreciate your willingness to share this and your assessment of what didn't work out as planned or anticipated. Thanks.
I really appreciate your willingness to share this and your assessment of what didn't work out as planned or anticipated. Thanks.
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Jon, thanks for the comment. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the cost in time and effort and dollars were all higher than...
Jon, thanks for the comment. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the cost in time and effort and dollars were all higher than...
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, and what I sense are second thoughts about the cost/benefit of the whole enterprise. I appreciate the thirst for...
Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, and what I sense are second thoughts about the cost/benefit of the whole enterprise. I appreciate the thirst for...
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
Great insight. Sometimes it's great to invest in multiple countries as security as the economy in one country might decrease and increase in another.
Great insight. Sometimes it's great to invest in multiple countries as security as the economy in one country might decrease and increase in another.
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
Great questions. It is likely still too early to get a handle on whether the (potential) results reflect the hype meaningfully. However, I will be...
Great questions. It is likely still too early to get a handle on whether the (potential) results reflect the hype meaningfully. However, I will be...
