Grantee: Space Between
Timeframe: April 2024 – March 2025 | Amount: $29,980.80
Space Between’s logic model delineates short and long-term outcomes for both students and teachers. While current student and teacher surveys yield valuable data, funds from PHPDA will enable the organization to craft a more rigorous, thoughtfully designed, and community-centered evaluation plan aligned with its logic model. This will enhance both the assessment of the program’s impact and its accountability, while also contributing to the growing body of research supporting mindfulness practices’ efficacy in youth mental health, especially within school district frameworks. This strategic investment will refine the organization’s current efforts and provide direction for future enhancements. As outlined in the scope of work below, all key stakeholders, including students and their families, will be engaged in this process to design an evaluation process and tools that prioritize student needs and experiences.
Space Between primarily serves students from marginalized backgrounds. This investment in evaluation will aid in monitoring, evaluating, and ultimately amplifying the impact on improving mental health within this specific community of young people. While all facilitators undergo training in culturally responsive practices and adapt their methods to accommodate students with varying cultural norms and languages, there lacks a formal mechanism to track the impact of these adaptations.
The funds will be allocated to hire an evaluation specialist to implement a three-phase scope of work, which includes:
Part I: Foundational Work + Baseline Deliverables
- Identifying data needs and gaps in current evaluation tools as well as key research questions aligned with key stakeholder interests
- Aligning logic model with evaluation tools
- Identifying parameters for data collection system and developing updated tools
Part II: Data Collection Tools + Implementation Deliverables
- Drafting survey/activity protocols for students, workshop participants, teachers, principals, and families.
- Reviewing survey/activity protocol drafts for alignment and cultural relevance with key stakeholders.
- Facilitating feedback sessions with students, workshop participants, teachers, principals, families, and Space Between personnel to ensure alignment.
Part III: Application + Action Item Deliverables
- Beginning to use new evaluation tools in classrooms and iterating as needed
- Compiling a comprehensive report of steps used to complete the evaluation process, including major decisions made and full list of stakeholders involve
As part of Space Between’s program objectives, students acquire the skills to lead mindfulness practices independently and for their peers. The organization fosters a safe environment for students to express their emotions and viewpoints through various mediums, including creative activities. The mindfulness techniques and tools employed will be seamlessly integrated into the student engagement practices throughout the evaluation process.
About Our Grantee
Space Between
Space Between’s mission is to facilitate human and school transformation through mindfulness practices, offering a Mindfulness Program for public elementary school students in greater Seattle where they teach research-based breath, movement, sensory and awareness practices. Each session is aligned with socialemotional learning standards and support students’ self-awareness, compassion, emotional regulation, and mental, physical, and social well-being. They also provide professional development to teachers and administrators to use mindfulness to address unconscious biases that affect their students’ mental health.
