Charity Assessment Giving Game

    Round 1: Scared Straight

    Program description. “In the 1970s, inmates serving life sentences at a New Jersey (USA) prison began a program to ‘scare’ or deter at-risk or delinquent children from a future life of crime. The program, known as ‘Scared Straight’, featured as its main component an aggressive presentation by inmates to juveniles visiting the prison facility. The presentation depicted life in adult prisons, and often included exaggerated stories of rape and murder… The program received considerable and favorable media attention and was soon replicated in over 30 jurisdictions nationwide… Although the harsh and sometimes vulgar presentation in the earlier New Jersey version is the most famous, inmate presentations are now sometimes designed to be more educational than confrontational but with a similar crime prevention goal. Some of these programs featured interactive discussions between the inmates and juveniles, also referred to as ‘rap sessions.’”

    Do you think that Scared Straight had a good effect (i.e., decreased the rate of juvenile crime), bad effect (i.e., increased the rate of juvenile crime), or had no effect?

    Round 2: Nurse-Family Partnership

    Program description. “The Nurse-Family Partnership program provides nurse home visits to pregnant women with no previous live births, most of whom are (i) low-income, (ii) unmarried, and (iii) teenagers. The nurses visit the women approximately once per month during their pregnancy and the first two years of their children’s lives. The nurses teach (i) positive health related behaviors, (ii) competent care of children, and (iii) maternal personal development (family planning, educational achievement, and participation in the workforce). The program costs approximately $12,500 per woman over the three years of visits (in 2010 dollars).”

    Do you think that the Nurse-Family Partnership had good effects (i.e., improved quality of child care), bad effects (i.e., lowered the quality of child care), or had no effect?

    Round 3: Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)

    Program description. “DARE is a highly-structured substance-abuse prevention program taught by uniformed police officers… The program is typically provided in 10-20 weekly hour-long sessions, during which the police officers use lectures, class discussion, role plays, and homework assignments to 1) teach students about substance use and its effects; 2) teach students decision-making and peer pressure resistance skills; and 3) boost students’ self-esteem. Prior to teaching, the police officers take an 80-hour training course on teaching techniques, classroom management, and the DARE curriculum… DARE costs approximately $130 per student (2004 dollars) and, as of 2001, was operating in 75% of American school districts.”

    Do you think that D.A.R.E. had a good effect (i.e., decreased the rate of drug use), bad effect (i.e., increased the rate of drug use), or had no effect?

    Round 4 & 5: 21st Century Community Learning Centers

    Program description. “21st Century Community Learning centers is a large ($1 billion per year) U.S. Department of Education program which funds optional after-school programs for elementary and middle school students in mostly high-poverty schools. Key goals of the program are to (1) provide students with a safe place after school, and (2) improve their academic performance. Recipients of program funds (i.e., school districts and/or non-profit educational/community organizations) are required to provide academically-focused “extended learning activities” (e.g., instructional enrichment programs, tutoring, or homework assistance). Most Centers also offer enrichment/recreational activities such as martial arts, sports, dance, art and/or music… [Elementary school] Centers vary in the activities they offer and other key features, and thus comprise a range of after-school interventions rather than a single intervention. In a typical Center:

    (1)  students may spend an hour doing homework and having a snack, an hour on additional academic activity (e.g., a lesson or working in a computer lab), and an hour doing recreational or cultural activities;

    (2)  the Center’s staff are a mixture of certified teachers, instructional aides, and representatives of community youth organizations;

    (3)  the Center is open 4-5 days per week for three hours after school, and serves approximately 85 students per day; and

    (4)  the average student attends the Center 2-3 days per week.

    Centers spend approximately $1,000 (in 2005 dollars) on each enrolled student per year.”

    (Round #4). Regarding the elementary school students’ academic achievement, do you think that 21st Century Community Learning Centers had good effect (i.e., increased academic achievement), bad effect (i.e., decreased academic achievement), or had no effect?
    (Round #5). Regarding the elementary school students’ behavior, do you think that 21st Century Community Learning Centers had good effect (i.e., decreased behavioral problems), bad effect (i.e., increased behavioral problems), or had no effect?

    Round 6: Even Start Family Literacy Program

    Program description. “The Even Start program is intended to: “help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of the Nation’s low-income families by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program.” In 2000-2001, there were 855 Even Start projects serving 31,896 families… Even Start grantees had considerable flexibility in designing services to meet the needs of the low-income families, but all were required to offer four services:

    (1) adult education to develop basic educational and literacy skills;

    (2)  early childhood education services to provide developmentally appropriate services to help prepare children for school;

    (3)  parenting education to help parents support the educational growth of their children; and

    (4) parent-child literacy activities.

    Even Start projects also offered referrals to a range of support services, such as child care, transportation assistance, health care, nutrition, and an array of other family support services. When these services were not locally available, some Even Start projects provided them directly.”

    Do you think that Even Start had a good effect (i.e., increased literacy rates in families), bad effect (i.e., decreased literacy rates in families), or had no effect?

    Round 7: Big Brothers Big Sisters

    Program description. “Big Brothers Big Sisters’ community-based mentoring program matches youths age 6-18, predominantly from low-income, single-parent households, with adult volunteer mentors who are typically young (20-34) and well-educated (the majority are college graduates)… The mentor and youth typically meet for 2-4 times per month for at least a year, and engage in activities of their choosing (e.g., studying, cooking, playing sports). The typical meeting lasts 3-4 hours… For the first year, Big Brothers Big Sisters case workers maintain monthly contact with the mentor, as well as the youth and his or her parent, to insure a positive mentor-youth match, and to help resolve any problems in the relationship. Mentors are encouraged to form a supportive friendship with the youths, as opposed to modifying the youth’s behavior or character… In 2008, Big Brothers Big Sisters served 255,000 youths and 470 agencies nationwide. The national average cost of making and supporting a match is approximately $1,300 in 2009 dollars.”

    With regard to drug use and violent behavior, do you think that Big Brothers Big Sisters had a good effect (i.e., decreased drug use and violent behavior), bad effect (i.e., increased drug use and violent behavior), or had no effect?

    Round 8: Top 16 Educational Software

    Program description. “In the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, Congress called for a rigorous study of the effectiveness of educational technology for improving student academic achievement… In fall 2003, developers and vendors of educational technology products responded to a public invitation and submitted products for possible inclusion in the national study. [Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.] staff selected 40 of the 160 submissions for further review by two panels of outside experts, one for reading products and one for math products… In January 2004, [the U.S. Department of Education] considered the panel’s recommendations and selected 16 products for the study. In selecting products, [the U.S. Department of Education] grouped them into four areas:

    (1) early reading (first grade),

    (2) reading comprehension (fourth grade),

    (3) pre-algebra (sixth grade), and

    (4) algebra (ninth grade).

    The products ranged widely in their instructional approaches and how long they had been in use. In general, however, the criteria weighted the selection towards products that had evidence of effectiveness from previous research, or, for newer products, evidence that their designs were based on approaches found to be effective by research. Twelve of the 16 products had received awards or been nominated for awards (some as recently as 2006 [the preceding year]) by trade associations, media, teachers, or parents.”

    Do you think that the educational software products had a good effect (i.e., improved test scores), bad effect (i.e., lowered test scores), or no effect?
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