Program Wrap Up
Invest in wrapping up loose ends and meeting program requirements to make it easier for Reflections to continue thriving in your community and provide students with access to the arts. Take time to wrap up each program cycle by connecting with students, conducting evaluations, and planning for next year.
To guide your feedback gathering, download and customize the questions and prompts in PTA Reflections Evaluation Tool to deploy in a survey or a listening session.
The key to hosting an efficient and impactful Reflections program is collecting and using feedback from key audiences to inform decisions and processes you make as a Reflections Chair. This ensures you're program is best serving the students, families and schools.
Methods to Collect Feedback
Use surveys or listening sessions to gather feedback from your community. Find questions and prompts to guide feedback collection, in this Program Assessment Tool. Customize the questions based on your program and consider the following methods to engage your community:
Digital Surveys: Deploy a digital survey in wrap-up communications to participants and reviewers or after your celebration event.
Paper Surveys: Provide paper surveys during celebration events or in the front office with feedback boxes to collect responses.
Listening Sessions and Interviews: Organize focus groups and conduct one-on-one interviews with key program supporters to gather in-depth feedback.
Evaluate Feedback
Meet with your Reflections Committee to review feedback and consider the following steps:
Analyze Feedback: Categorize feedback (participation, event organization, communication, overall satisfaction). Identify common themes, specific comments and recurring issues (e.g., logistical challenges, communication gaps).
Document Successes: Record what worked well (e.g., high participation, positive event feedback, successful promotions).
Develop Action Items: List specific actions to address improvements. Assign responsibilities and set deadlines (e.g., improve registration, enhance promotions, support volunteers).
Just as publicizing state and national winners enhances the your state PTA's reputation in supporting the arts, promoting data-based takeaways and themes that show your state's overall success is important to continuing and expanding the reach of your program.
How to Promote Program Successes
Compile data and visuals (artwork, videos, theme materials) into a report or presentation to share with your community, school leaders, state PTA and National PTA to showcase the program's success and its positive impact. Here are some ways to measure your success:
Participation Numbers: Provide statistics on student participation, broken down by categories and divisions.
Celebration Attendance: Report the number of attendees at your celebration events to show community engagement.
Quotes from Families: Share testimonials from students, parents and teachers to capture personal testimonies about the program's positive impact.
Visual Highlights: Create a slideshow or video montage featuring student artwork and award presentations.
Success Stories: Emphasize individual achievements of students who advanced or received special recognition as well as accomplished volunteer judges.
Community Impact: Highlight how the program fostered pride and mention any local business or organization partnerships.
Educational Connection: Show how Reflections supports educational goals and integrates with the curriculum. Mention teachers who used Reflections in their classroom.
It is never too early to plan for future program cycles, to ensure Reflections remains available to young artists in your community. One of the biggest hurdles Peralta District PTA sees in school Reflections programs, is a lack of continued planning and connection between each program cycle. To avoid this, PTAs should intentionally plan for the next cycle as part of the program wrap up.
Early Program Promotion
Connect with Teacher and School Leaders to share the upcoming Reflections theme. This provides time for planning and exploring alignment with curriculum and/or other opportunities in your school community. Each Reflections theme is selected two years in advance through the Annual Theme Search Contest and outlined at PTA.org/ReflectionsAwards.
Ensure a Seamless Transition
One of the biggest hurdles National PTA sees in state Reflections programs, is a lack of continued planning and connection between each program cycle. To avoid this, states should intentionally plan for the next cycle as part of the program wrap up.
Wrap up your PTA Reflections program by collecting all materials, planning documents and contact lists. Organize everything so the next state Reflections chair can easily access and use them. Document and share your experiences to help guide future leaders.
Be Clear and Concise: Use simple language and short sentences to make your documentation easy to understand.
Organize Information: Structure your documents with headings, subheadings, and bullet points for easy navigation.
Use Templates: Create or use existing templates to maintain consistency across documents.
Provide Context: Explain the purpose of the document and any background information needed to understand it. Include examples to clarify complex concepts or procedures.
Make it Accessible: Ensure your documentation is easily accessible to those who need it, whether digitally or in print.
Information provided by the National PTA website