Determining the Critical Components of the MN Special Olympics Unified Champion School Program

2021

In order for any program to be effective, it must be implemented with a high degree of fidelity or as its developers intend. At the same time, however, it is critical for programs to be sufficiently flexible so that they can be contextualized to meet the needs of those who are implementing them. In order to achieve this balance, organizations need to understand which program components are critical to desired outcomes and must be implemented exactly as intended and those that can be adapted to meet local needs. Through this project, the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration is working with Special Olympics Minnesota to identify the specific components of the Minnesota Unified Champion School (UCS) program that stakeholders view as essential to achieving stated organizational and programmatic outcomes and which aspects of the program are not as essential. This project will use a mixed methods approach to better understand the views of a variety of program stakeholders regarding this topic. The project will be initiated with a Delphi study in which school administrators and implementing teachers will be asked to identify critical components of the UCS program. These results will be used to initiate a series of 12-16 Participatory Planning and Decision-Making (PPDM) Groups with a representative group of school administrators, implementing teachers, students, and parents of youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities taking part in the program. PPDM groups will focus on assessing the degree to which stakeholders agree on the importance of various program components and the building of consensus among groups as to the most critical aspects of the program.

Performing Research or Evaluation

Recreation-Related Activities

Professionals and Para-Professionals, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN

None

State

N/A