Facilitator/Staff Practices for Youth Skills Building

Facilitator/Staff Practices for Youth Skills Building

Facilitator practices allow youth to develop soft and life skills through skill building activities within individual, family, peer, and community settings.

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NOT YET DEVELOPED (1)	BEGINNING (2)	DEVELOPING (3)	COMPETENT (4)	SCORING
*1.B.1 Program staff consistently adapt skill-building opportunities to match youths’ skills levels (activities are challenging, but doable).
Program staff implement activities without making adaptations during implementation to account for youths’ skills levels.	Program staff make little adaptation to account for youths’ skills levels.	Program staff adapt skill building opportunities between program cycles.	During implementation, program staff consistently adapt skill-building opportunities to fit skills levels of different youth in the program and to ensure that experiences are challenging but possible.	Score: ___________
Examples: Staff are provided with a set curriculum or plan and make no adjustments during or between program cycles.	Examples: Staff rarely adjust activities if they are too easy or too hard, ask for feedback at the end of the program cycle, and do not make changes for the next cycle.	Examples: Staff ask for feedback at the end of the program cycle, reviews learning outcomes, and make changes before implementing the same curriculum/program again.	Examples: Staff continuously adjust the material during the session based on whether youth find activities too easy or too challenging. Staff consider skill levels of different youth in the program, and adjust activities so that all youth in the program can experience opportunities that are challenging but doable.	Evidence:
*1.B.2 Program staff provide adequate level of support to stimulate skill growth.
Program staff do NOT know when to provide assistance to help youth solve problems and learn, and when to give youth space to struggle with challenges.	Program staff sometimes provide youth time and space to work through an activity independently before stepping in to provide an answer and-or sometimes provide help as needed when youth are stuck.	Program staff consistently provide assistance to enable youth to solve problems and learn and to allow youth space to struggle with challenges.	Program staff consistently provide assistance when needed, and program activities are intentionally structured to provide opportunities for youth to solve problems and to allow youth space to struggle with challenges.	Score: ___________
Examples: Staff provides answers when youth struggle instead of providing tips to help them solve a problem on their own.	Examples: Staff ask youth guiding questions to help them discover an answer to a problem.	Examples: Program staff help youth develop strategies or problem solve when stuck or unsuccessful rather than providing the answers. Program/ staff help youth think through options and resources when they encounter an obstacle or when faced with a challenge.	Examples: Curriculum is created to provide opportunities for youth to receive suggestions and have time/space to independently revise their work/product. Staff are trained to identify when their assistance is needed and when to allow youth space to problem solve by themselves.	Evidence:
*1.B.3 Program staff use participatory and interactive facilitation techniques that are gender sensitive and socially inclusive
Program staff only use formal lecturing (facilitator led), and do not employ participatory and interactive facilitation techniques.	Program staff mostly use formal lecturing (facilitator led) during session delivery, but infrequently incorporate some participatory and interactive facilitation techniques.	Program staff employ a mixture of formal lecturing (facilitator led) with participatory-interactive facilitation techniques that encourage youth engagement and active learning (during at least 50% of time of session delivery).	Program staff employ a wide range of participatory and interactive facilitation techniques that encourage youth engagement, active learning and youth-led group dynamics (during at least 75% of time of session delivery).	Score: ___________
Examples: Staff lecture youth on a topic throughout entire session delivery.	Examples: Staff use a lecture format but introduce a few open-ended questions during session delivery. When calling on youth, staff mostly call on those that are most active as opposed to encouraging youth from marginalized groups to speak.	Examples: Staff go back and forth between formal lecture format and participatory facilitation (such as open-ended questions, interactive-brainstorming, discussions and/or debates between youth and between staff and youth).	Examples: Staff mostly use open-ended questions, interactive-brainstorming, discussions, and/or debates between youth and between staff and youth. All youth have opportunities to actively participate and express their thoughts. Trainings for staff are also participatory to help model this type of facilitation. Staff encourage youth to speak, even if it is outside of their comfort zone, without deepening their discomfort.	Evidence:
1.B.4 Program staff model the same soft skills the program encourages youth to develop.
Program staff do not clearly and purposefully demonstrate the skills they want youth to emulate or develop.	Program staff randomly model soft skills targeted by the program, but this is not a purposeful effort that the program incentivizes and promotes.	Program staff intermittently model the soft skills they want youth to learn.	Program staff consistently and purposefully demonstrate the soft skills they want youth to emulate or develop through their interactions with youth and other staff.	Score: ___________
Examples: Staff do not purposefully exhibit positive behaviors so that youth can see them and then replicate them on their own.	Examples: Program management never tells staff specific soft skills to model for the youth, but many of them demonstrate some of the soft skills any way [e.g., respecting each other].	Examples: Staff sometimes interact inappropriately, such as raising their voices and providing insensitive feedback. Staff sometimes struggle to demonstrate appropriate soft skills [e.g., active listening, conflict resolution].	Examples: Program staff understand and tailor activities and practices to address developmental characteristics of different age groups (e.g., early adolescents are more emotionally sensitive and need support to understand and manage emotions). Program/curriculum offers a range of activities that are tailored to specific age and/or skill level of youth. Some youth are grouped by gender to address cultural considerations, or for specific types of discussions such as sexual and reproductive health.	Evidence:

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