Evaluation report on the NASW violence and development teach-in/teleconference

social workers and the general public in the interrelatedness of violence and development. The evaluation is based on responses from coordinators from 123 participating sites (the total number of such sites is unknown) and over 9,000 audience evaluations. The first teleconference reached almost 6,000 people and the second almost 3,500, about 75% of them social work students, practitioners, and faculty. High ratings were given to the program"s format and content for both days, more so from those with social work affiliations than those without. Some 90% of respondents felt that the concepts and ideas incorporated in the teleconference should be incorporated in social work curricula. Some 52% of the 99 teleconference sites sampled scheduled activities to supplement the teleconferences; about 20% of the audience participated in these activities. By and large, the site coordinators were quite satisfied with the support that they received from NASW in putting together the teleconference, giving high ratings to the materials and telephone support and overall timeliness and adequacy of information. Timeliness ratings were weakest (although still positive), reflecting dissatisfaction in some quarters with the shipping of materials so close to the time of the conference. A few site coordinators said the program had not met their expectations because they felt it did not focus on solutions or interaction, and had not shown enough of the teach-in activities. There are some indications that the program has or will reach other audiences: 60% of the sites received some media attention; 67% of those who taped the broadcasts plan to show them again, and 26% anticipate some form of follow-up activities. A small sample of site coordinators say there have already been some concrete outcomes of the program, especially in the form of project materials being adopted for classroom use. Over half the sites expressed interest in purchasing curriculum materials related to the broadcast. (Author abstract, modified)