LEARNINGS

SHARING OUTCOMES

The Funder Collaborative is committed to learning from ongoing qualitative and quantitative research to both inform program design, and uncover and document the most promising practices. We believe the insights gleaned can have wide-ranging implications for any community engaged in Jewish teen education and engagement work. We publish and share our Research, Case Studies and Evaluations here.

Groundbreaking Research

One of the Collaborative’s significant early contributions to the field was to identify new outcomes that positively affect the lives of Jewish teens. This articulation led to a new paradigm for Jewish teen education, moving beyond thinking about teens as recipients of Jewish learning experiences and framing an overarching question: How might we understand and engage the teen as a whole person, and how can Judaism enrich and deeply influence his or her whole life?

To begin to answer this question, we developed common goals that allow Funder Collaborative members to aggregate and analyze evaluation findings. Two concurrent efforts are underway to understand the progress, achievements and challenges of the community-based initiatives. Local evaluators study regional initiatives, and a Cross-Community Evaluation aggregates and analyzes key learnings.

We invite you to explore these reports and circulate these among your networks.

Evaluation

The Cross Community Evaluation team has released its fourth report showcasing a new set of findings stemming again from an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data gathered by evaluators, this year, working in 9 of 10 communities constituting the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative during 2019—it includes the most communities and the largest amount of data aggregated to date.

Case Studies

Signs Along The Way: A Funder Collaborative Assesses Its Influence is the final case study and covers a three-year period roughly from November 2016 through the end of 2019 and attempts to answer the questions posed by the final phase in the trajectory of a funder collaborative: How might the Funder Collaborative begin to assess its impact in the field of teen engagement and how, if at all, are ideas spreading between and beyond the work of the funders?

Research

Emerging Trends: While the communities are in the early stages and responding to real-time learnings, we share with the field 5 emerging trends we are observing.

Evaluation

The Cross Community Evaluation team has released its third report showcasing a new set of findings stemming again from an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data gathered by evaluators, this year, working in 9 of 10 communities constituting the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative during 2018—it includes the most communities and the largest amount of data aggregated to date.

Evaluation

The Cross Community Evaluations are a set of findings stemming from an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data gathered by evaluators working in eight of 10 communities constituting the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative during 2017.

Evaluation

Initial Outcomes Across Communities: First Fruits from the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative is the first report aggregating baseline data from four Funder Collaborative communities. To understand the progress and outcomes of teen programs, the cross-community evaluation will capture, explore and share learnings over multiple years.

Research

Effective Strategies for Educating and Engaging Jewish Teens highlights proven models and practical ways for communities to engage teens in Jewish experiences that enrich their lives and help them grow.

Research

Generation Now details the interests, desires, fears of today’s teens, along with what brings them meaning. It offers shared outcomes and indicators that can gauge Jewish learning, engagement and growth among teens participating in Jewish experiences.

Research

Outcomes That Positively Affect the Lives of Jewish Teens shows that traditional ways the Jewish community measures education no longer resonate for today’s teens. A two-year comprehensive qualitative research project explored Jewish teen identity today, and identified 14 new educational and engagement outcomes.

Case Studies

Finding New Paths for Teen Engagement and Learning: A Funder Collaborative Leads the Way is the first case study, intended to inform the group’s growth and functioning, and document the lessons for future co-funding and shared learning efforts within and outside of the Jewish philanthropic community.

Case Studies

Preparing to Deepen Action: A Funder Collaborative Finds its Way documents the most recent stage of the group’s evolution. The case study highlights key learnings and reflects a commitment to share its internal process with anyone considering collaborative ventures.