Dovetail Learning, The Toolbox Project
- At risk youth
- Behavioral issues
- Early childhood development
- Education
- Education reform
- Youth development
- Youth leadership
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Mark
Collin
Dovetail Learning
, CA, Sebastopol , Sonoma County
, CA, Multiple cities through out California, Sonoma County
Other.
Public (tuition-free)
More than 5 years
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Operating for more than 5 years
Dovetail Learning's Toolbox Project provides a new way forward in building children's resilience, self-mastery and empathy for others.
Toolbox provides a common language that transforms our assumptions about what it means to be an educated person in the 21st century.
Formative research on The Toolbox Project, was conducted by WestEd measuring teacher perceptions of changes within a 14 week period. The study employed multiple, pre-post measures showed significant, positive change in the following resiliency skills and assets.
Interpersonal Strength Scale (Apologizing; Using anger management skills; Accepting criticism; Admitting mistakes; Showing remorse; sharing; and Reacting to disappointments calmly).
Intra-personal Strength Scale (Identifying feelings, personal strengths, enthusiastic attitudes about life; and self–confidence) .
Affective Strength Scale (Accepts closeness and intimacy; Acknowledges painful feelings; Asks for help; and Discusses problems).
Improved School Climate/Connectedness (teacher support of student resilience; school supports students’ social and behavioral growth; and Improved quality of student and teacher learning supports provided by the school.
We are in 60 schools serving 10,000 children.
In 2012 we will expand to 76 schools, increasing to 110 schools in 2013.
Our primary target audience is low-income disadvantaged children. We are working to build fidelity and sustainability within our current user-group. We are expanding our work within the Richmond, CA WCCUSD school system, one of the most traumatized/marginalized populations in CA from 2 to six schools.
We have a request from Kaiser Hospital to train staff in Toolbox skills and through collaborations with CBO's we are building a community wellness model that impacts, children, schools, and the entire community.
This year we are building a train-the-trainer program to expand to a national and international audience. We have had requests for our work from as far as Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Georgia.
Dovetail Learning Blueprint: Funding and program Fidelity
Hire Fund Development director to lead Implementation activities
Realize Annual Campaign goal of $230,000 ($49,000 raised in just 1.5 months.) in order to fund core staff.
Create the Toolbox Community of Schools rubric for multi-year teaching practices including fidelity & sustainability criteria
Dovetail Learning Blueprint: Scaling program, model and research
Create a Train the Trainer Program.
Develop a Community Wellness Model to include Community Based Organizations, Hospitals and corporations.
Begin a efficacy study using a pre-post experimental research design, and publish results.
One morning a truck driver dad came into his daughter’s kindergarten class. Billy, the single father of five-year-old Cindy, had a story to tell me. He asked sternly, “What is this thing called the Empathy Tool?” I replied “What do you mean?” He continued, “We were driving home late last night when Cindy called out from the back seat and said, ‘Dad, I am still hungry and I need to have something to eat when we get home.’ I told her that it was too late and she needed to go right to bed because she had school the next day. Then she softly said, ‘But dad, you are not using your Empathy Tool, you are not thinking about how I am feeling.’” I explained the Empathy Tool further and in that moment, Billy understood his daughter in a new way. When these innate skills come from within the children to their parents, the impact is life changing. I knew in that moment that teaching these tools to the world would result in a major paradigm shift for children, their families and communities!
The Stuart Foundation of San Francisco is a long-term mentor and fiscal partner helping us to scale to a national audience.
The 60 Toolbox Project Community of Schools in N. CA. are partners in building and refining our program model.
WestEd Health & Human Dev. Dept. is a primary partner in publishing, evaluation and research.
California Parenting Institute is a primary partner in delivering our programs in multiple schools. CalServes is partnering with us to use Toolbox in after-school programs.
Seyfarth Shaw LLP national law firm providing all legal services pro-bono.
- 6 Staff includes the Founder/Executive Dir., Training/Program Dir., Dir. of Operations, Dir. of Development, Finance Dir. and admin. assistant.
- A strong 6 member local Board of Directors is the foundation of our fund development efforts.
- 14 Member Advisory Board is a core resource to achieve our mission: Angeles Arrien, PhD; Glen Price, GPG; Sam Kimbels, Jungian, PhD; Graciela Italiano-Thomas, EdD, Consultant; Marilyn Schlitz, PhD President, IONS; Carol Wilkins, Consultant; Dan Millman, Lecturer, Author; Phyllis Goldsmith , UC Berkeley
- Committed Community volunteers
After 18 years of development, our primary need is access to funders who can help us build capacity to "scale" what we have found within all children - benefiting families, schools and communities. We invite funders to make this work their legacy.
We want to collaborate with kindred others, thought leaders and programs that share our mission for community wellness and global partnership.