Defining and Measuring Success

We strive to empower Nicaraguan youth to become leaders in their families and communities. Because this is a complex goal and we support our scholars in many different ways, we take a holistic, multidimensional view as we define and measure success for both our individual scholars and our entire organization. 

Success for Our Scholars

We consider our scholars to be successful when they are fully pursuing their dreams and working toward reaching their full potential. Specifically, this involves putting 100% effort into the following areas:

​Academics. Each scholar is different, so we tailor academic goals for each student every year.
Measurement techniques:

• We meet with each scholar throughout the school year to monitor progress toward his/her academic goals.

• We conduct monthly school visits to talk with teachers and administrators about each scholar’s academic performance.

Attendance. We require our scholars to maintain solid attendance marks, both in school and at Casa VISEDAL, our enrichment facility.
Measurement techniques:

• During our monthly school visits, we ask teachers and administrators about each scholar’s attendance record.
• We track scholars’ attendance at Casa VISEDAL.

Personal Growth. Our staff works with each scholar to set short- and long-term life goals.
Measurement technique:

• We regularly meet with each scholar to track progress toward his/her goals and identify specific opportunities for improvement.

​Community Involvement. Our scholars are encouraged and expected to serve their communities, either through structured VISEDAL activities or other opportunities.
Measurement technique:

• We meet with each scholar throughout the year to discuss his/her community involvement. 

Why We Are OK with an Imperfect Passage Rate

In our 8-year history, we’ve achieved a cumulative 90.6% passage rate—meaning that 9.4% of our scholars have failed their grades and had to repeat the school year. This is roughly in line with Nicaragua’s averages (9.5% for primary school students and 8.2% for secondary school students). However, it is important to note that these averages exclude students who do not attend school (30% of primary-school-aged children, and 53% of secondary-school-aged girls and 65% of secondaryschool-aged boys).

Although we aim for a perfect passage rate each year, our choice to partner with students in extreme circumstances means that we will not always reach this target. We could likely achieve a higher organization-wide passage rate by working with students in a better position to succeed (e.g., with more family support or in a better financial situation); however, we believe every Nicaraguan student deserves an opportunity to reach his or her dreams.

​When our scholars fail a grade, we work closely with them and their families to identify the root issues and discuss strategies for addressing these issues. We then place the​ scholars on individually tailored probation plans, with the goal of providing the support and structure needed for them to succeed. 

Sources:
Unicef. Nicaragua: Country programme document 2013-2017. http:// www.unicef.org/about/execboard/files/2012-PL31_Nicaragua_CPDfinal_approved-English.pdf.

Unicef. “At a glance: Nicaragua.” http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ nicaragua_statistics.html.

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Success for Our Organization

​As an organization, we define success as achieving excellence in the following:​

​Scholar Support. We seek to provide everything our scholars need to excel in school and life.
Measurement techniques:

• Our leadership team in the United States works diligently with our staff in Nicaragua to monitor, evaluate, and address developments and trends in our scholars’ lives.
• We routinely assess the effectiveness of every aspect of our support and investigate how we can better serve our scholars.

We recognize that much of VISEDAL’s impact cannot be fully evaluated. For example, our scholars receive strong, consistent love and encouragement from our staff. We know this type of support is extremely important and can be life changing, but we do not have a specific way of truly measuring its impact.

Use of Donations. We aim to use our donors’ gifts efficiently to best support our scholars.
Measurement technique:

• We regularly assess our expenses to ensure we are making the greatest possible impact on our scholars’ lives.

Connecting Donors to Scholars. We help donors engage with our scholars.
​Measurement techniques:

• We monitor donor tenure.
• We track donor-initiated engagement through our Sponsor-Scholar Connection Program.

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