Defining Success

Use the following questions to help you determine how well your program is working.

In the School Library

• Are students engaged in the work?
• Are they excited about their writing, about sharing it, and about their peers’ work?
• Do the thematic skills—map making, writing recipes, creating cartoons—support the grade-level curriculum?
• Have I connected the program to what is happening in the classroom? If, for instance, third graders are studying memoir, have I provided an opportunity to create cartoon memoirs?
• Have I collaborated with classroom teachers to provide extensions for their curricula in my library classes?
• Do my students independently choose to write during their library time after their books are checked out?
• Do children and adults use the Writing Boxes during after-school visits?
• Do students, teachers, and other adults have an expectation that writing is part of my literacy program?
• Is my classroom writing experience aligned with our state standards, and does it support the Common Core?

In the Public Library

• Are the children and young adults engaged in the work?
• Are they excited about their writing, about sharing it, and about their peers’ work?
• Is attendance steady or growing?
• Are participants engaged?
• Do they write?
• Are their adults writing?
• Do they seem excited to be there, or are their adults making them attend?
• Is the topic open enough to engage writers of different skill levels and ages?

Outcomes

• Are participants borrowing titles on display, and titles that tie in with a session’s project?
• When materials are available at the reference desk, are writers requesting and using them?
• Have we had requests for an expansion of the program?
• Have community groups like the Girl Scouts of America asked to participate?

The most significant outcome of a Writing Box program is a cohort of participants who gain confidence and competency in their writing.