Story Hubs: A place of learning
Evaluation Outcomes Poster illustrated by Brendan Barnett
Delivering a pilot program can be likened to a creative writing process, we (Story Hubs) are like the author, we have an idea and an intention for a project, we imagine what the audience experience to be and how to create it. An evaluation is like the editor, reflecting back to us our ideas and how they come across, encouraging change and improvement, giving feedback and measurements on the development of ideas and the creative journey.
Sometimes part of an editor’s job is to reflect back on how those initial ideas are playing out and whether they meet your intention. This is true for Story Hubs, we started off with one idea of what a Story Hub could be, then through evaluation and feedback learnt very quickly to navigate differently within a school setting, adapting our processes and how we work.
The evaluation and ‘editing’ of the program was a priority from the start, we worked closely with our evaluation partner Clear Horizon to collect and understand the impacts and eventually the outcomes for the participating Story Hub partner schools.
During the 3 year pilot, we evaluated the program using various metrics, gathering feedback and reflections from participating schools, observing students in workshops and group interviews. We received wonderful reflections from teachers and internally held ‘data parties’ with the entire 100 Story Building team to examine and discuss the raw data.
What we learnt during this evaluation process was that Story Hubs contributes to both student and teacher learning and wellbeing. The evaluation has taught us how we can better support this program, what resources to create and how best to meet students’ and teachers’ needs, and most importantly how to walk beside them on their Story Hubs journey rather than just meeting them in the middle.
The final evaluation report is now available on our website. The learnings from the evaluation will be implemented in the next iteration of the program which is currently open to school and community partnerships in 2023 - 2025. We will continue to learn, adapt and edit to make the best possible Story Hubs program.
Read on for a summary of the teacher and student outcomes from the report.
What were the outcomes for Students partaking in Story Hubs?
Story Hubs contributed to student learning and wellbeing. Learning and wellbeing are the two ultimate outcomes of Victoria’s Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO), which is an evidence-based continuous improvement framework for all Victorian government schools.
The evaluation found that student engagement and agency increased when teachers applied the Story Hubs principles in their classes. These changes occurred consistently over time and for normally disengaged students, and during a COVID-affected period where student engagement has been low.
Story Hubs contributed to improved student writing. The evaluation found that students improved their idea generation, writing length, and their attitudes towards writing, all which contribute to writing outcomes according to research.
What were the outcomes for teachers?
Story Hubs contributed to improved teacher capacity to support student creation and learning. This improved capacity was shown by the student outcomes detailed above, which reinforced research that shows teacher capacity has the greatest potential to positively impact student learning.
Story Hubs contributed to improved capacity primarily through teacher professional learning – especially in demonstrating the Story Hubs teaching principles through structured sessions – and the co-designed creative space.
Teacher capacity to support student creation and learning has improved in three ways: the learning and application of specific tools and methods to support student engagement, agency, and idea generation; the deeper adoption of new attitudes and principles to teaching for the same outcomes; and by integrating these principles into their curriculum. The evaluation found that teachers are tailoring what was learned in professional learning to suit their classes and inquiries, rather than just copying the activities.
Story Hubs contributed to improved teacher confidence, enjoyment, and sense of support.
Teacher confidence and enjoyment rose once they successfully applied the teaching principles taught in the professional learning workshops, and their sense of support was directly linked to the fit-for purpose sessions during online learning.
You can read more about the pilot program outcomes and overall impact in the final evaluation report prepared by Clear Horizon:
Story Hubs Pilot Final Evaluation
Final Evaluation Executive Summary
Expressions of interest for schools and community organisations interested in becoming a Story Hub Partner in 2023-2025 are now open.
Online applications close 10 October, 2022. Apply now!
