Evaluating your after school program can be challenging. You're empowering your young people to become stronger and more capable, but how do you evaluate that?
Merge co-director Bill Rossi founded and directed a creative mentoring nonprofit that served over 2,500 challenged youth and adults. Not finding an evaluation tool that met their needs, he worked with other educators, mental health professionals, and a programmer to develop one that could serve all types of programs.
Merge Education was founded in 2008 to disseminate the student evaluation software and Rossi's mentoring approach.
Wander de C. Braga MD
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Albany, NY
By providing the tools to reach a person's underlying spirit, or essence, Bill Rossi's approach enables teachers to bring forth aspects of students' being that truly humanize them.
Elinor A. Graham MD, MPH
Medical Director, Children and Teens clinic, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA
In my 25 years as a pediatrician I have never seen another approach that turns around youths' lives as well as this one does.
James Harvey
Senior Fellow, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington; co-author, A Legacy of Learning
Bill Rossi reminds us that young people cannot grow up complete unless art, music and creativity are part of their lives, and demonstrates how to bring out the best in students with specific instructional approaches encouraging mentoring, strength-based teaching, motivation, and putting students first.
What he demonstrates is that effective education is … about encouraging young people’s innate love of learning.