Design Squad Global Outreach Partner Report

Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) conducted an outreach partner evaluation for Design Squad Global (DSG). DSG is produced and managed by WGBH Educational Foundation. WGBH partnered with FHI360, a nonprofit human development organizations working in 70 countries, to implement DSG around the globe.

In the DSG program, children in afterschool and school clubs explored engineering through hands-on activities, such as designing and building an emergency shelter or a structure that could withstand an earthquake. Through DSG, children also had the chance to work alongside a partner club from another country. Partner clubs shared their experiences by exchanging design ideas, photos, and videos. DSG's goal was to help children develop their global competency by learning more about each other's cultures, communities, and lives.

DSG strove to provide real-world engineering projects that were meaningful and socially relevant to communities around the world, with the goal of helping children begin to see themselves as young engineers with the power to make a difference. DSG was designed to help children see engineering as a dynamic career path and an achievable goal. To that end, DSG's objective was to help children learn creative problem solving, the design process, science and engineering concepts in context, global competency, and teamwork, listening, and sharing.

CEG was hired to conduct a survey of DSG outreach partners. The survey included two types of partners: (1) organizations responsible for disseminating information about DSG as well as DSG resources nationally and internationally, and (2) local-level partners that implemented DSG clubs at their sites.