The Skillathon: Program Evaluation Can Be Fun!

Extension professionals continue to look for innovative methods to evaluate programs, especially tools that capture improvements in skills but are not burdensome to participants. This article describes how an often-used educational activity, the skillathon, can be adapted easily for use as an assessment tool well suited for documenting skill changes. The authors used this technique successfully for 3 years with up to 35 special needs youth per session to assess skills learned in the RCE Youth Farmstand Program. Participants describe the skillathon assessment as "fun" and one of the "best" parts of the program!