Dare to Revitalize Education through Arts and Mediation (DREAM) has two main programs. The first is Lens for Change, an after-school and summer program that offers a safe space for youth ages 11–19 to develop leadership, work readiness, and conflict resolution skills through project-based arts work. The second program, Safety with Dignity, is a school-based program that provides peer mediation training for students and restorative practice training for teachers, school staff, and students. DREAM helps schools create an action plan to promote a long-term shift from punitive disciplinary philosophies to restorative justice. The organization has never had an evaluation system that fully reflects best practices in the field, and donors and school partners want to see outcomes data for youth and educators, and progress toward long-term objectives such as shifting school culture and developing youth leaders. DREAM’s proposed capacity-building plan involves hiring an external evaluator to build a formal, systematic evaluation system for assessing the effectiveness and impact of DREAM’s programs.
Dare to Revitalize Education through Arts and Mediation will build its capacity to evaluate its programs, which deliver restorative practice and peer mediation training through youth’s engagement in performing and visual arts.
