Case study 6

Chapter 14
Case Study
“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
—Oath of the Special Olympics
Aesha Williams is a 10-year-old girl with mild retardation. Throughout her life, Aesha’s siblings have
participated in sport programs through Ys and community recreation departments. Unfortunately, these
programs are not always adapted to individuals with special needs. Mr. and Mrs. Willams have become
increasingly aware of Aesha’s desire to participate in sport, and they decide to look into the possibility of
her involvement with the Special Olympics (www.specialolympics.org).
The Special Olympics is an international program that includes year-round sports training and athletic
competition for children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. It is an accredited not-for-profit
organization for 4.2 million people in more than 220 programs in 170 countries. The overall purpose of the
Special Olympics is to provide programs for physically challenged individuals. In turn, the goals of the
programming include enabling participants to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience
joy, and establish friendships among the participants. Another goal of the Special Olympics is to help the
participants become responsible, contributing citizens and to increase respect and acceptance for them by
society.
The programs that the Special Olympics offer must accommodate the capabilities of the individual. Track
and field, swimming, volleyball, and basketball programming must be monitored and adapted for the
participants. Therefore, evaluation of the programs is essential. The Special Olympics wants to encourage
personal growth, thus, winning may not be the best choice for evaluation. This development of an
appropriate evaluation process is a difficult but crucial project.
1. Create and explain your ideas for a program profile for one of the Special Olympics programs.
2. Combining your program profile and the systems perspective (Exhibit 14.2), how would you suggest
the Special Olympics evaluate this program?
3. Explain what makes program evaluation difficult for the executives of the Special Olympics.
4. Compare the goals of the Special Olympics to those of the Olympics. How might the Special Olympics
and the Olympics differ in terms of program evaluations and standards of evaluation?
5. Using the Special Olympics website (www.specialolympics.org), find the Special Olympics program
nearest you; list three different events or activities that are taking place near your hometown. How do
you expect these three events or activities will be evaluated. How should “success” of these programs
be defined?
6. Find another not-for-profit organization online, and identify its mission statement, programs, and
goals. How does this organization evaluate its programs? Are there any similarities or differences
between this organization and the Special Olympics in terms of evaluation?