Stakeholder Perceptions of the Parkway School District Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy

As the Parkway School District sought to expand experiential learning opportunities for high school students, it was appropriate to research and evaluate the strengths and opportunities for improvement within an existing experiential learning opportunity, the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived impact of the Academy for students, parents and BJC HealthCare employees involved in the execution of this program. In an effort to evaluate the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy, it was necessary to understand the perspectives of the stakeholders involved. To do this, the researcher developed research questions focused on student, parent and BJC HealthCare employee perceptions of the strengths and opportunities for improvement associated with the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy. An intrinsic case study was selected because of its ability to focus on this experience and produce outcomes that provided perspectives related to the stated research questions. Student and parent questionnaires, employee interviews and a student focus group were used to collect data. The primary finding of this research was students and BJC HealthCare employees thought the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy was a valuable experience. The research provided the Parkway School District with valid information and feedback describing the relevancy and the impact of the learning experience and provided specific examples of how the program has benefitted those students and BJC HealthCare employees who have been involved. The researcher recommends further research to determine the perceptions of students who do not participate in the Pre-Professional Health Sciences Academy.