Resources > Quality & Evaluation

A meta-analysis of after-school programs (ASPs) that seek to enhance the personal and social development of children and adolescents indicated that youth improved in three general areas: feelings and attitudes, indicators of behavioral adjustment, and school performance. More specifically, significant increases occurred in youths’ self-perceptions and bonding to school, their positive social behaviors, and in their school grades and level of academic achievement. At the same time, significant reductions occurred in problem behaviors and drug use. Substantial differences emerged between programs that used evidence-based approaches for skill training and those that did not.
These findings have two important implications for future research, practice and policy. The first is that ASPs should contain components to foster the personal and social skills of youth, because participants can benefit in multiple ways if these components are offered. The second is that such components are effective only if they use evidence-based approaches. When it comes to enhancing personal and social skills, successful programs are SAFE— sequenced, active, focused and explicit.

Published: 2007

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Out-of-school time programs in rural areas can provide healthy and constructive activities that offer productive ways for children and youth to spend their time, build positive relationships, and receive academic support. This brief highlights the challenges faced by rural out-of-school programs and suggests several strategies that can strengthen these programs.

Published: May 2008

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Colorado State University Cooperative Extension recently surveyed Colorado youth and the results are firm evidence that 4-H is important to positive youth development across the state. Our research shows that 4-H members are getting what young people need to succeed in life: confidence, compassion, and connections with caring adults, and skills and opportunities to make contributions to their communities.

Published: September 2005

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Increasing community involvement in out-of-school time programs can yield significant benefits to programs and the students that they serve. Community partnerships have the potential to meet a wide variety of needs, from improving participant recruitment and attendance to contributing volunteers or other resources to programs.2 This research brief discusses ways in which community involvement can be important for out-of-school time programs and describes how programs can begin to identify valuable community resources and develop strategies for leveraging community support.

Published: March 2008

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In 2000, The Colorado Trust began a six year after-school initiative. the goal of which was to develop and support after-school programming strategies that capitalize on the strengths of young people, families and communities. This document is one in a series of publications highlighting best practices in the following four Core Elements of the After School Initiative:

• Positive Youth Development
• Partnerships
• Cultural Competency
• Sustainability

Publised: 2000

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This brief, prepared by California Tomorrow, was part of a convening of grantees that the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health held on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006.

"Program effectiveness in a diverse society requires responsiveness to the dynamics of cultural difference and power. But what does that look like? What does it mean for service providers to be culturally responsive? How can a program or agency operate in ways that are inclusive and equitable for the various cultural and language groups they seek to serve? Part of the answer lies in the development of cultural competency."

Published: December, 2006

Developing Adolescents is a response to requests by numerous professionals in various fields for help in understanding and working with adolescents. In particular, the organizations involved in the Partnership
in Program Planning for Adolescent Health (PIPPAH), who work together to promote adolescent health activities nationally, expressed interest in having a document to help professionals—physicians, attorneys, nurses, school-based health providers, social workers, dentists, and dieticians, to name a few—understand crucial aspects of normal adolescent development and relate more effectively to the adolescents with whom they work.

Published: 2002

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Interview with Bill Milliken discussing the dropout epidemic in America. Milliken has worked tirelessly as an advocate for youth through Communities in Schools (CIS), a nonprofit organization he founded in 1977 to help kids stay in school and prepare for life. His book The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic! details the CIS model and how we as a national community can and must play a role in dropout prevention.

Published: October, 2007

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In any community, many different organizations and institutions – schools and colleges, youth programs, community centers, United Ways, foundations, human services agencies, businesses – work to increase the services and supports available for young people, helping some beat the odds set by poverty, racism or geographic isolation. There are surprisingly few organizations or programs, however, whose purpose is to be a catalyst for improving the quality and quantity of youth opportunities by engaging young people in meaningful ways in the work itself.

The principles described in this paper can help build the capacity of organizations and communities to ensure that all youth, particularly those least likely to succeed without help, believe that they have the responsibility and resources needed to make their communities better places for themselves, their families and their peers.

Published: July 2007

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Harvard Family Research Project’s series of Out-of-School Time evaluation Snapshots distills the wealth of information compiled in our Out-of-School Time Program Evaluation Database1 into a single report. Each Snapshot examines a specific aspect of out-of-school time (OST) evaluation. This Snapshot provides an overview of how researchers are evaluating OST programs’ engagement with families.

Published: April, 2004

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The After-School Initiative’s Toolkit for Evaluating Positive Youth Development contains a number of evaluation question sets that staff of an afterschool program may find useful to assess youth outcomes. Because after-school programs’ goals and activities are often unique, the toolkit is not intended to provide all the evaluation questions program staff would need to demonstrate success.

Instead, it provides question sets to measure outcomes common to many after-school programs aimed at promoting positive youth development. Outcomes are the measurable changes in participants’ knowledge, attitude or behavior (e.g., 50% of youth participants reported they spent more time doing their homework because of the after-school program).

Published: June, 2004

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One way to support participation in out-of-school time programming is to offer kids and parents what they want and need. A Public Agenda national survey, All Work and No Play, found that parents and kids want access to both academic help and enrichment activities that build teamwork, expand horizons, and teach new skills.

This national data is useful in understanding participation on the “big-picture” level. But there may be times when what really matters is local data—whether to inform the design of program offerings by better understanding the needs of specific groups, to help build a coalition for out-of-school time, or to develop information that can help drive community planning.The Wallace Foundation is currently working with five city partners—Boston, Chicago, New York City, Providence and Washington, D.C.—to build more effective citywide systems to support high-quality out-of-school time. In their planning, these cities have used market research to provide the local knowledge that can help city leaders and providers build meaningful levels of participation. Based on their experience, we commissioned the development of this guide to help other cities, providers and agencies develop market research that will give them the credible answers that they need to make progress in improving participation in quality out-of-school time programs. Though this manual—and its associated supplements—were designed with out-of-school time programs in mind, we think its lessons could apply to a range of social services, from early education to elder care.

Published: March, 2007

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This book comes with a series of workbooks on different market research methodologies, please visit www.wallacefoundation.org/WF/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/Out-Of-SchoolLearning/msr.htm to download the workbooks

One refreshing feature of All Work and No Play? is its examination of the views of students and parents—two important constituencies rarely heard from in the policy debate surrounding out-of-school time. What are the people who actually use out-of-school activities and programs really looking for? Just how much do parents and students rely on out-of-school-time opportunities to enhance academic learning? To what extent are they looking for socialization, playtime or merely a place with adult supervision? Since participation is purely by choice, knowing what drives these consumers is essential for implementing effective policies or creating constructive programs.

Published: 2004

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This guide is written for directors, members of leadership teams and partners in afterschool programs. Based on extensive research and field experience, it is designed to help you systematically strengthen the nutrition, physical activity and food security of students and their families by deepening your understanding of exemplary practices and providing you with the tools you’ll need to develop action plans and assess your progress as you move toward the achievement of your goals.

Published: March, 2007 Updated: September, 2007

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This is the first edition of the Kansas and Missouri Core Competencies for Youth Development Professionals. These core competencies represent the com-bined efforts of groups from Kansas and Missouri to define the core competencies for youth development professionals in our states -that is, what youth devel-opment professionals need to know and be able to do to provide quality services for youth and their fami-lies. Inside, you will find an introduction that explains why the core competencies are critical to the field. Next, the competencies are divided into content areas and levels. Note the convenient check boxes for self-assessment. Finally, a section is included for recording professional activities and training/education.

Published: January 2001

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• School Age/Youth Core Knowledge Areas:  There are nine core knowledge areas.  Each area contains a basic level and an advanced level of requirements to be met depending on which level you hope to meet.
• Professional credential levels:  There are six levels from basic to advanced which are described in the chart and referenced throughout the document. These levels are also located within the application packet.
• “Bridges to Excellence” School Age-Youth Credential Application Packet. You will have all you need to submit a request for a credential at the level for which you qualify.
• A copy of the credential signed by the director of the Credential Office and the Manager of the State Department of Human Services.

This new comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to understanding how to engage families in after school programs is a critical resource for after school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program. It offers a research base for why family engagement matters, concrete program strategies for engaging families, case studies of promising family engagement efforts, and an evaluation tool for improving family engagement practices.

Published: February, 2006

Visit Harvard Family Resource Project to Download the full report

This study provides a national profile of various types of formal after-school programs physically located at public elementary schools in 2008. These programs included stand-alone programs that focus primarily on a single type of service (e.g., only day care) and broad-based programs that provide a combination of services such as academic enrichment and cultural activities. This report focuses on four broad types of after-school programs: (1) fee-based stand-alone day care programs for which parents paid fees; (2) stand-alone academic instruction/tutoring programs that focus exclusively on academic instruction or tutoring, including Supplemental Educational Services in schools that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress; (3) the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLCs) administered through the federally funded 21st CCLC Program to provide academic enrichment opportunities; and (4) other types of formal stand-alone or broad-based after-school programs.

Fifty-six percent of public elementary schools reported that one or more after-school programs were physically located at the school in 2008. Forty-six percent of public elementary schools reported a fee-based stand-alone day care program; 43 percent reported one or more stand-alone academic instruction/tutoring programs; 10 percent reported a 21st CCLC, and 16 percent reported other types of after-school programs. Together, the various types of after-school programs accounted for an estimated 4 million enrollments. These include duplicated enrollments because students could be enrolled in more than one program. The proportion of public elementary schools reporting that their students attended after-school programs at another location ranged from 46 percent for fee-based stand-alone day care to 3 percent for 21st CCLCs.

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Published: February, 2009

Articles include:

• When the Divide Isn’t Just Digital: How Technology-Enriched Afterschool Programs Help Immigrant Youth Find a Voice, a Place, and a Future by Rebecca A. London, Manuel Pastor, Jr., and Rachel Rosner
  
• Growth in Motion: Supporting Young Women’s Embodied Identity and Cognitive
• Development through Dance After School by Mira-Lisa Katz
• Media Gangs of Social Resistance: Urban Adolescents Take Back Their Images and Their Streets through Media Production by Linda Charmaraman
  
• The Curtain Rises: How Community-Based Arts Contribute to Youth and Community Development by Jennifer Fuqua
  
• Book Review: Robert Halpern’s Critical Issues in After-School Programming by Ivana Espine

Visit Robert Bowne Foundation for this Publication and much more

Published: 2008

This guide is intended to help educators, out-of-school time (OST) program providers, and school and district administrators structure academically focused out-of-school time programs. OST is an opportunity to supplement learning from the school day and provide targeted assistance to students whose needs extend beyond what they can receive in the classroom.

With an increasing focus on school accountability and student performance, OST can play a meaningful role in improving academic achievement and closing the gap between low- and high-performing students. Although OST programs operate nationwide, disagreement about which aspects of these programs are beneficial for student achievement remains. This practice guide includes concrete  recommendations for structuring an effective academically oriented OST program, and it illustrates the quality of the evidence that
supports these recommendations. The guide also acknowledges possible implementation challenges and suggests solutions for circumventing the roadblocks.

Published: July, 2009

Child Trends produced this Guide to assist funders, administrators, and practitioners in identifying and navigating online resources to find evidence-based programs that may be appropriate for their target populations and communities.3 The Guide offers an overview of 21 of these resources—11 searchable online databases, 2 online interactive summaries, and 8 online documents—that offer information on a range of evidence-based, intervention programs. These programs include, but are not limited to, out-of-school time programs. Issues to consider while reviewing these online resources and ways to determine where particular programs lie on a continuum of evidence are discussed.

Published: July 26, 2009

This report describes the first-year implementation of the Beacon Community Centers Middle School Initiative, launched in September 2007 by the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). The initiative enrolls participants in grades 5-8 in structured programming developed and delivered by New York City’s 80 Beacon Community Centers to meet the needs of these youth. Reflecting recent research on the importance of support for under-served middle-grades youth, the Middle School Initiative offers activities and services to enhance the intellectual, physical, emotional, and social growth of young adolescents.

Published: May, 2009

Agreeing on the core competencies staff need to effectively do their jobs is a valuable step in making decisions regarding the design and selection of professional development activities. There are a number of organizations in the field of afterschool that have been working to identify these core competencies. While there is not one definitive competencies framework, reviewers will note a striking similarity between them. This document draws from that work and does not seek to supersede or replace those ideas. This document is a guide designed to be used in conjunction with other existing resources to help program staff and supervisors improve their practice and program quality.

Published: March, 2009

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The Florida Afterschool Network’s (FAN) standards for Quality Afterschool Programs define the principles and practices that lead to the delivery of quality programming for children of elementary school grade levels. The standards provide a framework for the development of a caring, dynamic, stimulating and safe environment for children and youth. Research-based outcomes for such programs include: children and youth who are connected and engaged; parents who feel their children are safe and secure; and families who have a sense of pride and ownership of the program.

Published date unknown

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• School Age/Youth Core Knowledge Areas: There are nine core knowledge areas. Each area contains a basic level and an advanced level of requirements to be met depending on which level you hope to meet.
• Professional credential levels: There are six levels from basic to advanced which are described in the chart and referenced throughout the document. These levels are also located within the application packet.
• “Bridges to Excellence” School Age-Youth Credential Application Packet. You will have all you need to submit a request for a credential at the level for which you qualify.
• A copy of the credential signed by the director of the Credential Office and the Manager of the State Department of Human Services.

Published: January, 2005

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