Quality Assessment and Improvement

As the youth development and out-of-school time fields expand and mature, practitioners, policy makers and researchers are increasingly rallying around the importance of assessing and improving program quality. A range of tools is now available to support these efforts.

In this commentary, we compile lessons learned about building quality improvement systems for OST programs, based on emerging research and increasing activity in the field. We also take readers to two places – the state of Michigan and the city of Chicago – where implementation of this model is underway with promising results.

After-school programs can have a positive impact on academic, social and emotional outcomes. Not all programs do, however, which makes quality a top priority for practice and policy. At Making a Difference in After School - Measuring and Improving After School Quality, Nicole Yohalem and Bob Granger of the William T.

Program quality assessment and improvement continue to be central themes in the after-school and youth development fields. In March 2007 we released the first edition of this report comparing the purpose, history, structure, methodology, content and technical properties of different program observation tools.

On October 20-21, Nicole Yohalem presented four workshops at The Bridge From School to Afterschool and Back Conference, sponsored by School's Out Washington. Nicole's sessions focused on Assessing and Improving Youth Program Quality.

Austin's Youth Services Mapping System is now being developed and all agencies will be asked to create their profile next spring.