This challenging workshop is intended for participants who will serve as new reliable external assessors, supporting the Youth Program Quality Improvement (YPQI) approach. Participants must have completed PQA Basics prior to attending and complete a pre-workshop homework assignment. To become reliable assessors, participants must meet rigorous standards that require in-depth exploration of the Program Quality Assessment (PQA) through observation and scoring practice. The workshop culminates in a video reliability check where participants must achieve a score of 80% or higher for the Youth or School-Age PQA to become endorsed. Participants who reach reliability are able to collect research quality data and conduct external assessments for two years from their date of endorsement. In addition to the workshop, external assessors receive access to comprehensive supports, including an optional continuing education process that is available to complete once they've been endorsed.

Anyone who will be conducting external assessments as part of a quality assessment and improvement process should attend this workshop. This workshop is also recommended for coaches or network advisors that will be working with sites to complete the self-assessment process or to implement improvement plans.