The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
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Seattle School District's Community Alignment Initiative
Sara Tenney-Espinosa, of the Seattle School District, describes the evaluation goals and early findings from a collaboration between the district and local after school providers.
Health and Sports/Recreation Program Evaluations
The Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) Out-of-School Time Program Evaluation Bibliography and Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database both provide information on evaluations that have been conducted on sports/recreation and health-related out-of-school time (OST) programs, among other categories.
Beyond School Hours VIII Annual Conference
Priscilla Little presented the workshop Learning What Works: An Evaluation Overview, providing an overview of what we know about after school evaluation. It examines how programs are collecting meaningful data for accountability and program improvement and what they are finding.
Understanding and Evaluating Family Engagement in Out-of-School Time (Workshop)
Engaging with families is one of the many strategies that out-of-school time (OST) programs use to create quality, adult-supervised experiences for youth during nonschool hours. This workshop introduced participants to the latest research and evaluation findings on family involvement in OST programs, and shared strategies for engaging with families, using two case studies to illustrate these practices in context.
The National Youth Participation Study: Using Online Surveys to Reach Large Numbers of Youth
Lynne Borden, from the University of Arizona, describes the use of online surveys in a national study of the out-of-school time activity participation of middle and high school youth.
Promoting Quality Through Professional Development: A Framework for Evaluation
Recognizing the critical role that staff play in promoting quality OST programs, in this brief we examine OST professional development efforts and offer a framework for their evaluation.
Understanding and Measuring Attendance in Out-of-School Time Programs
This brief reviews developmental research and out-of-school time program evaluations to examine three research-based indicators of attendance—intensity, duration, and breadth—offering different models for how attendance in out-of-school time programs can influence youth outcomes.
Detangling Data Collection: Methods for Gathering Data
This Snapshot describes the common data collection methods used by current out-of-school time programs to evaluate their implementation and outcomes.
Moving Beyond the Barriers: Attracting and Sustaining Youth Participation in Out-of-School Time Programs
This brief culls information from several implementation and impact evaluations of out-of-school time programs to develop a set of promising strategies to attract and sustain youth participation in the programs.
21st Century Community Learning Centers Summer Institute
This workshop, Redefining After School Programs to Support Student Achievement, provides an overview of current evaluation research, describes elements of effective after school programs, and discusses a theory of change approach to designing and implementing effective after school programs.
Leveraging Resources to Promote Positive School-CBO Relationships
This article in the Spring 2004 edition of Afterschool Matters (pp. 15–23) uses information in our Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database to examine how community-based organizations and schools can work together to build and leverage resources in creating successful after school programming.
Engaging With Families in Out-of-School Time Learning
This Snapshot provides an overview of how researchers are evaluating out-of-school time programs’ engagement with families.
Quality Youth Interventions Through Community Assessment: Evaluation of the School Success Profile Intervention Package
Gary L. Bowen from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill describes the evaluation of an intervention system that uses assessment to design and implement high quality individualized youth services.
Getting Inside the “Black Box” to Measure Program Quality
Nicole Yohalem, Karen Pittman, and Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom from the Forum for Youth Investment provide an overview of program quality assessment tools.
New & Noteworthy: Expanded Web Only Version
This web only version of the New & Noteworthy section features an expanded annotated list of organizations and initiatives related to the issue's theme of Evaluating Out-of-School Time Program Quality.
Building Quality in Out-of-School Time in the United Kingdom
Ian Fordham, Pam Boyd, and Tony Apicella of ContinYou, a leading youth development organization in the United Kingdom, describe their efforts to improve quality in OST programming nationwide.
Promoting Quality Out-of-School Time Programs Through Professional Development
Suzanne Bouffard from HFRP discusses how staff development initiatives and evaluations contribute to quality youth programming.
Designing Quality Assessment Tools in Early Childhood Education and Youth Development
Ted Jurkiewicz and Charles Hohmann from the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation describe the design of High/Scope's new Youth Program Quality Assessment tool.
Learning From Organizations That Learn
Four experts in the out-of-school time field discuss their experiences using evaluation for program improvement.
Extracting Evaluation Lessons From Four Recent Out-of-School Time Program Evaluations
Thomas J. Kane from the University of California, Los Angeles, distills lessons for future research from his review of four recent after school program evaluations.
Promising Approaches to Evaluating Out-of-School Time Program Quality
Christopher Wimer from HFRP describes three promising methodological approaches to studying program quality in the OST arena.
Meaningful Assessment and Continuous Improvement: Using the Foundations Quality Assurance System
Claudia Weisburd and Rhe McLaughlin of Foundations, Inc., describe their Quality Assurance System for program improvement.
Using Technology to Link Evaluation and Funding: San Francisco’s Contract Management System
Tajel Shah and Nani Coloretti of the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families describe a web-based contract management system for youth programs.
Program Evaluation Across the Nation Using Technology
Sarah Levin Martin, currently with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, describes an innovative, cost-effective way to collect and report evaluation data for program quality improvement.
Evaluating Out-of-School Time Program Quality
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange is the fourth devoted to exploring issues in the out-of-school time (OST) field. Its focus is assessing and improving the quality of out-of-school time and youth development programs. Articles cover innovative methodologies and new technology systems for assessing quality, strategies for recruitment and retention, and understanding and measuring participation.