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A Profile of the Evaluation of Virtual Y

Program Description

Overview	Virtual Y is an initiative that brings YMCA after school programs and staff into New York City public elementary schools to provide youth with safe, fun-filled, and challenging activities between the hours of 3 and 6pm. It offers support for classroom learning by extending the school day and helping children achieve reading proficiency through literacy-based activities. Virtual Y is committed to building the spirit, mind, and body of all participating children and to enriching community, family, and school.
Start Date	1997
Scope	local
Type	after school
Location	urban
Setting	public school
Participants	elementary students

Number of Sites/Grantees	66 Virtual Ys during 1997–1998, 100 Virtual Ys during 1998–1999, and 104 Virtual Ys during 1999–2000
Number Served	8,000 during the 1999–2000 school year
Components	Virtual Y offers support for classroom learning by extending the school day and helping children achieve reading proficiency through literacy-based activities. Each site enrolls at least 50 second through fourth graders at no cost to students. Children attend five days a week. All activities include a reading enhancement component. Children are also taught the four core YMCA values: respect, responsibility, honesty, and caring.
Funding Level	$5.5 million
Funding Sources	Private donors, both individual and corporate including: AT&T, Chase Manhattan Bank, Kraft, NYNEX, the Equitable Foundation, and the Calder Foundation

Evaluation

Overview	Annual evaluation reports have been produced each year since the program's inception. Four reports are issued each year: needs assessment, implementation, behavioral outcomes, and academic outcomes.
Evaluator	National Center for Schools and Communities, Fordham University
Evaluations Profiled	1999–00 Program Implementation Report Impact of the Virtual Y on Children's Classroom Behavior: Program Year 1999–00 Preliminary Analysis of Virtual Y After-School Program Participants' Patterns of School Attendance and Academic Performance, Final Evaluation Report, Program Year 1999–2000
Evaluations Planned	Fordham University is conducting additional analysis of the Virtual Y evaluation data using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. This new report should be available in the fall of 2003.
Report Availability	Foley, E. M., & Eddins, G. (2001). Preliminary analysis of Virtual Y After-School Program participants' patterns of school attendance and academic performance. Final evaluation report program year 1999–2000. New York: National Center for Schools and Communities, Fordham University. Foley, E. M., & Eddins, G. (2001). Impact of the Virtual Y on children's classroom behavior: Program year 1999–2000. New York: National Center for Schools and Communities, Fordham University. Foley, E. M., & Eddins, G. (2000). Virtual Y: 1999–00 program implementation report. New York: National Center for Schools and Communities, Fordham University.

Contacts

Evaluation	Gillian Eddins Senior Research Associate National Center for Schools and Communities Fordham University 33 West 60th St, 8th floor New York, NY 10023 Tel: 212-636-6697 Email: eddins@fordham.edu
Program	Wanda Milton YMCA of Greater New York 333 Seventh Avenue, 15th Floor New York, NY 10001 Tel: 212-630-9697 Fax: 212-630-9725 Email: wmilton@ymcanyc.org
Profile Updated	July 9, 2003

Evaluation 1: 1999–00 Program Implementation Report

Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose	To assess the Virtual Y against National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA) standards of excellence in programming, to identify features that appear to promote and impede excellence and participation in the program, and to compare program functioning across years, where data are available.
Evaluation Design	Non-Experimental: Data were collected from 88 sites.
Data Collection Methods	Interviews/Focus Groups: Focus groups were conducted with branch supervisors who oversee multiple Virtual Y programs. Participants were asked to identify roadblocks to quality and to propose solutions. Focus groups were conducted with parents to gather information about their perceptions of the program, staffing, and the program's influence on children's academic and psychosocial development, parent involvement, and program implementation. Observation: Every year of the study, research staff made daylong visits to a variety of program sites to conduct observations. One site was selected for intensive analysis and was observed weekly. Secondary Source/Data Review: Staff and child attendance records were collected monthly from October 1999 through June 2000. Surveys/Questionnaires: Surveys were administered to Virtual Y coordinators and counselors, school principals, and parents of program participants in the spring of each program year. The surveys integrated aspects of the NSACA standards of excellence in programming.

Findings:
Formative/Process Findings

Activity Implementation	In open-ended survey questions, program stakeholders (parents, staff, and school principals) acknowledged that Virtual Y children were sometimes bored and unchallenged by program activities and agreed on the importance of improving the quality of staff and program activities and on enhancing communication among program staff, parents, and teachers. Moving forward with increasingly concrete and experiential training activities, obtaining adequate space for programming, achieving timely delivery of program supplies, and serving better tasting and more substantial snacks were also goals highlighted by program stakeholder survey data.
Recruitment/Participation	Of 5,905 children who started the program in 1999–2000 (i.e., attended one day), 66% persisted throughout the program year. In 1998–1999, 65% of children participated throughout the program year. In 1999–2000, children attended 80% of the sessions for which they were registered, compared to 73% in 1998–1999. In 1999–2000 and earlier, children who attended the program most regularly stayed in the program the longest. Higher principal ratings were the best predictors of higher staff and student program attendance and staff and student persistence in the program in 1998–1999 and 1999–2000. In 1999–2000, parent ratings and staff satisfaction were also good predictors. In all three years, higher student attendance and persistence were associated with greater numbers of paraprofessionals and non-Board of Education employees on staff. Both student attendance and persistence were lower as the number of Board of Education teachers and non-pedagogical Board of Education staff employed at the site increased. Higher staff satisfaction was associated with lower staff turnover, higher staff attendance, and higher child attendance in 1999–2000.
Satisfaction	Principals, parents, and program staff rated the program positively against NSACA quality standards-above three points on a four-point scale where 1=Never true of this program and 4=Always true of this program.
Staffing/Training	The student-to-staff ratio in 1999–2000 was 12 students to one staff member, lower than the 1998–1999 ratio of 13 students to one staff member, but higher than the desired 10 students to one staff member. A majority of staff was employed by the Board of Education concurrent with their Virtual Y position. In 1999–2000, Board of Education employees working in the Virtual Y generally felt less capable of doing their Virtual Y job than non-Board of Education employees. The vast majority of Virtual Y staff had at least two years of college. (It is worth noting, however, that branch supervisors felt that aptitude for and experience working with children and youth were better predictors of job effectiveness than a formal education.) Almost half of the staff spoke a language other than English; overwhelmingly this language was Spanish. The typical age of staff members was between 20 and 29 years old. In 1999–2000, most staff reported their ethnicity as African American or Hispanic. Most staff members were female. As in prior years, most staff reported satisfaction with their jobs, and they reported confidence in their abilities to do those jobs. Twenty-one percent of counselors—those who work directly with children—found the workload heavy in 1999–2000 compared with 26% in 1998–1999. Fifty-one percent of coordinators—those who manage individual sites—found the workload heavy in 1999–2000 compared with 60% in 1998–1999. Most Virtual Y supervisors—those who oversee multiple sites—found the workload manageable in 1999–2000. In previous years, most found the workload unmanageable. Coordinators were absent about one day every two months and counselors were absent about one day every month, similar to 1998–1999 findings. The annual turnover rate for coordinators is almost half of the 31% annual turnover rate for counselors, slightly higher than in 1998–1999. Over half of the coordinators and counselors stated that they planned to return to the program in the following year, a higher percentage than in 1998–1999. Well over half of coordinators and a third of counselors responded that they had the same job one year ago, considerably more than in 1998–1999.

A Profile of the Evaluation of Virtual Y

Profile Information