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.
Select a category below to narrow the list of publications about out-of-school time. Click on a column heading to sort, and then select a title to view the publication. If you are looking for a specific document, topic, or author, visit our Publications & Resources section to conduct an advanced search.
|
All Publications & Resources |
Afterschool Evaluation 101: How to Evaluate an Expanded Learning Program
Afterschool Evaluation 101 is a how-to guide for conducting an evaluation. It is designed to help out-of-school time (OST) program directors who have little or no evaluation experience develop an evaluation strategy. The guide will walk you through the early planning stages, help you select the evaluation design and data collection methods that are best suited to your program, and help you analyze the data and present the results.
An Emerging Assessment of College Preparation, Media, and Arts Programs
Karen Walking Eagle, Sebastian Castrechini, and Monica Mielke from Policy Studies Associates preview a new assessment of programs that connect youth with multiple out-of-school supports to promote future success.
Beyond the Head Count: Evaluating Family Involvement in Out-of-School Time
This brief offers an overview of how out-of-school time programs can evaluate their family involvement strategies and practices. It draws on findings from our OST Evaluation Database, interviews, and email correspondence.
Building a Road Map for OST Collaborations
Dishon Mills from the Boston Public Schools describes a new quality assessment tool that is designed to engage and facilitate collaboration among OST programs, schools, and families.
Building an Evaluation Tool Kit for Professional Development
Jennifer Buher-Kane, Nancy Peter, and Susan Kinnevy of the Center for Research on Youth and Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania share their experience of creating a tool kit designed specifically for those who provide professional development to out-of-school time program staff.
Current Issue - Scaling Impact
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange explores the promising practices and challenges associated with taking an enterprise to scale, along with the role that evaluation can and should play in that process. It is the second in our “hard-to-measure” series, which we inaugurated with our Spring 2007 issue on evaluating advocacy.
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.
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.
Documenting Progress and Demonstrating Results: Evaluating Local Out-of-School Time Programs
A collaboration with the Finance Project, this brief provides practitioners of local out-of-school time programs with techniques, tools, and strategies for improving their program and tracking their effectiveness over time.
Doing What Works: Scientifically Based Research in Education
Suzanne Bouffard of HFRP examines the new science-based research standards brought in by the No Child Left Behind Act.
Efficacy Trials of Promising After School Programs: Supporting Experimental Studies Through a Research Consortium
Michael Vaden-Kiernan and Debra Hughes Jones from SEDL describe a U.S. Department of Education initiative to support rigorous research on the potential of after school programs to affect academic performance.
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.
Evaluating Municipal Out-of-School Time Initiatives
To inform municipal leaders who are developing out-of-school time evaluations, HFRP scanned the city-level initiatives in its evaluation profiles database and prepared this short brief that describes the evaluation approaches, methods, and performance measures that some cities are using for evaluation.
Evaluating Out-of-School Time
This is the third issue of The Evaluation Exchange (Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical) devoted to exploring the challenges and solutions associated with evaluating out-of-school (OST) programs. This issue includes articles on what we know from existing research and evaluation about the results that are possible from OST programming, expert commentary on what the future OST research and evaluation agenda should look like, and information about hands-on research and evaluation tools and resources. It is also includes a special report with expert commentary on the implications of the first year findings in Mathematica's evaluation of the national 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. To read the previous issues on out-of-school time, go to our issue archive.
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.
Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School
This 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.
Framing Program Evaluation: Why We Should Tinker With Theories of Change and Logic Models
While evaluation needs may vary, all organizations can benefit from utilizing theory-based evaluation tools to frame evaluation efforts. This article explores how three organizations developed their program’s theory of change and logic model.
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.
Harnessing Technology in Out-of-School Time Settings
This Snapshot reviews the role of technology in OST programs, highlighting the evaluation methods and findings about implementation and youth outcomes.
Learning for All: The Value of Field Experience in Training a New Generation of Program Evaluators
Field experience in evaluation inquiry is a promising approach to preparing the next generation of evaluators. Learn what one group of student consultants and organizations did to make a field experience in evaluative inquiry a positive one.
Learning from Small-Scale Experimental Evaluations of After School Programs
This Snapshot reviews small-scale experimental evaluations of after school programs, highlighting these studies' evaluation strategies and results.
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.
Measurement Tools for Evaluating Out-of-School Time Programs: An Evaluation Resource
This Snapshot describes instruments used by current out-of-school time programs to evaluate their implementation and outcomes.
Measurement Tools for Evaluating Out-of-School Time Programs: An Evaluation Resource
As part of HFRP's continuing effort to help practitioners and evaluators choose appropriate evaluation methods, this guide describes measurement tools and assessments that can be obtained and used for on-the-ground program evaluation. Whether you are conducting first-time internal evaluations or large-scale national studies, these evaluation instruments can be used to assess the characteristics and outcomes of your programs, staff, and participants, and to collect other key information.
Online Conversations about Scaling Impact—Web Only Resouce
A number of informal conversations are occurring online about this topic (including the implications for evaluation), especially on blogs. This resource provides links to some of these recent conversations, which represent a wide range of views and opinions.