Investing in Success: Key Strategies for Building Quality in After‐School Programs

Abstract

This paper examines the relation between the implementation quality of after-school literacy activities and student reading gains. The data are from an evaluation of a multi-site after-school program in California in which continuous program quality improvement strategies were implemented to improve the delivery of a new balanced literacy program. Strategies included: (1) targeted staff training throughout the year, (2) regular observations and coaching of staff, and (3) the use of data to measure progress. Programs struggled to successfully implement these strategies early in the initiative, but gradually improved the quality and consistency of their use. Program quality, as measured through observations, also increased. Results suggested that the size of student reading gains were positively correlated with the quality of literacy programming provided by each instructor.

Developing and Improving After‐School Programs to Enhance Youth’s Personal Growth and Adjustment: A Special Issue of AJCP

“…Several articles in this special issue focus on implementation. For example, Sheldon et al (2010) describes efforts to use quality improvement strategies to enhance program implementation in multi-site after-school evaluation in California. As compared with a single point in time initiative, results suggested that program implementation enhancements were associated with ongoing efforts at quality improvement.…”

“…1 is that development is multiply determined by factors within and outside individuals that include the interactions that occur between the individual and multiple environmental/ social contexts (e.g., family, school, peer group, and community factors). For example, the reports by Sheldon et al (2010) and Holleman et al (2010) strongly suggest that the capacity to form collaborative relationships with other community systems and supports that exist between the ASP and community residents and institutions (e.g., families, schools, and other agencies) are critical to program development and success. Likewise, Cornelli Sanderson and Richards (2010) show that developing effective after-school programming requires that efforts be tailored to the needs of multiple stakeholders (e.g., community based organizations, schools, youth, parents) in the particular communities of interest.…”

Evidence‐based fitness promotion in an afterschool setting: Implementation fidelity and its policy implications

“…Taking a broader view of training, research shows that the traditional approach to implementation, consisting of one-time inservice or orientation training followed by informal monitoring of staff progress, rarely produces lasting improvements in staff skill, implementation fidelity, or program quality. 39 By contrast, training approaches that incorporate coaching, where group sessions are replaced or supplemented with ongoing individual modeling, have received support. 40 Improvements in program quality are achieved when continuous, ongoing efforts at quality improvement are employed.…”

More Than Attendance: The Importance of After‐School Program Quality

“…After-school research reflects a variety of approaches to the study of program quality, several of which are represented in the articles in this issue. For example, some researchers focus on overall quality, or the successful implementation of the program design in real-world settings (e.g., Cross et al 2010;Sheldon, Arbreton, Hopkins, and Grossman 2010). Others focus specifically on the features of a program linked to participant outcomes (see Riggs, Bohnert, Guzman, and Davidson 2010;Pierce, Bolt, and Vandell 2010).…”