Why Quality? Why Evaluate? Stephen Baker, PhD

Taking the temperature Don’t forget: You can copy- paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll. Poll: Are you convinced that evaluating qualit...

Chapin Hall/Prime Time Quality Improvement System pilot and expansion Use of outside providers as “enhancements” (now Extended Learning Opportunities) in after school programs Transition from program-based to family- based funding mechanism Palm Beach County Afterschool Educator Certificate

Multiple focus areas for quality assessment Organizations Programs Participating youth Practitioners

Practitioner example from Palm Beach County School Age Professional Certificate (SAPC) with the Palm Beach County Afterschool Educator (PBC-AEC) Curriculum – AKA: “Educator” Professional Development as mechanism for improving quality – Training  Quality  Retention  Quality

“Educator” Fall 2009 to present; 14+ cohorts; 300+ participants AYD pre-requisite 80 hours of training Offered through Palm Beach State College Front-line staff and supervisors Initial goals included increasing: practitioner knowledge, skill, retention, pursuit of higher education

Data sources Interviews and focus groups Surveys (Pre, Post, Follow-up) – Attitudes/beliefs – Intentions to stay or leave – Attribution to AEC/SAPC Administrative data – employment histories

Effect on practitioners? Greater job satisfaction Greater intent to stay in afterschool field Greater and more positive professional identity Increased sense of efficacy with youth Improved work relationships** New and valued outside relationships Higher job retention ** Not in all cases….

Why invest in practitioner quality & evaluation? Autonomy Mastery Purpose “It’s one thing when you’re…really just doing a job and it’s another thing when you’re doing a job and you’re really well trained and you can handle situations and children and parents in a better manner and in an easier way because you’ve been trained to do it.”

Evaluating Quality of A Presentation on Quality Don’t forget: You can copy- paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll. Poll: Are you convinced that afterschool quali...