Program Quality provides reports and resources aimed to assist organizations in addressing the standards of quality in their programs.

Efforts to Improve After-School Program Quality (The Chapin Hall Alert)

To strengthen the quality of local after-school programs, the Prime Time

Initiative in Palm Beach County, Fla., launched a quality improvement project in 38 after-school programs serving elementary and middle-school students. This Chapin Hall report discusses Prime Time's evaluation effort and the initiative's continuing challenges. Click here to read the full report.

Measuring Youth Program Quality: A Guide to Assessment Tools

Measuring Youth Program Quality compares the purpose, history, structure, methodology, content and technical properties of nine different program observation tools. It provides useful guidance to practitioners, policy makers, researchers and evaluators as to what options are available and what issues to consider when selecting and using a tool to measure and improve program quality.  Click here for more information.

Building Quality Improvement Systems: Lessons from Three Emerging Efforts in the Youth-Serving Sector

Quality is fast becoming a policy priority in states and localities around the country. This report provides a preliminary framework for thinking about key questions when planning any kind of program quality improvement work in the youth-serving sector.  To do this, it looks at emerging quality improvement efforts in three networks: Girls Incorporated, Michigan 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and YouthNet of Greater Kansas City.  Click here for more information.

Harvard Family Research Project New Publication (HFRP Listserv)

The Harvard Family Research Project has just released a new brief: Summer Success: Challenges and Strategies in Creating Quality Academically Focused Summer Programs. Learn about 7 common challenges programs face in achieving quality, and discover promising and innovative strategies for overcoming these challenges. Click here to access the brief on-line.

Exploring Quality Standards for Middle School After School Programs: What We Know and What We Need to Know Summit  (HFRP Website)

On December 9, 2005, Harvard Family Research Project and the National Institute for Out-of-School Time cohosted a 1-day summit entitled Exploring Quality Standards for Middle School After School Programs: What We Know and What We Need to Know at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This summit brought together after school staff, administrators, researchers, and funders to discuss how quality assessment looks and feels different for after school programs that serve middle school youth.  Click here to learn more and to read documents that summarize the discussions leading up to the summit, what was learned at the summit, and future directions for policy, practice, and research.

Youth Program Quality Assessment (PQA)  (High Scope Website)

The Youth PQA is a validated instrument designed by the High Scope Educational Research Foundation to evaluate the quality of youth programs and identify staff training needs. It has been used in community organizations, schools, camps, and other places where youth have fun, work, and learn with adults. The Youth PQA evaluates four key dimensions of the quality of youth experiences (see graphic) as youth attend workshops and classes, complete group projects, and participate in meetings and regular program activities. The Instrument Validation Study was funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation.  Click here to learn more about the PQA.

Click here to read an article by Karen Pittman, Executive Director of the Forum for Youth Investment, describing why the Youth PQA makes such a critical contribution to youth programs nationwide.