afterschool program quality h210d class 3 april 9, 2008
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Afterschool Program Quality
H210D Class 3April 9, 2008
Understanding the Customer—Youth Perspective
Chapin Hall and P/PV studies
H210D, Spring 2008
Chapin Hall
• In-depth interviews with 99 tenth graders in Chicago public schools
• Highest and lowest quartiles of OST availability
• What influences choices about participation?
H210D, Spring 2008
• School vs. community services
• Valued personal relationships
• Earlier experience influences later participation
• Indirect peer influences and decisions to remain over time
H210D, Spring 2008
• Neighborhood influences-safety considerations and civic action potential
• Gaps in availability and in compelling activities
H210D, Spring 2008
Adolescents Speak
• Exposure to new ideas, challenges and people
• Comfort, welcome, respect, acceptance
• Freedom from unnecessary rules, inflexible adults, and strict expectations
• Autonomous exploration, interaction and relaxation and fun
H210D, Spring 2008
Implications
• Outreach-schools, relationships and novelty, potential for youth leadership and social potential of activities
• Support for continuous involvement• Staff training—capacity to deal with youth and
organizational capacity building• Youth input and an array of activities different
from school• Importance of developmental perspective • Parent roles
“Youths can become frustrated over time with adults who are not
effective leaders, and do not provide a sense of safety and
structure.”
“This is complicated by the fact that different youth have different
expectation, and respond differently to adults’ styles of interaction, which may lead
young people’s selecting in or out of particular activities at any
given time.”
“…you want to have somebody to care. You don’t want to be there
even though you’re with your friends and you’re having fun,
you’re still with the person who’s in charge of you and who don’t
care. So there’s no point of going if they don’t care about
you.”
H210D, Spring 2008
P/PV study
• Five Philadelphia Beacon centers
• 402 youth surveys, 45 staff surveys and 50 activity observations and open-ended interviews with 16 strong instructors and 22 teen interviews
• What conditions lead to attendance, engagement and youth perceptions of learning?
H210D, Spring 2008
The two most important things for engagement and learning are:
• Effective group management so that youth feel respected by adults and other youth
• Positive adult support for learning and youth engagement
H210D, Spring 2008
Group management
• Youth report they get more from the activity at each step in the learning process and they are more engaged.
• Four behavior management techniques: reasonable ground rules; ongoing positive reinforcement; consistent and fair reinforcement of expectations; firm, not harsh responses, when ground rules broken.
H210D, Spring 2008
Positive Adult Support
• Youth are more engaged, enjoy the experience more, perceived they learned more.
• Level of enjoyment most affected by adult support for middle school youth
• Importance of emotional and instructional support
H210D, Spring 2008
Emotional Support
• Forging trusting relationships
• Learning about youth culture
• Allowing informal socializing
• Taking time to talk with individual youth as needed
H210D, Spring 2008
Instructional Support
• Careful one-on-one instruction
• Challenge youth to move beyond current skill level, balanced feedback with a mix of positive reinforcement and critical assessment of progress.
Youth Voice
The more input or voice participants felt they had in
shaping an activity, the more engaged they felt and the more
they liked the activity.
H210D, Spring 2008
Youth input and agency
• Quantitative and strong instructor results
• Observations: clear expectations on type of youth input and direction on task completion; instructors removed from decision-making and youth craft project or solution; instructors step back, recognize progress and support next steps to carry project to completion
H210D, Spring 2008
Implications
• Intensive focus on high-quality instructional methods keyed to developmental trajectory
• Directors supervision and coaching
• Funder-Quality costs money and need time for quality enhancement and continuous improvement
H210D, Spring 2008
What’s Up Study
• Exploration of participation in five diverse communities (rural and urban high poverty and alternative schools and mental health centers)
• Written surveys and interviews with middle and high school youth (ages 10 to 15) and their parents
H210D, Spring 2008
Findings
• Parents are key in participation and promote or discourage it
• Parents and kids: do well academically and socially and not waiting for activity to fill their time
• Youth want physical and recreational activities and opportunities to socialize with friends
• Those involved have been so from an earlier age
• Uninvolved may be put off by structure in structured programs
How do we merge what we know about quality learning
environments with what young teens want?
H210D, Spring 2008
• Less structure and more connection (the wizard)
• Organic and free-spirited—does it “flow”
H210D, Spring 2008
Walker and Larson
• Tensions in relating to youth in a personal and a professional way
• Reacting intelligently to difficult situations as they arise, situations where competing objectives, values and warrants come into conflict
• Quality hinges on how staff respond to these challenging situations
The demands of being a professional and an authority can come into conflict with those of being a sympathetic participant.
“that’s a really tough thing to learn and figure out: how to really be a friend to young people, how to meet them where they’re at.
But the challenge is to take them where they haven’t been.”
H210D, Spring 2008
KEY TAKE-AWAYS
1. Research points to four critical program quality features:
- Appropriate structure and supervision- Well prepared staff
- Intentional programming - Effective partnerships
2. Quality and participation are two sides of the same coin.
3. Using a program quality assessment tool is essential to support and maintain a quality program.
4. Responsibility for program quality is shared across programs, initiatives, and systems.
H210D, Spring 2008
Quality is …
Quality is shaped by conditions and features that:
Reflect community needs and priorities
Align services to achieve goals and promote sustainability
Encourage regular program attendance . . .
That fosters sustained engagement…
In enriching, structured experiences…
That correspond to important developmental tasks…
That can enhance cognitive, social and physical
H210D, Spring 2008
Process (a.k.a. “point of service”) features examine aspects of the program that directly affect a participant’s experiences:
Youth-adult relationships and interactions, variety in program offerings
Availability of activities that promote sustained cognitive engagement
Opportunities for autonomy and choice The organizational supports necessary to
promote effective staff practices
H210D, Spring 2008
Youth Development Community’s Definition of Quality
Physical and psychological safety
Appropriate structure
Supportive relationships
Opportunities for meaningful youth involvement
Positive social norms
Learning-oriented, with skill-building activities
Balance of autonomy and structure
Connections with school, home and community
From Eccles & Goodman (2002) Community programs to promote youth developments. Washington, DC: National Academy press.
H210D, Spring 2008
Does Program Quality Make a Difference
in Getting Good Outcomes?
YES
H210D, Spring 2008
Quality is possible only when :
• Adequate numbers of participants . . .
• Can be recruited and retained . . .
• To permit the employment of trained, motivated staff . . .
• Who encourage youth attendance at levels of frequency and duration needed . . .
• To promote individual growth
H210D, Spring 2008
Participation is possible only when…
Key features of program quality are in place: Higher director salaries More advanced education credentials Parent liaison on staff Youth reported a greater sense of belonging More positive interactions between youth and staff Higher academic self-esteem Strong academic or arts focus Improved academic performance through enrichment
www.policystudies.com/studies/youth/OST.html
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