Afterschool Program Assessment System (APAS)

 

Who Should Attend:
Afterschool Directors, Supervisors, Curriculum & Education Coordinators, and 21st CCLC Personnel interested in utilizing the APAS system

Prerequisites:
Prior experience in evaluation, including: data collection, program and/or youth outcome assessment

Important:
To make sure this course is right for you please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This workshop will prepare you to use APAS - a new, comprehensive evaluation system designed to help afterschool programs improve their program quality and reach their desired outcomes for children and youth. APAS is the only assessment system available that helps aferschool programs link quality and youth outcomes together in a comprehensive, flexible and integrated fashion.

APAS includes two measurement tools - the Survey of Afterschool Youth Outcomes (SAYO) and the Assessing Afterschool Program Practices Tool (APT). The SAYO measures changes in intermediary youth outcomes linked with long-term healthy development and educational success. The APT is an assessment tools that helps programs examine important aspects of program quality linked to the SAYO outcomes.

Together, these user-friendly tools are designed to help afterschool programs improve program quality and focus on appropriate and realistic outcomes for youth. These tools address the accountability challenge that faces afterschool programs.

To read the APAS Brochure, click here.

 What You Will Learn:

  • Which youth outcomes contribute to youths' healthy development and academic success.
  • How the SAYO can help you capture positive changes in youth in a way that is realistic and appropriate.
  • How the APT can help you assess aspects of program quality which are linked to your desired youth outcomes.
  • How to effectively and objectively observe your program in action.
  • Key steps for cusomizing APAS tools to fit your unique program needs.

 

Introducing the APAS

NIOST has received funding to implement the Afterschool Program Assessment System (APAS) in a dozen sites across two communities in 2007-2008. New Jersey School-Age Coalition and Atlanta’s Quality Care for Children are participants in choosing the sites for this initial pilot program.

The APAS Evaluation System has been in development and use for over five years by the Massachusetts Department of Education in 21st Century Community Learning Centers across the state. The APAS system has been extensively piloted and scientifically tested. APAS may be one of the only assessment systems available that helps programs link quality and youth outcomes together in a comprehensive and integrated fashion.

APAS includes two measurement tools-the Survey of Afterschool Youth Outcomes (SAYO) and the Assessing Afterschool Program Practices Tool (APT). Together, these user-friendly, and affordable tools are designed to help afterschool programs improve program quality and focus on appropriate and realistic outcomes for youth. These tools were developed to help address the accountability challenge that faces afterschool programs.

Funding for this eighteen month project for these two communities is provided by the AT&T Family Care Development Fund, a joint project of AT&T, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

Please contact us at 781-283-2547 if you would like additional information.

 

 


The Survey of Afterschool Youth Outcomes (SAYO) measures outcomes in eight areas that research suggests are linked to long-term positive development, and academic and life success. SAYO uses brief pre- and post-participation surveys to collect data from day school teachers and afterschool staff in a “menu” approach. Afterschool programs collect data only on outcomes that are aligned with their goals and practices.

The Assessing Afterschool Program Practices Tool (APT) is designed to complement SAYO by helping programs evaluate and strengthen quality practices that research suggests are linked with SAYO outcomes. APT looks at the overall afterschool program, homework time and activites with two comprehensive tools that combine observation and self-assessment.

 

 

 

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All of our trainings, except for our annual Summer Seminar, are conducted in a location of your choice. Clients arrange a local training event with NIOST that typically draws 20-40 participants. Two NIOST Training Associates plan and deliver the training, while a local sponsor, such as a Resource and Referral Agency, State Government Agency, City Agency, or State or Local Provider Association, coordinates the publicity and logistics. This model allows for maximum local participation. If a client has a small number of potential participants, it may make fiscal sense to send the group to the annual Summer Seminars series in Boston.

Opportunities for individual participants to attend NIOST trainings include our annual Summer Seminar series held in July in Boston. NIOST has been hosting its annual Seminars since 1999. The goal of our Summer Seminars is to provide training for after-school professionals from all over the country which can be attended as individuals. In addition, this series of events allows participants to connect with other professionals outside of their community, and thus create a potential national network among the field.