Continuous Quality Improvement in Afterschool Settings: Impact Findings from the Youth Program Quality Intervention Study

January 1, 2012
Charles Smith, Tom Akiva, Samantha Sugar, and Thomas Devaney

The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality conducted a three year intervention study to examine the Youth Program Quality Intervention (YPQI). The YPQI is a data-driven continuous improvement model for school and community-based sites serving youth during afterschool hours.

Quality and Accountability in the Out-of-School Time Sector

March 1, 2009
Charles Smith, Thomas J. Devaney, Tom Akiva, and Samantha A. Sugar

In the fragmented OST sector, defining and measuring quality in terms of staff behaviors provides a common framework that can reduce obstacles to performance improvement and streamline data-driven accountability. This chapter views the point of service as the critical unit of study because it is ubiquitous across OST programs and because it is the place where key developmental experiences are intentionally delivered.

Quality Accountability: Improving Fidelity of Broad Developmentally Focused Interventions

June 26, 2008
Charles Smith and Tom Akiva

This chapter describes the Youth Program Quality Intervention (YPQI), a setting-level intervention model designed to raise quality in out-of-school time programs. The YPQI takes managers and staff from a network of youth programs through a process of identifying and addressing strengths and areas for improvement, using a standardized assessment tool.

Quality in the Out-of-School Time Sector: Insights from the Youth PQA Validation Study

March 26, 2006
Charles Smith, Tom Akiva, and Brenda Henry

Design theory and formative evidence to describe setting dynamics at two distinct levels, (1) the organization-level where professional learning communities are formed and (2) point-of-service level (e.g., classrooms) where professional staff and learners meet.