ERIC Number: EJ1120616
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 9
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-None
EISSN: N/A
Measuring Program Quality: Evidence of the Scientific Validity of the Assessment of Program Practices Tool
Tracy, Allison; Charmaraman, Linda; Ceder, Ineke; Richer, Amanda; Surr, Wendy
Afterschool Matters, n24 p3-11 Fall 2016
Out-of-school time (OST) youth programs are inherently difficult to assess. They are often very dynamic: Many youth interact with one another and with staff members in various physical environments. Despite the challenge, measuring quality is critical to help program directors and policy makers identify where to improve and how to support those improvements. This article describes recent research on the Assessment of Program Practices Tool (APT), establishing its strength as an evaluation and tracking tool for OST programs. The validation was conducted in two phases. The first phase was designed to evaluate the scientific rigor of the tool. Based on the findings from the first phase, the second aimed to inform improvements in the tool and its training. The testing so far shows that online video-based training needs to be more specialized in order to improve rating reliability for high-stakes users, such as third-party evaluators.
Descriptors: After School Programs, Program Evaluation, Educational Quality, Youth Programs, Measurement, Program Effectiveness, Reliability, Pretests Posttests, Interrater Reliability, Predictive Validity, Student Surveys, Scores, Outcomes of Education, Training, Training Objectives, Data Collection, Video Technology, Accuracy, Feedback (Response), Program Improvement, Cultural Differences, Elementary School Students, Middle School Students, Observation
National Institute on Out-of-School Time. Wellesley Centers for Women, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481. Tel: 781-283-2547; Fax: 781-283-3657; e-mail: niost@wellesley.edu; Web site: http://www.niost.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Boston)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A