One of the most important steps in any asset-building program is evaluation. Often, however, this step occurs only at the end of a program, and it can be difficult to determine what should be done with the information to improve the program next time around.
The Weikart Center is an innovative group focused on helping youth-serving organizations evaluate their programs at the point of service, then build improvement plans to modify programs. This sort of assessment is not simply an annual evaluation, but an ongoing intervention involving assessment, program improvement planning, training, and improvement.
The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality is a Ready by 21 technical partner and the creator of the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA). According to the center’s Web site, the YPQA “is a validated instrument designed to evaluate the quality of youth programs and identify staff training needs.”
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It is used in schools, camps, community organizations, and a variety of other organizations where youth and adults come together to work, learn, and play. The YPQA is a way for leaders and their staffs to come to understand what is really going on in their programs and identify potential growth areas.
The YPQA assesses programs for high quality practices in four critical areas: safe environment, supportive environment, interaction, and engagement, by gathering evidence through observation and interviews. Staff members or outside specialists take notes while they observe youth activities and interview program administrators. With this evidence, the program is scored and receives an overall program quality profile.
The YMCA of Greater Seattle is an asset-building organization with a long history of positive youth development work. According to Associate Executive Director Jessica Paul Werner, the organization has used the Developmental Assets in their youth programming since the early 1990s.
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“In many of our childcare and school-aged-care programs, assets are identified on the weekly curriculum. In teen programs, assets are an integral part of training for youth work. They are the positive youth development framework we turn to.”
Chosen as one of nine community based organizations in the Seattle area to participate in a pilot project through the Raikes Foundation, the YMCA of Greater Seattle implemented the YPQA process at one of their community learning center sites about a year ago. “Last spring we self- and externally assessed a number of our activities at this site, then had the opportunity to plan with the data we found for improvements,” said Werner.
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“After training over the summer, in the fall, our directors at the site were able to implement small and large changes to improve programming.” Due to the success at this site, they have launched a much larger pilot, with over 20 sites and programs involved and nearly 50 assessments in the works at various sites.
Based on the experience the YMCA of Greater Seattle has had with the YPQA thus far, Werner recommends the process to other YMCAs and youth-serving organizations. “The most exciting part of this work to me is the opportunity for peer-to-peer and cross-site learning,” said Werner. “Having peers come in to observe your program and give you feedback, while at the same time taking your successes and highlights back to influence their own programming is really exciting and something that we often don’t have time for.”
Werner feels that the Developmental Assets are central to what they are measuring with the YPQA. “I see the YPQA being a way to measure whether we are ‘practicing what we preach,’” said Werner. “If we truly do base our programs in Developmental Assets and strive to build Developmental Assets in our young people, the YPQA provides a mechanism to measure whether we are doing the things in programs that do actually build assets.”
Yet, Werner cautions against depending too much on one form of evaluation. “The YPQA does not eliminate the need for outcome measurement tools such as surveying young people about program impact, but it does give us a broader picture of our program quality which we can use to make decisions and improve programs.”
The evaluation process of the effectiveness of programs is what keeps positive youth development moving forward and evolving. As programs are proven effective, they begin to spread to other organizations around the country; and as others are shown to be less effective, they are shelved in favor of more successful programs. The Weikart Center’s Youth Program Quality Assessment is one of the tools that is leading the way toward more effective youth programs and increased accountability of program staff.
To find out more about the Weikart Center, visit www.cypq.org.
