Tool for Assessing Afterschool and Out of School Time Programs

OK, so this tool isn't technically an evaluation tool, but I think it is something that could be quite useful to mentoring, afterschool, and other youth-serving programs.

The Program Quality Self-Assessment (QSA) was developed by the New York State Afterschool Network to help out-of-school time program providers assess the quality of their programs and assist staff and stakeholders in creating an action plan for continuous program improvement.

According to the NYSAN website: "The QSA Tool is a resource that builds upon the experience, knowledge, and research of afterschool practitioners and policymakers from across the country. At first glance, the tool may appear daunting, but don’t shy away. It’s called a “tool” because it is meant to help your organization grow, and is designed to be tailored according to your needs. How you use it depends on your organization’s needs, strengths, challenges, maturity, and capacity. It is not meant to be a device for judging the program as “good” or “bad,” and it is not a monitoring tool! Rather, the QSA Tool should serve as a guide for making every part of your program the best that it can be. The key value of the QSA Tool is to engage staff, youth, and other stakeholders in authentic discussions about how to continuously improve your afterschool program."

The complete tool and a comprehensive user guide can all be found at:
http://www.nysan.org/userfiles/file/nysan/index.html