California Afterschool Outcome Measures Project: Field Test of Measure of Skill Development and Positive Behavior Change
P.I. Deborah Lowe Vandell
Professor and Chair
Pilar O'Cadiz, Ph.D., Research Scientist
Andrea Karsh, Research Scientist
Valerie Hall, Statistician
Afterschool experts have long argued that narrow focus on test scores does not reflect the effectiveness of high-quality afterschool programs. In addition, researchers have been able to document how student participation in high-quality programs improves skill development and positive behavior.
The California Afterschool Outcome Measures Project, with support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the California Department of Education, piloted a battery of reliable and valid assessment measures now available for field testing.
Afterschool programs in California and nationwide are invited to participate in a field test of measures of skill development and positive behavior change that are being considered as alternative assessments of program effectiveness (California Education Code 8484).
Programs participating in the field test can provide feedback about the measures to guide future implementation and will receive free confidential reports of their students’ overall performance on the measures. Online surveys are available for students, program staff, and/or classroom teachers and are completed Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 for pre-/post- administration comparison. Technical assistance is available.
To learn more about the field test and sign up, interested program and site directors should go to the California Afterschool Outcome Measures Project website: http://afterschooloutcomes.org/
Project Researchers are Valerie Hall, Andrea Karsh, and Pilar O'Cadiz.
