PASE | Programs - Outcomes

Through Quality Outcomes for Out of School Time (QUOST), PASE reaches organizations throughout New York City and the country to increase their awareness and understanding of the need to identify and measure outcomes, as well as their capacity to identify and measure appropriate outcomes for their programs.

the Afterschool Outcomes Institute, an intensive four-session training;
ongoing communication to raise awareness and understanding of outcomes measurement within afterschool program staff;
national work via conferences and trainings;
review and standardization (refinement and/or development) of instruments to measure social and emotional development; and
roundtable discussions with key stakeholders, including principals, corporate executives, parents, and more.

UOST focuses on small to medium-sized organizations providing services to low-income children and families, increasing their ability to identify, measure, and communicate appropriate outcomes for their afterschool programs.

In conversations with funders, researchers, and afterschool practitioners, PASE consistently hears that the matter of outcomes is the question both of the moment and of the future.

ccountability, appropriateness, and adaptable methodologies are critical issues facing the field, and the organizations serving the country’s young people in out of school time vary widely in their ability and preparedness to tackle these challenges. The understanding of afterschool education’s benefits, outcomes, and crucial nature for youth, particularly those from low-income communities, also varies widely among key stakeholders outside the field.

increase awareness of afterschool education as an essential part of young people’s healthy development and success
increase awareness and understanding of the need to identify and measure appropriate outcomes for afterschool education
increase the ability of afterschool staff to identify and measure appropriate outcomes for their programs

increase support for afterschool education and outcomes measurement by key stakeholders within and outside the field

PASE, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Halpern of the Erikson Institute in Chicago, the Booth Ferris and Altman Foundations, and leading researchers, evaluators, and practitioners across the country, has embarked on a multi-year and multi-tiered project to ensure that the expectations and outcomes we hold for afterschool programs are properly focused on the developmental needs of young people and are matched to the opportunities that afterschool programs are uniquely positioned to offer.

In summer 2004, PASE commissioned a paper by Dr. Halpern to serve as a launching point for the project. In his paper, “Confronting the Big Lie: The Need to Reframe Expectations of Afterschool Programs,” Dr. Halpern examines the trend toward aligning afterschool programs with academic achievement, arguing the need to abandon this path and instead focus on developing expectations for afterschool programs based on the examination of the field as a “historically distinct child development institution” and as a “normative developmental support.” He argues, “afterschool programs are well-suited to providing the types and qualities of developmental experiences that other institutions (i.e. the schools and public play spaces) can no longer provide most low- and moderate-income children.”

In February 2005, PASE convened a group of national leaders in the field to discuss Dr. Halpern's paper and the questions it raised about the state of the field. During the two days, researchers, evaluators, funders and practitioners were able to share concerns from their unique points of view about how to balance the need for intense research and planning in this area without jeopardizing the crucial work that is currently be conducted and evaluated. From this energizing two-day working session, a working group (see attached list of members) was established to continue the work outlined by this larger national group.

Since that time, PASE and the Reframing Expectations Working Group have donated much time and energy to this project, developing and working towards the following three recommendations: