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Extension > Youth Development > Training & Events > Program Assessment 101-Using the YPQA
Learn how to define quality at the point of service (where young people and adults meet inside of a program) and how to use the YPQA tool to assess youth program quality with your staff on your own time. Participants will learn the difference between observational measures and typical survey evaluation. The Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) is a nationally recognized observational measurement tool that provides a valid and reliable way to assess program quality.
How it works:
What you’ll have when you walk away:
Who should attend:
Quality Matters participants ready to self-assess
Facilitators:
Cost: $100
To request this course in your area, contact us
Quality Matters for Program Teams
Create and monitor a plan to improve your program’s quality using a peer-driven, supportive learning process.
Program Quality — The toolkit session
Try out quick, easy practices for staff and training sessions to improve program quality.
Hours of Opportunity
Volume I, Lessons from Five Cities 
(1,594 K PDF)
Volume II, The Power of Data (874 K PDF)
Volume III, Profiles of Five Cities (1650 K PDF)
Susan J. Bodilly, Jennifer Sloan McCombs et al.
This three-volume report examines Wallace-supported efforts in five cities to build systems to improve the quality and accessibility of after-school, summer and other out-of-school time (OST) programs. 2010
Once we know it, we can grow it (710 K PDF)
Joyce Walker, Celia Gran, Deborah Moore
A white paper on how quality matters in multiple dimensions of nonformal learning in the nonschool hours. 2009
Measuring youth program quality: A guide to youth assessment tools
N. Yohalem, A. Wilson-Ahlstrom, S. Fischer and M. Shinn
A guide designed to compare the purpose, structure, content and technical properties of several youth program quality assessment tools. 2007
Building an effective after-school program (275 K PDF)
HighScope Youth
An article on point-of-service quality matters where most young people feel safe, want to show up, and genuine learning occurs. 2007
Program quality indicators (39 K PDF)
M. R. Mueller, et. al.
Journal article providing historical perspective on measures of youth development program quality. 1990
Center for Youth Program Quality
The core mission of the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality is to position point of service quality as a powerful public idea that drives the out-of-school time field towards higher levels of understanding, expectation, and action about the quality of experiences available to youth.
