scholarly journals The Choices, Challenges, and Lessons Learned from a Multi-Method Social-Emotional / Character Assessment in and Out of School Time Setting

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie B. Shapiro ◽  
Sarah Accomazzo ◽  
Jennette Claassen ◽  
Jennifer L. Fleming Robitaille
Keyword(s):  
Character Development ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Behavior Rating Scale ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
Character Assessment ◽  
Out Of School

Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs are increasingly recognized as a venue to actively engage children and youth in character development activities, but little guidance exists as to how to assess individual children and youth in OST environments for the sake of evaluating their character development. This research brief uses an illustrative case study to reflect upon the experience of selecting and completing a strength-based, multi-modal social-emotional / character assessment that used a direct assessment and a multiple informant behavior rating scale in an OST setting. Insights derived from the case study reveal opportunities and challenges associated with each assessment modality. This paper shares lessons learned with those conducting individual assessments in OST environments and with those seeking to improve our capacity to complete screening, formative, and summative assessments of social-emotional and character constructs in OST youth development programs to help children. 

The Promise of Building Equitable Ecosystems for Learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 004208592092623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Akiva ◽  
Lori Delale-O’Connor ◽  
Karen J. Pittman
Keyword(s):  
Educational Practice ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
School Learning ◽  
Learning Ecosystem ◽  
Out Of School

Children and youth learn across settings; however, U.S. educational practice and policy frequently equates learning with formal schooling. This perspective overlooks the growth in structured out-of-school learning programs and the opportunities they provide for addressing educational inequities for marginalized students. In this article, we link the literatures on out-of-school time and educator expertise with historical and contemporary understandings of disparities in urban educational contexts to argue for a learning ecosystem approach that addresses racial and economic inequities embedded across settings. Drawing from these literatures, we propose ways to disentangle learning and education from formal schooling to center and promote equity.

scholarly journals Sustainability, Spread, and Shift: Developing a Professional Learning Program for Out-of-School Educators With Scale-Up in Mind

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Peterman ◽  
Jane Robertson Evia ◽  
Sue Allen ◽  
Scott C. Byrd ◽  
Brittney Nickerson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
Out Of School

This case study describes the iterative process used to develop a virtual coaching program for out-of-school-time (OST) educators, particularly those who work in afterschool and library settings. The program, called ACRES (Afterschool Coaching for Reflective Educators in STEM), used a design-based implementation research (DBIR) approach to consider issues related to scale-up. Afterschool and library settings are complex systems that include supports and barriers that require adaptation for implementation. Throughout the design process, program developers worked to identify the essential elements of the program that should be maintained across contexts, while attending to the diverse needs of individual OST settings. Survey and interview data were collected from the full range of stakeholders throughout the implementation process to verify the importance of the essential elements to the professional learning model, and to gather early indicators of the program’s potential related to three key concepts for successful scale-up of programs: sustainability, spread, and shift. Conclusions are shared in relation to how these types of results support the scale-up of programs, and the strengths and gaps in the process used to apply the DBIR approach in our work.

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