1. An Insider’s Look at Improving Program Quality

2. The Ready by 21 Quality Initiative Forum for Youth Investment & The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Austin one of 11 sites Center for Youth Program Quality (High Scope Educational Research Foundation)

3. C apacity to Assess & Improve Program Quality Assumptions: High-quality programs can influence key developmental outcomes for children and youth. Accurate, accessible data about program quality can influence staff practice and drive planning and decision- making at the system level.

4. Plan Make choices Reflect Partner with adults Lead and mentor Be in small groups Experience belonging Engagement Reframing conflictEncouragement Skill building Active engagement Session flow Welcoming atmosphere Supportive Environment Interaction Safe Environment Healthy food and drinks Program space and furnitureEmergency procedures Psychological and emotional safety Physically safe environment What is Assessed?

5. Sample Score Report

6. Alignment of Professional Development Opportunities

7. You are invited… to join us to improve the quality of youth programs.

8. You can accept by Identifying a person from your staff to be trained as a self-assessor. Training day – October 14 th Commit to assessing organization

9. External Assessor? Identifying a person from your staff to be trained as an external assessor. 3 days of training – October 14 – 16 Assess 3 program offerings

10. Get Assessed Volunteering to have one of your programs assessed After October 16th, there will be external assessors available to complete assessments of program offerings. An assessment takes about 2-hours

11. Final Notes All assessment trainings and assessments are free. There will be a charge of $10 to cover the cost of materials for the professional development sessions.