Program Quality
The 21st CCLC program utilizes the David P. Weikart Center’s Social and Emotional Learning Program Quality Assessment (SEL PQA) process to support program quality and improvement (known as Youth Program Quality Improvement, or YPQI). This includes internal and external assessments, which site coordinators use to inform program quality improvement goals. The program’s measurable objective for program quality and the SEL PQA was as follows:
- Measurable improvement in relevant sections of the PQA each year, at each site; or an average rating over 4.0.
During the second year of the 21st CCLC Cohort 18 grant in 2023-24, the YPQI process included site coordinator and site staff self-observations and evaluator-conducted external observations in January-February 2024 using the SEL PQA tool. These observations provided a basis for sites’ improvement goals, so coordinators could write improvement goals based on self-observations this year. Coordinators also conducted an informal PQA evaluation in the spring of 2024 to support the continuous improvement process[2].
The results below reflect the scores from external assessments. The program met the objective of an average rating of 4.0 or greater in Safe Space, and not in Supportive Environment, Interactive Environment and Engaging Environment. (See Table 4) (Note: Data relevant to the objective on measurable improvement was not available on 2023-24, as external assessments were not conducted in 2022-23. This will be reported in the future, when data from multiple years has been collected.)
[2] During the first year of the 21st CCLC Cohort 18 grant, 2022-23, an external program quality assessment (PQA) was not required. As a result, data for program quality during the 2022-23 school year was not reported. The local evaluator conducted informal assessments at the request of the Site Coordinators and provided results for their own use.
Table 4. SEL PQA External Assessment Results, 2023-24
| SEL PQA Item | 2023-34 |
|---|---|
| Safe Space | 3.97 |
| Supportive Environment | 3.4 |
| Interactive Environment | 2.8 |
| Engaging Environment | 2.9 |