An Evaluation of Out-of-School-Time (OST) Programs in the Greater Nashville, Tennessee Area
Abstract
The purpose of this evaluation study was to: (a) research the Greater Nashville area and develop a list of existing Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs available to middle and High School aged youth; (b) group the OST programs into one of three categories based on type of services provided, funding received and the location of program; (c) rate the quality of a sample of OST program sites using pre-existing quality standards (i.e., youth relationship-building, youth participation, staff relationship-building, staff instructional strategies, and activity content and structure); (d) assess OST program participants' perceptions of student success and college readiness; (e) examine the relationships among quality of OST program, student success, and college readiness by program type. Of the fifty OST programs invited to participate in the study, eight OST program sites responded—two School Based sites, three School-Linked sites, and three Community-Based sites. Two pre-existing instruments were used for data collection: Out-of-School-Time Observation Tool (measuring program quality) and the Afterschool Program Survey (measuring student success and college readiness). Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of the domains of program quality: (a) youth and relationship-building, (b) youth participation, (c) staff relationship-building, (d) instructional methods, and (e) activity content and structure for all out-of-school-time (OST) programs and for each of the three different programs. Among the major findings included: (a) School-Based OST program centers in the Greater Nashville area were rated higher in overall quality than both the School-Linked and Community-Based OST program; (b) Participants in School-Based OST program centers perceive that they are better prepared for college than both their School-Linked and Community-Based OST program peers; and, (c) Participants in the School-Based OST program centers perceive they are more successful than both the participants at the School-Linked OST program centers and the participants at the Community-Based OST centers.
Subject Area
Educational evaluation|Educational administration
Recommended Citation
Kevin Dudley,
"An Evaluation of Out-of-School-Time (OST) Programs in the Greater Nashville, Tennessee Area"
(2018).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI10978952.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI10978952