An evaluation of Urban Compass after-school program

2013-07-28This study uses an existing evaluation model and previously established measurement tools to evaluate the quality and success of Urban Compass, a private non-profit after-school program for elementary school children in the Watts district of Los Angeles. This evaluation had two major objectives. The first objective was to assess program quality by a) evaluating how well program structure and activities aligned with program goals and b) rating the presence or absence of eight best practices. The second objective of the evaluation was to determine the success of the program by assessing social, emotional, and academic student outcomes that are directly related to the program goals. This evaluation used observations of program activities and student, staff, and teacher surveys to collect data that yielded both qualitative and quantitative results. Urban Compass serves approximately 50 children in grades 1-5. All of the children were included in the observations; however, student outcome data was collected only on the children in grades 3-5 (N = 24). This study also used secondary data from a California study of over 5,500 after-school participants as a benchmark for comparison of student outcome results. This evaluation found that a) Urban Compass does a good job of aligning program structure and activities with program goals, b) the presence of six of the eight best practices is highly characteristic of the program, and c) the mean outcome scores of Urban Compass students exceeded those of the students in the California study in every outcome measured. The results of this evaluation demonstrate the value and effectiveness of the Urban Compass program to funders, the community, and neighboring schools. It also provides Urban Compass with a framework for ongoing program assessment and improvement – a framework that other similar after-school programs may also find useful