Age range

Website: www.edcouncil.org

Mission/Goals: After School Counts! is a collaborative effort of the Columbus Foundation, Columbus Mayor's Office of Education, Educational Council and United Way of Central Ohio. The program aims to improve after school programming in central Ohio by providing professional development opportunities for staff and volunteers, networking opportunities and community resource information. The program was created with the intent of improving the capacity of after school programs to meet the academic and developmental needs of children in Central Ohio's after school programs.

Source(s): www.guidestar.org

Type of Evaluation: Outcomes Monitoring.
The markings listed in the Approach column indicates the trainings offered by After School Counts! to improve efficacy of the listed approaches for participating professionals and youth programs. The Outcomes column indicates the outcomes measured of the professional participants in After School Counts! In this evaluation after school professionals, not youths, were evaluated.

Training on a wide variety of topics are held throughout the year and offered at no or low-cost. They are open to staff and volunteers who work in or with after school programs, be they school-based, faith-based, or community-based programs. Training has been conducted on topics such as discipline, math and literacy, working with parents, understanding the special needs of poor children, supervising staff, and building resilience.

Objective: The intent of the evaluation was to measure the improvement of the practices of After School Counts! participants and to determine their satisfaction with the training programs. The training programs evaluated included Making the Most of Math, Literacy Links, Structuring After School Programs to Minimize Discipline Problems, Who's in Charge Here?, and the Ruby Payne Workshop.

Impact/Outcomes: Participants of After School Counts! felt more skilled as after school professionals, felt they had the resources to implement their new skills, and would recommend the program to other after school professionals. After School Counts! provides effective training opportunities relevant to after school programming that serves elementary aged youth.