Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine areas of competency for quality programming in the field of youth development. Program Quality is one of the new foci of evaluation capacity building (ECB) efforts that has not been clearly defined in the literature. For the purpose of this study, the researchers operationally defined program quality as the program characteristics, indicators, and implementation practice that stakeholders including researchers mutually agree upon. These program quality components are interlinked. It is critical to help youth practitioners think through the logical connection among the components of program quality. This can be partly achieved through professional development, which equips practitioners with competencies necessary to perform their tasks. Implementation of quality is associated with program staff’s ability to influence program structure and process. Staff expertise is not defined by only their knowledge and skills but also their ability to respond to challenges and problems they face daily at work. Through a systematic literature review, the authors identified key areas where program quality in the field of youth development can be effectively impacted by staff training activities; these areas then served as the components of a proposed staff training model. The latter consists of four components: child/youth development, social ecological theory, program management, and program theory. These components were found to be critical for quality programming.
Highlights
This study found that staff training is a well-researched area
Little research has focused on the relationships between staff training and program quality [27]
There was evidence in the literature that supports the needs for staff training of youth development professionals in quality programming in order to improve youth outcomes
Summary
Program quality is one of the new foci of evaluation capacity building (ECB) efforts. The attention of ECB efforts has geared towards program quality. This change is supported by evidence that program staff who engage in program quality assessments achieve greater program effectiveness, and better program outcomes [3]. The discussion of program quality is, hindered by the fact that it is not clearly defined in the literature [4, 5]. A clear definition is needed to allow discussion of program quality and its beneficiaries. Quality must be defined through the process involving a dialogue among the stakeholders included in programming [4]
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