After-School Initiative's Toolkit for Evaluating

Review of positive youth development literature
NRC staff reviewed current models of positive youth development as well as commonly used youth services models to assess the shared
themes in philosophy. The following models were reviewed as part of the toolkit development process: Search Institute, 8 Habits of the
Heart, Henderson and Milstein’s Resiliency Model, Individual Risk Factors and Protective Index, Bernard’s Resilience Assessment,
Targeting Life Skills Model, America’s Promise, SCANS, Cornerstones, Communities of Caring, Communities That Care, Carerra Model,
Character Counts and Choice Theory. NRC also looked at models developed by other large youth-serving organizations: 4-H 4 Fold
Model, Girls Scouts, YMCA and YWCA. Outcomes common in positive youth development were extracted for the toolkit.
Synthesis of After-School Initiative logic models
As part of NRC’s work with The Colorado Trust’s After-School Initiative, all 35 grantees completed logic models detailing the services and
expected outcomes. These outcomes were synthesized across grantees to determine which outcomes after-school programs shared. All of
the outcomes that were shared by 6 or more grantees were included in the toolkit. These outcomes were: improved academic performance
(e.g., improved GPA, improved CSAP scores, increased school attendance, increased graduation rates, increased time spent on homework),
increased community involvement (volunteerism), increased cultural competency, improved interpersonal skills (e.g., social skills,
relationships with peers, etc.), increased self-esteem, and positive life choices (e.g., change in attitude, knowledge or behavior in regard to
substance use, sex, violence, etc.).
Survey of youth-serving agencies
NRC surveyed 25 MHUW youth-serving agencies in August and September 2001 to determine the services they were providing, the
philosophies and frameworks by which they were guided and outcomes they hoped to achieve. NRC also assessed the evaluation work
currently being done by 30 youth-serving agencies and the evaluation supports that they needed. The survey results helped NRC staff
define the outcomes of interest and the positive youth development models to be included in the toolkit. It also helped NRC to better
understand the need of many youth-serving programs to have a question set that would assess youth outcomes.
Focus group with youth-serving agencies
NRC conducted a focus group in March 2002 with MHUW youth-serving agency staff to get their ideas on a draft evaluation question set
using many of the questions contained in this toolkit with a focus on measuring Search Institute assets. The grantees in attendance included
representatives from YouthBiz, Mi Casa, Asian Pacific Development Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, YMCA, Colorado I
Have a Dream, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. In addition, NRC staff called additional grantees to gauge their interest in the
draft question sets and methods (Annunciation School; Denver Area Council, Boy Scouts of America; Northwest Coalition 4 Better
Schools; and the Washington Street Community Center).
Toolkit for Evaluating Positive Youth Development 37