Quality improvement has been a watchword for most industries over the past 30 years. Today’s need to measure the success of and improve your after school program using data and evidenced-based improvements is an outgrowth of those programs, which have begun to mature.

How do you know if your after school program is meeting the needs of the youth and community it serves? Like the students it serves, you measure its strengths and challenges using a variety of tests designed to show you where your program is succeeding and where you need to improve.

Before you measure, however, you must clearly define your goals and set a benchmark for each, so you have something against which to measure.