Introduction

For over 40 years the National Institute on Out-ofSchool Time (NIOST) has been consulting with and evaluating out-of-school time (OST) programs and promoting skill development with OST professionals. We have a deep understanding of what quality is, how to measure it, and why quality improvement needs to be continuous.

We are realistic about the entrenched issues of program financial insecurity, high turnover, and parttime staffing. But we prefer to be energized by the many high-quality programs we see producing strong outcomes by focusing on the simple, key concept of improving program quality.

Research now confirms that coaching is one of the most effective ways to support staff and improve program quality. We therefore are providing this easily accessible professional development resource for current and new OST coaches.

What is quality?

Quality OST programs are those that are “intentionally designed to provide engaging activities that are sequenced and aligned with program goals and are taught by trained, dedicated instructors who work effectively with youth.”1 Research has consistently shown that higher quality programs achieve better youth outcomes.2

Program standards define quality for the field, helping programs understand and strive for high quality. NIOST collaborated with the National AfterSchool Association to develop the first set of national OST program quality standards in 1998 (National School-Age Care Alliance, 1998). Since that time, many states have adopted these standards or developed their own. In addition, the OST field has access to nationally recognized tools that measure quality.

OST quality includes: • Observable quality, or quality features that can be seen when you walk into a program. Examples are the environment, relationships, and level of youth engagement in activities and learning. • Structural quality, or behind-the-scenes quality features that set the foundation for quality. Examples are staff professional development, ratios and group sizes, fiscal supports, and connections to schools and communities.

Who can benefit from this guide

The Coaching for Quality in Out-of-School Time: A How To Guide is both for internal coaches—program leaders who coach their own staff—and for external coaches— consultants who visit programs to help improve quality. It can help both kinds of coaches to assess their own strengths and needs, build expertise, create a team approach, and build a learning organization that values everyone’s roles and contributions.

The NIOST approach to coaching

Coaching is fundamentally about helping program leaders or staff teams see their strengths and identify areas that can benefit from more attention. Coaches then help their learning partners plan to address their growth opportunities through, for example, staff development, activity design and planning, or school connections.

The first chapter of this manual, Guiding Principles, outlines the theory behind our approach to continuous quality improvement (CQI) and appreciative coaching. The Kaizen approach to continuous improvement and Peter Senge’s ideas

1 https://www.rand.org/blog/2018/11/high-quality-out-of-school-time-programs-are-worthy.html 2 McCombs, Jennifer Sloan, Anamarie A. Whitaker, and Paul Youngmin Yoo, The Value of Out-of-School Time Programs. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2017.

about building learning organizations that foster CQI—the classics—inform our grounding philosophies. New brain research further informs our CQI methods.

Several other philosophical approaches are essential to high quality coaching. Coaching is most effective when it is strength-based and relational. Social and emotional learning, always inherent in OST, is an integral part of coaching. Coaches both build their own social and emotional skills and support program leaders and staff to do the same, thereby creating an environment in which program participants, too, experience social and emotional growth.

Ultimately, coaching is about improving outcomes for all children and youth. To create environments in which all participants are welcomed and can flourish, coaches can use an equity lens and engage in ongoing cultural responsiveness training to uncover their own unconscious biases. These ideas will be explored throughout the guide.

How this guide is organized

This guide is organized around competencies. Each chapter after the Guiding Principles explores a competency category and its related core competencies.

CHAPTER 2 \RELATIONSHIPS 1 Relationship-building and trust 2 Clear expectations 3 Strengths-based relationships 4 Equity and culturally and linguistically responsive practice CHAPTER 3 \COMMUNICATION 1 Communication style 2 Active listening 3 Appreciative inquiry 4 Conflict resolution CHAPTER 4 \PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING 1 Adult learning and coaching 2 Learning preferences 3 Motivation and self-discovery 4 Transfer of learning CHAPTER 5 \PROFESSIONALISM 1 Professional effectiveness 2 Professional development and self-reflection 3 Professional ethics CHAPTER 6 \CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 1 Change theory 2 Stakeholder involvement and shared decision-making 3 Data-informed practice and assessment 4 Action planning and implementation CHAPTER 7 \COACHING STRATEGIES 1 Coaching knowledge, skills, and strategies 2 Reflective practice 3 Leadership capacity-building

Several appendices offer details on specific topics. Concrete strategies, tips, and reflection prompts are included throughout.

A self-assessment tool you can use to assess your own strengths and training needs appears at the end of this guide. We recommend that you use this tool after you have read the descriptions in Chapters 2–7.

We look forward to supporting you as you grow your coaching capacity!

DEFINITIONS

COACHING. We use the Colorado Coaching Consortium definition: “Coaching is a learning process based on a collaborative relationship that is intentionally designed to promote sustainable growth in the necessary attitudes, skills, and knowledge to effectively implement the best practices for the development of young children and their families.”

Colorado Coaching Consortium, 2009. Coaching Competencies for Colorado Early Childhood Education. http://cocoaches.net/uploads/ Coaching_competencies_Oct_2010.pdf

COACH. We use the commonly accepted term, coach, to refer to those who work one-on-one with leaders or staff using the collaborative learning process of coaching to help them improve their practice. Another term you may recognize is quality advisor, the name NIOST originated more than 30 years ago.

PROGRAM LEADER. Program leaders come in many types. A large multi-site program may have a central executive director, an afterschool program director or manager, and one or more site coordinators at each site. All are program leaders as we define the term. Our CQI model includes sharing leadership with frontline staff, who are encouraged to grow into peer coaching roles with support from their program leader.