The Georgia Afterschool Quality Standards
GAIC , in collaboration with more than 70 partners, has
released the Georgia Afterschool Quality Standards. The standards serve as a framework to help afterschool providers
in Georgia assess their programs and provide opportunities for children, youth,
and families to identify areas of strength and in need of improvement in their
afterschool programs.
The Georgia Afterschool Quality Standards are the first in
the nation to align to the Common Core State Standards, clearly articulating
how afterschool can support the critical habits of mind that children and youth
need to be college and career ready.
The standards are intended as a guideline for many involved
parties and we encourage providers, funders, and families to utilize these
standards. Afterschool providers
can use the standards as a means for self-assessment and quality improvement,
funders and policy leaders can utilize the standards as a means to link funding
to measurable outcomes, and parents can use the standards as a means to better
understand quality programming and act as an advocate for their children.
The standards offer providers, families, and funders a
framework to build a common language around what quality afterschool
means. The standards emphasize
high quality programming across the following areas:
- Active
and engaging learning
- Linkages
to the school day and the Common Core State Standards
- Health,
nutrition, and physical fitness
- Environment
(indoor and outdoor space)
- Relationships,
culture, and diversity
- Staffing,
volunteers, and professional development
- Continuous
Improvement
The standards are the first phase in a multi-phase
process. Next steps in the process
are to include developing indicators as a companion to the standards document
and a measurement and monitoring tool based on the indicators. These indicators
will clarify more specifically how afterschool programs can incorporate these
standards and the measurement tool will allow funders, as well as programs
themselves, to monitor the quality and progress of afterschool programs.
To view the standards, please click
Georgia Afterschool Standards