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An Overview of the QSA Tool
The QSA Tool is a resource that builds upon the experience, knowledge, and research of afterschool practitioners and policymakers from across the country. At first glance, the tool may appear daunting, but don’t shy away. It’s called a “tool” because it is meant to help your organization grow, and is designed to be tailored according to your needs. How you use it depends on your organization’s needs, strengths, challenges, maturity, and capacity. It is not meant to be a device for judging the program as “good” or “bad,” and it is not a monitoring tool! Rather, the QSA Tool should serve as a guide for making every part of your program the best that it can be. The key value of the QSA Tool is to engage staff, youth, and other stakeholders in authentic discussions about how to continuously improve your afterschool program.

QSA Tool Structure
The QSA Tool is organized around ten essential elements of an effective afterschool program, all of which come from evidence-based practice. Under each element, there is a list of quality indicators. An asterisk (*) next to an indicator denotes that it is critical to address prior to program start-up or, for programs currently operating, as soon as possible. Click here to view the list of indicators that are crucial to program start-up.

As you address each indicator, you will give the program a performance level from 1 – 4.  For a full explanation of performance levels, see Calibrating Your Team: Understanding Performance Levels. The results of these ratings should be discussed as a group in order to gain a full perspective on a site’s programming, operations, and management.

Don’t forget, the QSA Tool is to be used in concert with other formal and informal evaluation methods, such as youth, parent, and staff surveys, staff meetings, youth and parent focus groups, and external monitoring and evaluation. Each of these methods can help identify program strengths and areas in need of improvement.

Program Planning and Improvement with the QSA Tool
The self-assessment process offers all of the core components of program planning and improvement, including identifying areas in need of improvement, setting goals and timelines, finding resources, and assigning responsibility for strategies. For programs that already have a process for program improvement, such as annual meetings, the use of or findings from the QSA Tool can be integrated into the process and can help guide your conversations.

Embedded in the QSA Tool are places to prioritize improvement efforts by marking them as in need of improvement “right now,” “this year,” or “next year.” If you have already completed the self-assessment and you’re ready to create an action plan, see Create an Action Plan.

Staff Development with the QSA Tool
The self-assessment process can also determine areas in which program staff need or want additional support, such as training or coaching. For more information on how the QSA Tool can assist with staff development, see Create a Professional Development Plan.

The QSA Tool and Other Quality Frameworks
NYSAN has conducted several crosswalks of other commonly used quality frameworks in the afterschool field, and concluded that the QSA Tool is very closely aligned with the School-Age Care Environmental Rating Scale (SACERS), the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA), and the National AfterSchool Association standards. The QSA Tool is also aligned with the New York State Program Accreditation framework, and can be used in place of the accreditation self-assessment tool as the first step toward achieving program accreditation from AfterSchool Works! New York.