The word quality comes up all the time, but we seldom take the time to reflect on what it means. When we think of quality, it could pertain to any number of things. The quality of a doordash delivery, the quality of the roads in your neighborhood, the quality of the air we breathe, or in our case the quality of the afterschool programming we offer every day. Unfortunately, with the blur of billing, incident reports, snack ordering, supply getting, and supervising staff, quality takes the back seat to these things. Quality in programs is seen as something that is nice to have, but hard to engage staff in the process beyond checking a box on a survey or taking part in required professional development. 

So do we settle for mediocre programs that have one foot in and one foot out the quality door? Do we say to the children and families we serve that the program is “good enough”? An old adage goes, “where one focuses their attention is where the change is made”. If quality improvement is rarely addressed staff and children alike suffer through stagnant programming, one-off projects, or the same gym game for weeks on end. Our afterschool professionals and the children and families we serve deserve better.

Leaders must drive program quality, and be intentional about staff engagement early on in the process. One person cannot carry the effort alone or it is difficult to sustain the effort. Changing the culture from mediocrity to high-quality takes time, attention, dedication and vision. As staffing begins to stabilize and programs are able to maintain consistency, there is more time to focus on quality improvement efforts.

Tools such as the Connecticut After School Quality Self-Assessment Tool or the newly revised Connecticut After School Quality Standards and Guidelines (coming soon) help get your program on track. The eight elements allow you to break down and target sections of quality to focus staff attention on. Having staff sign the Drive to Quality Pledge can also help with engagement. Helping them see themselves as change agents and celebrating the results encourages staff to be a part of the process. How you set the tone, launch the effort, and follow through makes all the difference on your drive to quality.