Roles, Goals, and Supports for the Urban After-School Education Workforce:
Qualitative Findings from an Experimental Trial
Jon Alexander Watford, Elise Cappella, Sophia Hwang, Kristine Mijatovich
New York University
RQ3: ASI Goals For Students
Community-based after-school programs enhance
academic competence, psychological wellbeing, & social
skills (Vandell et al., 2005).
Academic Learning
“Most of our students did not do too well in math, so
we try to make sure--and science--so we try to make
sure that this is something that they start loving and
this is something that they know better.”
Social Emotional Learning
“I feel like that’s one of the primary goals: learning
how to negotiate with each other, and cooperate,
and… building relationships in class.”
Reaching Potential
“I want them to be everything that they can be! Like, I
have Janet... She's amazing and so I just want her to
have the confidence to believe in herself, because a
lot of kids don't think that they can be anything. So I
just want them to... know that they can.”
After-school instructors (ASIs) in low-income, urban
settings are often tasked with implementing
interventions, but we know little about them as
professionals.
ASIs’ background, goals, & needs may impact fidelity of
implementation in these settings.
RQ1: What are ASIs’ demographic characteristics in lowincome, urban settings?
RQ4: Support for ASIs
RQ2: What are ASIs’ goals for themselves?
RQ3: What are ASIs’ goals for their students?
RQ4: What supports ASIs in achieving their goals?
RQ1: ASI Demographics
ASI Age
Ethnicity of ASIs
2 (12%)
4 (24%)
6 (35%)
Setting and Participants:
17 After-school instructors
5 Low-income urban after-school programs
Data Collection Approach:
8 semi-structured focus groups and interviews
Analytic Approach: Consensual Qualitative Research
(CQR; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997)
11
(65%)
6 (35%)
5 (29%)
a
Independent
review of
data to
confirm and
adjust
domains
Independent
cross analyses
followed by
consensus
ratings and
review
Stability check
to ensure that
the domains
accurately
reflect
the data
African American
Latino
20 years or less
26-30 years
ASI Education
21-25 years
31 years or more
Years Worked for this
Organization
“Just working on the organization and my lesson
planning. Just making sure everything is on
point. Probably lesson planning a lot more
ahead. That way, there's a lot more room for
improvement.”
Being a Good Mentor to Staff and to Students
6 (35%)
7 (41%)
9 (53%)
4 (24%)
High school diploma or GED
Some college; not completed or in progress
Associates or 2 year degree
Bachelor's degree or 4 year degree
PowerPoint Template ©2009 Texas Christian University, Center for Instructional Services. For Educational Use Only. Content is the property of the presenter and their resources.
Future Career Goals
“…just getting a higher position. Like a director
somewhere. Assistant Director, or you know,
coordinator of some sort... Because I've been
here for a long time, you know what I'm
saying?”
Improvement in Daily Work
6 (35%)
A priori
hypotheses
about
domains
expected to
emerge
RQ2: ASI Goals For Self
0-1 years
>5 years
2-4 years
“A goal I have for myself is just to set like the best
example that I can for my… for my program aide
and for my kids.”
“For now, I want to continue being a group leader
until I feel like I've mastered the art of being a
group leader. I'm also interested in coaching
other group leaders to be great group leaders.”
Support from Supervisors
“Yeah, he's great. Like, he... anything you need? It's
like, ‘Tommy, can you...?’ And he does it. He really
helps us out a lot. And he's there, like all the time.”
Support from Other ASIs/Aides
“Definitely my other group leaders are the major
help for me… We feed off each other’s energies.”
“All of us are very open to learning ways to help [the
kids]. So I think that we have been developing
through the year with each other and then also with
ideas.”
1. On average, ASIs in low-income, urban settings are
younger, have not completed a college degree, &
are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
2. Targeting inter-staff support system may help
combat attrition in these settings.
3. ASIs’ goals for themselves are linked to their goals for
their students.
Gratitude to NYU Steinhardt & IHDSC, who made this project possible.