Chapter 7: The State of Professional Development: Past, Present, and Future

A burgeoning body of research demonstrates what the out-of-school time (OST) field has known for many years: Not only does the quality of OST programming matter for achieving positive youth outcomes (Durlak & Weissberg, 2007; Lauer et al., 2006; Vandell, Reisner, & Pierce, 2007), but the quality of staff directly impacts program quality and child and youth outcomes (Costly, 1998; Guskey, 2000; Miller & Hall, 2007). Even before these findings, the OST field had been striving to build a strong and stable workforce that could provide high-quality programming. Though achievements have been made over the last several decades, progress has been slow, and initiatives often have not been sustained.