OST Evaluation Toolkit

Section I: Introduction

I. Introduction

II. Evaluation Basics

IV. Case Studies

III. Methods

V. Resources

Introduction

Based on the experiences and findings from a cohort of out-of-school time (OST) organizations in Allegheny County, this toolkit holds resources to support your program evaluation journey.

What Is the Toolkit?

The Need for the Toolkit

Partners

What Is the Toolkit?

The OST Evaluation Toolkit is a community-built resource designed to be an informative hub of resources and tools for OST providers implementing evaluation practices. This is a digital toolkit intended to be continuously updated and built out based on the needs of the OST sector.

The toolkit content is updated each year after the completion of the annual Eval Lab program, a cohort-based professional learning experience for local Allegheny County OST organizations centered around building program evaluation resources for the OST community. Building these resources for the toolkit is done through monthly workshops, ongoing coaching, and a final project presented by each participating organization.

For more information about the Eval Lab program, please visit the Eval Lab page on the APOST website.

The Need for the Toolkit

The OST sector is often seeking sustainable support and resources to implement programs for the youth they serve. By providing a hub for best evaluation practices created by the OST sector itself, providers are more equipped to evaluate their programs and obtain data to tell their story, collaborate to achieve goals, and secure sustainable support.

The toolkit first launched in August 2026 after the pilot year of the Eval Lab program’s implementation.

Partners

The facilitation of this toolkit’s creation is made possible through the partnership of Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time (APOST) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Education (Pitt Education) and is funded by the McElhattan Foundation.

The toolkit content is organized Pitt Education and collaboratively built by participating organizations in the Eval Lab cohort. These organizations are committed to pursuing a strong program evaluation learning process and contributing to the evaluation needs of the OST sector.