Striving for Coherence: Conceptual Reinvention of Program Fidelity in a National After-School Program

• In Event: 35.079 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Five - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 35.079-2 - Cross-Sector Strategies for Out-of-School Time Learning

Abstract

Coherence is a concept that we utilize in this paper as a means for interpreting the process by which [ORG NAME] scales out-of-school time programming across multiple cities. We employ the idea of coherence because it can help capture whether new sites operate in ways that are aligned to the core ideals. Results indicate that organizations can develop common resources that support the process of striving towards coherence in program staff. Codified essential elements can serve as guides for organizational values, which can shape the ways in which program stakeholders develop coherent programming across sites. Practices can serve as opportunities to negotiate meaning, including programmatic values and priorities, with peers can support the process of establishing coherence in programs.

Authors

• Sarah Taylor Hug, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Suzanne Eyerman, Fairhaven Research and Evaluation