The Core Knowledge and Competencies Self-Assessment Tools were created to:
- Establish what professionals need to know and be able to do to provide quality child and youth programming.
- Outline a course of study for the professional.
- Show concrete, observable and achievable skills.
- Establish standards of practice that strengthen the profession.
- Create a foundation for professional development and career advancement.
- Provide a resource that may be used to influence the development of career ladders, credentials and other assessments of practitioners.
The final product represents the conclusion of 10+ years of work to identify and come to agreement on the knowledge and skills involved in professional afterschool practice; a way to support the professionalization of the field and represent the afterschool field as a unified national effort to communities, public policy planners, funders and others.
In addition, Core Knowledge and Competencies Self-Assessment Tools have been developed to help the field operationalize the competencies. These uses have been identified for a variety of audiences:
Practitioners
- Self-evaluation.
- Professional development goal-setting and planning.
- Tracking or documenting training and other professional development activities.
Director or Administrator
- Create job descriptions.
- Interview and hire staff.
- Plan orientation and training.
- Conduct staff evaluations.
- Set professional development goals.
- Establish salary scales.
Leader or Trainer
- Encourage continuous improvement.
- Align training to staff needs and requirements.
- Document professional development activities.
- Build professional development systems.
- Design and develop relevant staff training.
Both the the NAA Core Knowledge and Competencies for Afterschool and Youth Development Professionals and the Self-Assessment Tools may be found and downloaded at www.naaweb.org/resources. Bulk copies are available to order from the NAA Resource Print Center at http://naaweb.org/resources/resource-print-center.
