Cohorts
Best Starts Expanded Learning Initiative grantees engage with the Youth Program Quality Intervention (YPQI) through a cohort-based approach, offering different quality cohorts based on levels of familiarity with the YPQI process and staff capacity.
By creating distinct but aligned cohorts, SOWA increased value and deepened individualized experiences by providing tailored, scaffolded access to quality supports. With support from SOWA staff, grantees self-selected into their cohorts at the start of the initiative, with the opportunity to change cohorts at the start of the Best Starts grant expansion, or at any time based on changing staff circumstances.
There are also opportunities throughout the year for grantees to interact and learn with organizations in other cohorts, including through all-Best Starts Learning Community Meetings, data reflection meetings, select trainings, and special Best Starts events.
Cohorts:
Quality Readiness Cohort
Offered during the first three years of the Best Starts grant cycle, this cohort took a low-and-slow approach toward continuous quality improvement, beginning with the philosophy of continuous quality improvement and gearing up over time to utilize the full program quality cycle through an abbreviated assessment experience. The primary audience of this cohort was organizations with low or no exposure to focusing on program quality as a staff team, as well as those with limited capacity.
Continuous Quality Improvement Cohort
This cohort serves programs that have foundational knowledge and structures to support both the philosophy of continuous quality improvement and engagement in the YPQI in full. Grantees in this cohort focus on working toward building more robust and consistent quality practices in their expanded learning programs, repeating the assess-plan-improve cycles in full throughout the initiative while engaging in trainings specifically focused on strengthening the skills of direct service staff.
Deepening Quality Cohort
This cohort is for organizations with seasoned participation in the YPQI model who seek to deepen their quality work through additional training opportunities emphasizing staff development and coaching, with a heavier emphasis on peer learning. Through cohort engagement, providers in this cohort work to strengthen their continuous quality improvement practices and structures at the organizational level.