Overview and Introduction

Welcome to this National OST Program Director Survey on OST STEM Workforce! This online survey is part of a study conducted by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at Wellesley College with support from the Overdeck Family Foundation and in partnership with the National Afterschool Association. NIOST is investigating effective strategies for recruiting, training, and retaining a high-quality OST STEM workforce, with a focus on afterschool and summer programming. Through this work we expect to inform program leaders and educators how to best obtain, prepare, and support staff to deliver high-quality STEM activities in OST programs.

This survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. Questions will relate to the recruiting, hiring, training, and retention of OST staff who deliver STEM activities. You are the right person to participate in this survey if you make decisions that have to do with any of these things. Participation in the survey is completely voluntary. You may decide to stop the survey at any time without penalty. You will not include your name when completing this survey. All data collected is for research purposes only. Data will only be reported in aggregate. No data will be shared or connected to an individual program or location. Analyzed data will be saved to a password-protected and secure file. We will delete all data at the end of five years or earlier. Until that time the data may be used in future workforce research projects at NIOST.

Potential Benefits
You will not directly benefit from participating in this research. However, through this work we expect to inform OST program leaders throughout the country how to best obtain, prepare, and support staff to deliver high-quality STEM activities in OST programs. We expect the findings to illuminate promising pathways to strengthen OST STEM staffing and STEM learning delivery. We will also offer the option to include you in a random weekly raffle beginning January 5 (through March 14) of a $25 Amazon gift card. You will need to submit a valid email address at the end of the survey to be entered in the raffle.

Potential Risks
We do not anticipate any risks to participation in the study or survey. There is also always some risk of identification, which has been minimized through the de-identification and security measures described above. Only the study researchers will have access to the survey data.

This study has been approved by a review board. The review board is called the Human Research Protection Program. Brandeis is the IRB of record for Wellesley College. If you have questions about your rights, you can call them at (781) 736-8133. Or email them at hrpp@brandeis.edu. Or you may call the project director, Georgia Hall at phone number 781-283-3499 or ghall@wellesley.edu with questions or to obtain a copy of the survey.

I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I may withdraw my participation at any time without penalty. I voluntarily agree to participate in this study. Press "Yes" to continue.

T