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Tracey A. Hartmann

Senior Fellow, Informal Learning

Pronouns: She/Her

Degrees

  • Ph.D. in Human Development: University of Pennsylvania
  • M.Ed. in Human Development: University of Pennsylvania
  • B.A. in Social Science: College of St. Benedict

About Tracey A. Hartmann

Dr. Tracey Hartmann provides oversight and strategic guidance to RFA’s portfolio of informal learning and out-of-school time research and evaluation projects.  An experienced qualitative researcher and project director, Hartmann has expanded RFA’s portfolio of work in the out-of-school time (OST) field, with projects focused on providing evaluation support to local youth-serving organizations, as well as research projects that support OST system-building efforts in Philadelphia and around the country.

Hartmann recently completed a 10-year national study of high-quality arts programs funded by the Wallace Foundation and implemented in Boys & Girls Clubs around the country. She also led a 12-city study funded by the Wallace Foundation focused on the role of OST intermediary organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. She directed RFA’s role in the IES-funded National Study of Continuous Quality Improvement in 21st Century Community Learning Centers, led by Mathematica Policy Research.

She currently leads RFA’s evaluation of the Penn Museum’s Unpacking the Past program, an informal learning experience for middle school students in Philadelphia. In addition to her informal learning and out-of-school time experience, Hartmann has led mixed-methods research projects across a range of content areas, including college access and juvenile justice.  A former classroom teacher and youth development worker, Hartmann has a long-standing interest in creating high-quality formal and informal educational opportunities for youth from underserved communities. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania.

  • When I'm not at work, you can find me...

    Walking in Wissahickon Valley Park.

  • A fun fact about me is....

    I grew up in a town of 1,000 people in the rural Midwest, though Philadelphia has been my home for 30+ years.

  • Currently binge watching...

    Either Masterpiece Mystery or something sci-fi.

Key Projects by Tracey A. Hartmann

Evaluating the Impact of Anti-Violence Community Partnership Grants

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Evaluating the Penn Museum’s UnPacking the Past Program

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Out-of-School Time Coordination: Infrastructure for Supporting Healthy OST Ecosystems

Read More Out-of-School Time

Statewide Studies of Educational Outcomes of Boys & Girls Clubs Members

Read More Out-of-School Time

Out-of-School Time (OST) Coordination: Infrastructure for Supporting Healthy OST Ecosystems

Read More Out-of-School Time

Evaluation of 21st Century Community Learning Centers

Read More Out-of-School Time

Evaluation of Engineering Women in Natural Science (EngWINS), an Afterschool STEM Mentoring program

Read More Out-of-School Time

Say Yes to Education: RFA’s Five-Year Evaluation of the Cleveland Chapter

Read More K-12

An Evaluation of Congreso de Latinos Unidos’ Exito Program at Kensington CAPA High School

Read More Out-of-School Time

An Evaluation of the Philadelphia Say Yes to Education Program (SYTE)

Read More Postsecondary & Workforce

An Evaluation of Metro Math: The Center for Mathematics in American Cities

Read More K-12

Need in Deed Formative and Outcome Evaluation

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An Evaluation of the School District of Philadelphia’s Pilot Parent Leadership Academies (PLA)

Read More K-12

An Evaluation of how the Science Leadership Academy Prepares Students for Postsecondary STEM Majors

Read More K-12

An Evaluation of the School District of Philadelphia’s Faith Partnerships Program

Read More K-12

Afterschool Arts Programming in the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of America: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation

Read More Out-of-School Time

City Year Miami: An Implementation Evaluation

Read More K-12

Renaissance Schools in Philadelphia: Examining Early Implementation of a Turnaround School Model

Read More K-12

21st Century Grants: Tracking the Implementation and Success of Academically-Oriented After-School Programs

Read More Out-of-School Time

Career and Technical Training in Juvenile Justice Facilities: Increasing the Capacity of a Statewide Network to Make Evidence-Based Decisions

Read More K-12

An Evaluation of Philadelphia’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP): School District of Philadelphia

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Action Research with Youth United for Change

Read More K-12

A Study of Local Education Funds: Public Education Network (PEN)

Read More K-12

An Evaluation of EducationWorks’ National School and Community Corps (NSCC)

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See all author projects

Recent Publications by Tracey A. Hartmann

Responding, Reimagining, Realizing: Out-of-School Coordination in a New Era

Publication

Responding, Reimagining, Realizing: Out-of-School Coordination in a New Era

The Wallace Foundation commissioned Research for Action and McClanahan Associates to study how out-of-school time intermediaries (OSTIs) responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and the role they could play in supporting communities moving forward. Citywide out-of-school…
Virtual Approaches Hold Promise for Expanding After- school Art Programming

Publication

Virtual Approaches Hold Promise for Expanding Afterschool Art Programming

Four Boys & Girls Clubs implementing high-quality art skill development classes for tweens and teens experimented with five different virtual approaches that hold promise for expanding programming. This brief describes three approaches that reach young…

Publication

State Funding to Support Out-of-School Time Programming in Pennsylvania

Out-of-school-time (OST) refers to programs that offer students activities after school and/or during the summer. Despite evidence of significant benefits and a clear demand from families, Pennsylvania has no dedicated state funding to provide OST…

Publication

Executive Summary: Raising the Barre & Stretching the Canvas

As part of an ongoing, multi-million dollar Wallace Foundation initiative to improve and expand arts learning opportunities for young people, the Wallace Foundation, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), developed…

Publication

Supporting Literacy in Out-of-School Time: Summary of Evidence

The City of Philadelphia’s Citywide Out‐of‐School‐Time (OST) Initiative was launched in February 2017 to better coordinate and focus the capacities of OST programs on the needs of the city’s children. The first phase of this initiative…

Publication

Getting On Track: Lessons from Éxito’s First Year

Congreso de Latinos Unidos has partnered with Edison High School on the Éxito™ initiative since 2008-09 with the goal of reducing the school’s high dropout rate and increasing graduation rates. The program has received support…

Publication

Teacher Perceptions of Small High Schools

This research brief uses data from the School District of Philadelphia teacher survey to assess teacher perceptions of small and large neighborhood high schools.

Publication

Going Small: Progress and Challenges of Philadelphia’s Small High Schools

Between 2003 and 2007, and without significant outside funding, the School District of Philadelphia created 25 new small high schools. This study, begun by Research for Action in 2006, follows the start-up and early implementation…
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Recent Posts by Tracey A. Hartmann

post

A Study of Out-of-School Time (OST) Coordination: Infrastructure for Supporting Healthy OST Ecosystems

Across the country, out-of-school time programs (OST) provide safe and caring spaces that support children’s learning and holistic development when they are not in school. In some cities, system-level structures exist to coordinate, connect, and support the organizations that provide these OST opportunities. These coordinating structures can provide a variety of services, including system-level visioning … Continued