Georgia Hall
Associate Director
Director, National Institute on Out-of-School Time
- Ph.D., Boston College
- ghall@wellesley[dot]edu \ Phone: 781-283-2530
Leads national studies on youth development programs, settings, and learning experiences, with a focus on out-of-school time, physical activity, and healthy eating; Directs the National Institute on Out-of-School Time
Georgia Hall, Ph.D., is director of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) and associate director of the Wellesley Centers for Women. Hall specializes in research and evaluation on youth development programs, settings, and learning experiences. Her work has focused extensively on strategies to improve out-of-school time (OST) program quality along with investigations of summer learning programs and STEM initiatives for girls. Hall serves as principal investigator on several multi-year research projects and is a frequent presenter at national conferences, seminars, and meetings.
Hall currently serves as principal investigator for NIOST’s study of GEMS (Girls Excelling in Math and Science), an international network of hands-on, activity-based, OST clubs founded by Laura Jones. The specific objectives of the study are to investigate the impact of participation in GEMS on girls’ science identities, STEM interest, and related confidence in STEM skills, along with pursuit of high school, college, and workforce readiness activities in STEM, and to subsequently utilize this knowledge to comprehensively improve upon the structure and delivery of GEMS. This is a mixed method study including program observation, surveys, and interviews.
During the summer of 2021, NIOST began partnering with the Worcester Education Collaborative (WEC) in Worcester, MA. Hall is leading NIOST's work with WEC to investigate and grow OST program quality practices that are associated with positive youth development outcomes. NIOST researchers are partnering with WEC on program observation visits and are engaged with WEC and local Worcester youth program providers in a continuous quality improvement process.
Hall also directs the NIOST Afterschool Matters Initiative, including the National Afterschool Matters (NASM) Fellowship Program and Afterschool Matters, a journal for out-of-school time practitioners, researchers, and other related professionals. Hall is managing editor of the journal and facilitates an intensive professional development opportunity in which out-of-school time professionals advance their own practice to improve program quality and experiences for children and youth.
For five years, Hall worked in collaboration with Global Evaluation and Applied Research Solution (GEARS) on the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) State Monitoring and Technical Assistance Project with the U.S. Department of Education. As principal investigator on this project, she gathered data on program improvement, provided technical expertise to state education agencies, and provided the U.S. Department of Education with fiscal, analytical, and logistic services to monitor grant compliance. Hall was also the technical assistance and training partner to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 21st CCLC Program. In this role, she developed, tested, and refined tools to measure youth outcomes and out-of-school time program quality.
Hall’s work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Boston After School and Beyond, the William Penn Foundation, the McElhattan Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Museum of Natural History, and others.
Hall is a board member of the American Camping Association, New England; TERC; Hopkinton Little League; and Hopkinton Basketball League. She is also an enthusiastic youth basketball, baseball, and softball coach in her local community and a member of the Nobscot Valley Basketball Officials Association, IAABO Board 175.
