Neil Naftzger

Neil Naftzger focuses on community schools, afterschool programs, and youth development initiatives. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Naftzger specializes in designing and leading research and evaluation studies—particularly those related to federally funded programs such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) and Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) programs. He brings deep expertise in managing large-scale research projects, designing evaluations, analyzing quantitative data, developing surveys, conducting psychometric analyses, and creating web-based data collection systems.

Dr. Naftzger is a leading expert on evaluating community school initiatives. He has directed multiple evaluations for Chicago Public Schools, including the Community Schools Initiative, the Sustainable Community Schools Initiative, and FSCS-funded efforts. He also serves or has served as principal investigator or senior advisor on statewide community school evaluations, including the Florida Community Partnership Schools and Unlimited Potential Initiatives (University of Central Florida); the Idaho Rural Expansion Initiative (United Way of Treasure Valley); and Connected Schools, administered by District of Columbia Public Schools.

In addition to his work on community schools, Dr. Naftzger studies how youth-serving programs influence developmental outcomes and the roles of program quality and youth experiences in this process. He led a National Science Foundation-funded study examining how interest and engagement in STEM develop through summer learning programs and helped create an online toolkit of best practices based on that research.

Dr. Naftzger has also been principal investigator on research grants from the Charles Stewart Mott, William T. Grant, and Raikes Foundations, and has directed statewide evaluations of 21st CCLC programs in eight states. Over the past two decades, he has authored or coauthored more than 70 research and evaluation reports and publications.