Starting or Expanding an Out-of-School Program: Five Steps to Starting Something New

Step 1: Perceive the Need; Step II: Connect with Others; Step Ill: Conduct a Needs Assessment; Step IV: Utilize Information Gathered to Design a Program or Component; and Step V: Formulate an Action Plan

Creating a Balanced Program

This resource contains: Assessment of needs/interests in the room; Introduction to the Agenda; Defining Aspects of a Quality Program; Defining Program and Components ; Designing an Appropriate Environment; Designing Appropriate Routines/Schedules; Ideas for Themes; Integrating Service-Learning; Keys and Summary; Program Design Tools; and Resource list

Making an Impact on Out-of-School Time: A Guide for Corporation for National Service Programs Engaged in After School, Summer, and Weekend Activities for Young People

This resource contains: Exploring the Facts about Children’s Out-of-School Time; Understanding Basic Standards for a Quality Out-of-School Time Program; Training Members and Volunteers to Work in Out-of-School Time Programs; Understanding Service-Learning; Tip Sheets: Simple Ideas to Address Important Out-of-School Topics; Training Materials on Important Out-of-School Time Issues; Program Profiles; and Connecting to Additional Out-of-School Time and School-Age Child Care Resources

Afterschool Matters Fall 2018

In this issue: System Building, Relationships, and Quality Interview with NIOST’s Ellen Gannett By Georgia Hall Over the last nine months, Ellen Gannett, former director of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, has transitioned to a new part-time role as NIOST’s senior strategist. Georgia Hall, the new director and managing editor of Afterschool Matters, asked Ellen to share her perspectives on the field and on a lifetime dedicated to raising the quality of youth experience during the out-of-school time hours. A New Way to Assess Nutrition Knowledge: The Healthy Plate Photo Method By Ashley Walther, Weiwen Chai, Tara Dunker, Lisa Franzen-Castle, and Michelle Krehbiel Out-of-school time (OST) programs serve youth from diverse demographic backgrounds. According to the Afterschool Alliance, of the 10.2 million young people in OST programs in the U.S., 24 percent are African American and 29 percent are Latinx; 45 percent qualify for free or reduced-price school meals (Afterschool Alliance, 2014). The Micro Temporal Arc: A Practical Planning Tool for Afterschool Student Engagement By Scarlett Eisenhauer For many youth, afterschool programs positively fill the time between school and home. Quality out-of-school time (OST) programs clearly can have beneficial social and academic effects on youth. Supporting Effective Youth Work: Job-Embedded Professional Development in OST By Jocelyn S. Wiedow Youth work practitioners play a critical role in providing high-quality out-of-school time (OST) opportunities. Creating High-Performance Afterschool Programs By Sonia Toledo In more than 25 years of training afterschool directors in New York City, I have learned that one of the greatest challenges supervisors face is developing and retaining their staff. I spend most of my energy researching best practices for afterschool and figuring out how to educate directors and make the research applicable to their work. Youth GO: An Approach to Gathering Youth Perspectives in Out-of-School Time Programs By Sara T. Stacy, Ignacio D. Acevedo-Polakovich, and Jonathan Rosewood Including youth in the development and evaluation of outof- school time (OST) programs has positive effects on youth, the organizations that serve them, and the communities in which they live. A Seat at the Table: Listening to Adolescent Black Girls By Abigail Amoako Kayser, Annalee Jackson, and Brian Kayser Despite having many identified strengths, adolescent Black girls in the U.S. have historically fared poorly. Afterschool Matters: Call for Papers for Fall 2019 By Georgia Hall The Fall 2019 issue will include a focus on creative youth development. CYD is a new term for a longstanding theory of practice that integrates creative skill building, inquiry, and expression with positive youth development principles, fueling young people’s imaginations and building critical learning and life skills.https://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1037/thumbnail.jp

Afterschool Matters Fall 2011

English Learners and Out-of-School Time Programs: The Potential of OST Programs to Foster EL Success By Julie Maxwell-Jolly OST programs can benefit the growing population of English learners in U.S. public schools by giving them the gift of time in which to learn both English and subject matter content. 12 pages. Learning English and Beyond: A Holistic Approach to Supporting English Learners in AfterschoolBy Jhumpa Bhattacharya and Jimena QuirogaEnglish learners are a diverse group with diverse experiences and needs. While schools focus on teaching them English, afterschool programs can build on their strengths to address their social and emotional needs. 7 pages. Éxito: Keeping High-risk Youth on Track to Graduation through Out-of-School Time SupportsBy Tracey Hartmann, Deborah Good, and Kimberly EdmundsAn intensive intervention including project-based learning and case management services keeps at-risk ninth-and tenth-graders engaged and helps them overcome barriers to school success. 10 pages. You Are Here: Promoting Youth Spaces through Community MappingBy Kathrin C. Walker and Rebecca N. SaitoYouth Action Crews map the youth development programs and places in their neighborhoods in order to raise public awareness of the opportunities-and of where such opportunities don’t exist. 10 pages. A Place for the Arts: Lessons Learned from an Afterschool Art Experience with Reclaimed MaterialsBy Angela Eckhoff, Amy Hallenbeck, and Mindy SpearmanA three-day art project in an afterschool program with no specific arts component illustrates the potential-and the challenges-of engaging children in creating art using recycled materials. 8 pages. Power Sharing: Building Community School Relationships from Friendship to MarriageBy Carol R. HillWhat happens when the relationships among a Beacon center, its school, and an intermediary organization move from mere friendship into dating and eventually even marriage? 4 pages. Researcher’s Notebook: Converging issues in an Out-of-school Time Program for African Refugee ChildrenBy Michelle PorcheField notes from a study of a family support program for African immigrants reveal some of the challenges faced by these parents and their adolescent children. 3 pages.https://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1022/thumbnail.jp

Afterschool Matters Occasional Paper Fall 2003

Supporting the Literacy Development of Low-Income Children in Afterschool Programs: Challenges and Exemplary PracticesBy Robert HalpernErikson Institute for Graduate Study in Child DevelopmentWhile much of the current concern over the literacy development of low- and moderateincome children focuses on schools (and, to a lesser degree, on parents), many observers are arguing for a role for other institutions. In particular, funders are turning to afterschool programs to address this critical developmental task. This paper explores the roles afterschool programs can and do play in the literacy development of low-income children, drawing on surveys and observations of afterschool programs in Chicago, New York, and Seattle. 26 pages.https://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1002/thumbnail.jp

Afterschool Matters Spring 2018

Welcome from the Managing Editor of Afterschool Matters, Spring 2018 Wellesley College, home of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, has a significant connection to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, site of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. 1 page. By Georgia Hall Critical Friendship: Helping Youth Lift as They Climb Together By Tanya G. Wiggins Critical friendships can help youth build their own social capital and counteract negative messages from society and peers. 9 pages. Youth-Led Participatory Action Research: Promoting Youth Voice and Adult Support in Afterschool Programs By Yolanda Anyon, Heather Kennedy, Rebecca Durbahn, and Jeffrey M. Jenson Participatory action research with a social justice emphasis can help keep middle school students engaged in afterschool. 9 pages. Seed Balls and the Circle of Courage: A Decolonization Model of Youth Development in an Environmental Stewardship Program By A. R. S. Wenger-Schulman and Lauren Hoffman Drawing on child-centered pedagogy from Native American traditions, facilitators help young New Yorkers take responsibility for the local ecology. 6 pages. Positive Change Through a Credential Process By Tinnycua Williams Being forced to earn a school-age care credential was an unexpected boon for this afterschool program director. 3 pages. Measuring Program Quality, Part 2: Addressing Potential Cultural Bias in a Rater Reliability Exam By Amanda Richer, Linda Charmaraman, and Ineke Ceder Like assessments of youth outcomes, the instruments used to assess program quality need to be as free from bias as possible. 9 pages. Beyond “Research Into Practice” By Diane Gruber Review of Creating Research-Practice Partnerships in Education by Penuel & Gallagher. 2 pageshttps://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1036/thumbnail.jp

Afterschool Matters Occasional Paper Spring 2004

Community-Based Youth Organizations Negotiating Educational and Social Equity: A Case StudyBy Sara Hill, Ed.D.The Robert Bowne FoundationThis case study reveals how one community-based youth development organization in the northeastern United States advocated for social and educational equity for the low-income families it served by challenging the local school district’s practice of referring low-income children of color to special education in disproportionate numbers. Because this community-based organization (CBO) is typical of many such youth-serving organizations, the case study shows how the assets CBOs bring to their communities can help them negotiate with schools to achieve greater social and educational equity for low-income families. The challenges and opportunities of school-CBO collaboration are outlined, with particular attention to the need to appropriate CBOs’ strong, culturally competent relationships with their program participants. 22 pages.https://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1003/thumbnail.jp

Afterschool Matters Occasional Paper Spring 2006

Many Versions of Masculine: An Exploration of Boys’ Identity Formation through Digital Storytelling in an Afterschool ProgramBy Glynda A. Hull, Nora L. Kenney, Stacy Marple, & Ali Forsman-Schneider Both scholarly literature and popular media often depict predominantly negative and one-dimensional images of boys, especially African-American boys. Predictions of these boys’ anticipated difficulties in school and adulthood are equally prevalent. This paper reports qualitative research that features case studies of nine urban boys of color, aged nine to eleven, who participated in an afterschool program where they learned to create digital multimedia texts. Drawing on an analysis of the children’s patterns of participation, their multimodal products, and their social and intellectual growth over time, the study revealed that these children demonstrated many versions of male selves, and that their digital stories narrated these identities in ways that often challenged hegemonic versions of masculinity.https://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1009/thumbnail.jp

Afterschool Matters Fall 2015

A Youth Development Approach to Evaluation: Critical Participatory Action Research By Sarah Zeller-Berkman, Carolina Muñoz-Proto, and María Elena Torre Before the School Bell Rings: How a Before-School Physical Activity Program Improves Executive Functions By Georgia Hall, Kristen Fay Poston, and Stephanie Harris Bringing in the Tech: Using Outside Expertise to Enhance Technology Learning in Youth Programs By Thomas Akiva, Kaleen Tison Povis, and Ani Martinez Creating Opportunities for Mutual Affiliation: Gang Prevention and Relational-Cultural Theory in Project YES By Stacy T. Randell, Amy E. Smith, and Bernard A. Steinman Learning Across Space Instead of Over Time: Redesigning a School-Based STEM Curriculum for OST By Phyllis Leary Newbill, Tiffany A. Drape, Christine Schnittka, Liesl Baum, and Michael A. Evans Research-Based Practices in Afterschool Mentoring Programs By Sara C. McDaniel, Anna-Margaret Yarbrough, and Kevin Besnoy Using Action Research to Engage Youth in Improving OST Programming By Brian Hubbard “A Deep Passion for Reading and Writing”: An Interview with Lena Townsendhttps://repository.wellesley.edu/afterschoolmatters/1031/thumbnail.jp