This toolkit was developed in partnership with the New England Network for Child, Youth, & Family Services, Social Policy Research Associates and the University of Kentucky Department of Community and Leadership Development. This practical, easy-to-follow tool kit is designed for adult and youth staff at youth development and youth civic engagement organizations. It guides readers as they assess their organizational needs for evaluations, design evaluations to fit their organizational goals, and use evaluation data to report to funders and other community stakeholders.
With the Harvard School of Public Health and support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Afterschool Alliance initiated the Roadmap to Afterschool for All, a scientific study that for the first time assesses the current investment in afterschool programs from the public sector, parents, foundations and businesses, and estimates the additional investment needed from each sector to provide quality afterschool programs for all children. The research shows that parents are paying the lions share of afterschool costs, even among programs serving high poverty children, and that funding of all types is insufficient.
By Eric Schaps and Daniel Solomon
Published in The Journal of Primary Prevention, Vol. 23, No. 3, Spring 2003.
Correlation and intervention studies of school environmental factors associated with student drug use and prevention are summarized. Major factors that emerge in the correlational studies are school supportiveness, sense of community, and opportunities for students to interact and to exert influence. Similar factors are involved in the intervention studies, with the development of a sense of community and attachment to school central, although the means by which these are approached differ across projects. A common conclusion seems to be that a supportive environment increases students’ attachment to school and thereby their inclination to abide by the school’s norms and values.
This study, conducted by Policy Studies Associates with support from the U.S. Department of Education analyzes key features of high-performing afterschool programs sponsored by The Afterschool Corporation (TASC).
To help students meet rigorous course standards in academic and career/technical classrooms, each teacher must establish and maintain a learning environment that supports and motivates students to do their personal best. Classroom management is so much more than a set of appropriate rules and consequences. There is a skill set of strategies that teachers and principals can use to create focused and productive classrooms that help students achieve higher levels of performance. Principals and teachers can implement self-assessment and staff development programs built around the following 10 strategies.
Southeast Regional Education Board (SREB)
Information on child care costs and arrangements are collected on an intermittent basis in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Detailed information from recent surveys and historical trends in selected areas are also listed. The Survey of Income and Program Participation is currently the only source the Census Bureau uses to collect child care information from families.
A Summary of Findings Highlighting the Need and Demand for More Afterschool Programs for Children and Older Youth. (Updated April 2008)
This publication looks at the sustainability of 21st Century Community Learning Centers. It discusses ways in which grantees and policymakers alike can promote sustainability within these programs.
The survey, conducted online in July 2007, shows the high level of importance parents place on afterschool programs. Eight out of 10 (80 percent) parents say that their child needs a safe, positive place to go to afterschool and parents said their children want the same (82 percent). Based on responses from 603 parents, it’s clear that parents believe afterschool programs are critical in steering kids away from crime and improving academic performance and overall well-being.
Funding Insecurity Puts Afterschool Programs at Risk - An August-September 2006 survey of more than 2000 afterschool programs examining issues related to funding and accessibility. Includes state level data where available.
Released in June, Uncertain Times 2009 finds that just as children in their communities need more help, afterschool program leaders across the country say they are being forced to increase fees and reduce staffing, activities and hours to cope with budget cuts and rising costs. Nearly all respondents to a survey of afterschool programs (95 percent) say the recession is affecting their communities, with 60 percent seeing more kids going hungry or families struggling to provide food for children, and half seeing increased homelessness. Yet afterschool programs are unable to provide as much help as children need because their budgets are down. Eighty-six percent of respondents say children in their communities need afterschool care and are unable to access it.
This study finds that elementary students who were randomly assigned to attend the 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school program were more likely to feel safe after school, no more likely to have higher academic achievement, no less likely to be in self-care, more likely to engage in some negative behaviors, and experience mixed effects on developmental outcomes relative to students who were not randomly assigned to attend the centers.
In 2007, funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers increased for the first time since 2002. New research and polls show enduring and far-reaching support. More community leaders and policy makers are pledging their support for afterschool, and new dedicated state level funding streams are cropping up across the country. These positive developments, and more, as well as critical challenges that remain, are discussed in "2007 Afterschool Year in Review." (January 2008)
The past year presented the afterschool community with many obstacles, most notably the economic crisis, but also many opportunities for growth. The year 2008 saw the celebration of ten years of 21st CCLC, one of the largest Lights On Afterschool rallies ever was held, and the Afterschool Alliance published the stories of so many whose lives have been transformed by afterschool in America's Afterschool Storybook.
This report, developed by the National Center for Education Statistics, contains statistics that address important aspects of the lives of youth, including family, schooling, work, community, and health. The report focuses on American youth and young adults 14 to 24 years old, and presents trends in various social contexts that may relate to youth education and learning.
Over one million students who enter ninth grade each year fail to graduate with their peers four years later because they drop out of school. Seven thousand students drop out of school every day, and each year roughly 1.2 million students fail to graduate from high school. More than half of these students are from minority groups. After school programs are a proven way to address the issues and risk factors that lead to dropout and provide a path to graduation and beyond.
Draws on findings from four studies by MDRC, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research firm.
Findings from these evaluations suggest that positive change is associated with a combination of instructional improvement and structural changes in school organization and class schedules. The brief is organized according to five cross-cutting challenges that high schools face in seeking to influence student outcomes: assisting students who enter high school with poor academic skills, improving instructional content and practice, creating a personalized and orderly learning environment, providing work-based learning opportunities and preparing students for the world beyond high school, and stimulating change in overstressed high schools.
With a job market that requires nearly all workers to have a high school diploma, America faces a huge challenge with the dropout crisis. This brief examines the potential role high school afterschool could play in decreasing dropout rates, tackling the achievement gap, and keeping kids on track towards successful futures.
This statewide effort began in 2002. The program awards five one-year grants to programs that provide opportunities to underachieving high school-aged youth in the state. This WestEd report evaluates the program’s initial years of implementation. (WestEd, 2006).
Although much of the funding and programming for afterschool targets younger children, there are myriad advantages for older youth participation in afterschool. This brief examines the growing need for afterschool programming for teens.