Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2004).
Mike Schmoker offers practical advice for school improvement, presenting changes that are not costly or disruptive to high schools. The second article in this issue takes us to Irving, Texas, where Irving ISD has established successful smaller learning communities that are making a difference for students in this largely working-class community. Irving’s SLC program has a strong vocational component, which is also present at another school visited—Garza Independence High School in Austin, Texas. Garza is an alternative high school that is not a holding tank for troublemakers, as is often the perception for alternative schools. It is a school that accommodates individual differences and learning styles, a school where most of its graduates go on to college.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (2003).
This project began with an enigma. In surveys, the parents of Hispanic high school seniors place enormous emphasis on higher education. By significantly higher percentages than the rest of the population, the parents of Hispanic high school seniors believe that a college education is an essential prerequisite for a good job and a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. However, this desire for higher education does not translate into reality. Compared to non-Hispanic whites or African-American students, Hispanic students are much less likely to obtain higher education degrees. There is clearly a gap, in other words, between what Hispanic parents say they want for their children, and the paths those children actually follow.
Based on both statistical analysis of employment data and extensive research involving over 300 faculty members from two and four year postsecondary institutions, managers, and high school educators, the American Diploma Project (ADP) benchmarks concretely define the English and math that graduates must master to succeed in credit-bearing college courses and high-performance, high-growth jobs. Key findings: employers' and colleges' academic demands for high school graduates have converged, yet states' current high-school exit expectations fall well short of those demands.
Education Trust and partners Achieve and Fordham Foundation (2004).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
National Center for Community Education (NCCE). This guide organizes resources into six areas necessary for the successful operation of after-school programs: Management, Communication, Programming, Integrating K-12 and After-School Programs, Community Building/ Collaboration, and Evaluation. The resources complement the training curricula developed by the NCCE Training Task Force for 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
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.
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).
Resources for cultural diversity at work including articles, quizzes, and suggested readings.
Educating students to embrace diversity through these resources that will build on what they are already learning.
BYU provides multicultural diversity activities as well as reasons for teachers to use them in their classrooms.