Date Posted 1/13/2011
Listening Carefully to the Narratives of Young Adolescent Youth of Color explores how middle school educators can better understand the lives of young adolescents by using narrative inquiry. Through better understanding, more supportive classroom communities and cultures can be achieved.
The Afterschool Alliance America After 3 PM: From Big Cities to Small Towns report tells us how children spend their after school hours and why parents don’t send kids to after-school programs.
Academics After-School Style talks about the importance of flexible, informal, experiential approaches to learning.
Date Posted 8/30/2010
Mentoring School Age Children: Relationship Development in Community-Based and School-Based Programs, prepared for the National Mentoring Partnership’s Public Policy Council and written by Carla Herrera, Cynthia L. Sipe, Wendy S. McClanahan, with Amy J.A. Arbreton and Sarah K. Pepper, highlights the positive effects of mentoring. Given the powerful benefits that supportive mentoring relationships can provide youth, and the number of youth who need this kind of support, mentoring programs have begun to expand on a national level.
Working with School Age Children: Promoting Friendship by Millie Ferrer and Anne M. Fugate, talks about the importance of friendships and how adults can promote friendships among school age children.
Mental Health America’s article How to Talk with School Age Children provides tips on talking with children ages 6-12. As children these ages see most things in terms of how they relate to their own lives, it’s important to know why children want to know.
Date Posted 3/10/2010
The Robert Bowne Foundation has recently published “A Dynamic Framework for Understanding the Complex Work of Quality Out-of-School Time Programs,” written by Dr. Kim Sabo Flores. In 2002, staff and consultants of The Robert Bowne Foundation engaged in a reflective inquiry process to answer the question, “What are the keys to developing quality out-of-school time programs?” Answering this question became a five-year research journey that yielded six very interesting findings. One of the most intriguing findings is that organizations delivering high quality literacy programming and were identified as having strong components of organizational effectiveness were also “learning organizations.” They had practices that mirrored all five of Peter Senge’s learning organization disciplines: systems thinking, personal mastery mental models, shared vision and team learning. However, not one of the key leadership team members had ever heard the words “learning organization.” Instead, leaders in the organizations were using their knowledge of youth development and social cultural learning theory not only to develop programs for the young people, but as principals for the growth and development of their organizations and staff members. Read the Executive Summary and entire article.
The boards of directors of both the National AfterSchool Association (NAA) and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) have released a joint statement designed to lead the development of a new learning day not bound by place, time, or conventional ways of acquiring knowledge and skills. NAESP and NAA are committed to offering support and assistance to help all children by increasing their opportunities and access to enriching learning experiences. This visionary statement will guide principals and afterschool directors — those who are most directly involved and responsible for children’s day-to-day learning experiences — as they move the vision from concept to reality across the nation. To learn more, click here.
Expanded learning opportunities: Pathways to Student Success provides arguments for the increased participation of children and youth in expanded learning opportunities (ELOs), such as after school and summer programs, and the increased collaborative efforts and alignment of schools and out-of-school time programs, including policy recommendations for different approaches to ELOs.
Date Posted 6/2/09
Charting the Benefits of High-Quality After-School Program Experiences: Elementary and middle-grade peers who did not consistently participate in adult supervised and high quality, structured afterschool experiences tended to gravitate to more risk-taking activities such as hanging out with friends, misbehaving, and, for the older group, experimenting with drug use.
Research on successful out-of-school time programs repeatedly has found that the caliber of a program’s staff is a critical feature of high-quality programs that achieve positive outcomes, therefore, attracting, selecting, and retaining high-quality staff has become a major objective of out-of-school time programs. Staff Selection: What's Important for Out-of-School Time Programs from Child Trends (February 2009) reviews existing research and links these findings to effective strategies for recruiting and selecting frontline staff.
Use Music to Develop Kids' Skills and Character: Is music important in your life? Is it important in your kids' lives? Is there a reason so many children walk around with an iPod? Is there any good reason why we don't use music more often when we teach social, emotional, and character development (SECD) to children?
Date Posted 2/23/09
A New Day for Youth: Creating Sustainable Quality in Out of School Time, by Harvard researcher Gil G. Noam, asserts that the ability of OST providers to offer high-quality OST programming rests on strong leadership, staffing and their activities for children, advocating for more leadership and management training for OST executive leaders; training for OST staffers in establishing strong relationships with young people; and assistance in establishing clear learning goals for students.
http://www.wallacefoundation.org
In A View from the Field: Helping Community Organizations Meet Capacity Challenges, Lucy N. Friedman, president of The After-School Corporation writes that investments in training for staffers and executives; educating principals and other education leaders about the role of OST; improving the content of programming; and strengthening the financial management and governance of OST provider groups, could strengthen OST providers.
http://www.wallacefoundation.org
The Quality of School-Age Child Care in After-School Settings, identifies the features of high quality the features of high-quality after school settings that have emerged from the research and are reflected in program quality tools. It also:
- examines key research linking program quality to positive developmental outcomes
- reviews current practice in program quality assessment
- offers considerations for policymakers regarding future school age care decisions in order to promote high quality programs
- includes a listing of program quality assessment tools.
http://www.childcareresearch.org
Research in the School Age field confirms that there is a strong connection between professional development for staff and positive outcomes for youth. Promising Practices in Out-of-School-Time Professional Development broadly defines school age professional development and summarizes promising practices in its design, implementation, and evaluation.
http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/ostrc/pdf/PPID.pdf
School-Age Child Care Trend Report
by Roger Neugebauer
www.childcareexchange.com
Exchange magazine surveyed school age professionals and asked about the major challenges facing the school-age care field, parent expectations for school-age programs and the goals of school-age programs today. Find out more.
