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New Jersey Department of Education Office of Student Support Services 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program and Out-of-School Time Resources
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Out-of-School Time Resources
Evaluation
New Jersey and Regional Organizations
National Organizations
Financing and Sustainability
Federal Resources
Resources and Reports
Character Education
California
Afterschool Partnership Online Evaluation Center
Resources and information on evaluation tools and techniques developed
by the California Afterschool Partnership. Download assessment tools,
surveys and resources for evaluating your afterschool program.
ERIC
Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a national information
system designed to provide ready access to an extensive body of education-related
literature. Established in 1966, ERIC is supported by the U.S. Department
of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement and is
administered by the National Library of Education (NLE). The ERIC system,
through its 16 subject-specific clearinghouses, associated adjunct clearinghouses,
and support components, provides a variety of services and products that
can help you stay up to date on a broad range of education-related issues.
Products and services include research syntheses, electronic journals,
online directories, reference and referral services, and document delivery.
Harvard
Family Research Project
The Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education, builds on its expertise in evaluation and knowledge
development to improve evaluation work and promote greater conversation
and knowledge-sharing about evaluation among practitioners, policymakers,
funders, researchers, and evaluators in the after-school field. HFRP
supports the development of quality information and capacity-building
tools that will improve research and evaluation work and use of information
in the field, especially at the local level.
Specific Resources:
Federal Funding in Out-of-School Time with Accountability Requirements and Evaluations is a map of the after-school field and detailed federal funding streams for after-school programs. In addition, related programming is provided alongside their accountability requirements and evaluations.
Out-of-School Time Evaluation Database offers systematic investigation of the overall picture of evaluation work in the field of out-of-school time and a systematic way to investigate how different programs approach the evaluation task in order to support development of the field and its programs.
Out-of-School Time Issues of the Evaluation Exchange: quarterly newsletter highlighting issues in the out-of-school time arena and featuring articles by out-of-school time evaluators, researchers, and practitioners.
North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory
Through this Web site NCREL provides
many resources to help a program from every stage of a development:
from the "This sounds like a
good idea" stage through to an established program looking for creative
ways to improve their programming or find new funding sources.
Specific Resource:
Beyond The Bell™: A Toolkit for Creating Effective Afterschool Programs A practical and easy toolkit designed for school-based afterschool programs. Designed around key decision points in ix areas: management, collaboration, programming, linkages with the school day, evaluation and communication.
United
Way – Outcomes
Measurement Resources Network
The Resource Network offers information, downloadable documents, and
links to resources related to the identification and measurement of program-
and community-level outcomes.
Laboratory for Student Success
The
primary mission of the Laboratory for Student Success is to bring about
lasting improvements in the learning
of the mid-Atlantic region's increasingly diverse student population.
The ultimate goal of LSS is to establish a system of research, development
and dissemination that connects schools, parents, community agencies,
professional groups, and higher education institutions; gradually expands
improvement efforts in the region to transform low-performing schools
into high-performing learning communities; and is part of a national
system of information exchange.
Specific Resources:
The CEIC Review: This publication consists of full-length research articles focusing specifically on urban education reform. The issue entitled "Pathways to School/Community/Family Partnership Results: Measures of Success and Student Learning", Volume 10 Number 1 January 2001
New Jersey Department of Education
Specific Resources:
21st Century Community Learning Centers Programs (21st CCLC)
NJ
After 3
New Jersey After 3, Inc., formed in 2004, is the nation's first statewide public/private
partnership to fund after school programs. Funded by an initial $ 15 million
dollar FY 2005 State budget appropriation, New Jersey After 3 is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization established as a public-private partnership to make resources
available to after-school programs throughout New Jersey. New Jersey After 3
is dedicated to expanding after-school opportunities for New Jersey's kids with
a vision that all New Jersey children will have the opportunity to participate
in high quality, comprehensive, structured, supervised and enriching after-school
activities.
NJ
Department of Agriculture
To provide children with a nutritional boost during supervised education
and enrichment activities that occurs after the end of their regular
school day.
New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition
The mission of the New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition (NJSACC) is
to promote the development and support the development, continuity and
expansion of quality programs for children and youth during out-of-school
time.
North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory
A useful compendium of Internet resources and examples of innovative
after-school programs compiled by one of the U.S. Department of Education-funded
regional education laboratories.
Specific Resources:
"Beyond the Bell": A Toolkit for Creating Effective After-School Programs allows one to make informed decisions about critical issues such as management, collaboration, programming, evaluation, and communication.
Strengthening Connections: a study by NCREL involving multiple facets of after-school care.
Northwest Regional Educational
Laboratory
A useful compendium of Internet resources and examples of innovative
after-school programs compiled by one of the U.S. Department of Education-funded
regional education laboratories.
Specific Resources:
LEARNS: provides technical assistance to the Corporation for National Service projects focusing on literacy and education. It features downloadable resources, innovative ideas for literacy practices and education-based national service projects.
The After-School Corporation
A nonprofit organization, established by the Open Society Institute
in April 1998 to enhance the quality, availability, and sustainability
of after school programs in New York City
Specific Resources:
After-School Programs: An Analysis of Need, Current Research, and Public Opinion (1999). This paper summarized literature on the need of and benefits of after-school programs. The review process involved a search of education, social work, criminal justice and psychological abstracts since 1993.
Afterschool Alliance
A nonprofit public awareness and advocacy group dedicated to ensuring
that all children have access to after-school programs by the year 2010.
The website includes policy information, research, and tips and information
on how to advocate for after-school.
Specific Resources:
America’s After-School Choice: The Prime Time for Juvenile Crime is a report on the impact of after-school programs on juvenile crime rates; a synthesis of key findings from other national organizations and government agency studies of after-school impact.
A DECADE OF RESULTS: The Impact of LA’s BEST After-school Enrichment Program on Subsequent Student Achievement and Performance is a longitudinal study report and a synthesis of research begun in 1990.
Program Tools: resources offered are intended to help by providing tools and tips on accessing funding and using communications to build support for programs.
The RAND Studies: an annual independent evaluation of Foundations’ after-school programs’ impact on participants’ academic skills.
Benton Foundation Kids Campaign
An information, knowledge and action center for adults who want to make
their communities work for kids. The Benton Foundation seeks to articulate
a public interest vision for the digital age and to demonstrate the value
of communications for solving social problems. Explore the pathway with
information and resources on after-school time.
Specific Resources:
Choosing a Good Program answers "How can you know a good program when you see it?" Items published by the National Parent-Teacher Association on what parents should be looking for in quality after-school care.
Financing Help for Out-of-School Programs helps to figure out the range of costs that out-of-school time and community school initiatives incur, and develops cost estimates for continuing or expanding programs.
Coalition of Community
Schools
The Coalition for Community Schools works toward improving education
and helping students learn and grow while supporting and strengthening
their families and communities. Community schools bring together many
partners to offer a range of supports and opportunities to children,
youth, families and communities -- before, during and after school, seven
days a week.
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
A 501(c)(3) non-profit with extensive information that can assist after-school
programs in accessing the child nutrition programs, and is able to provide
in-depth technical support to the states and grantees.
The Forum for Youth
Investment (the Forum)
A national initiative dedicated to
increasing quality and quantity of youth investments and youth involvement
in the United States by promoting
a "big picture" approach to planning, research, advocacy and
policy development among the broad range of organizations that help constituents
and communities invest in children, youth and families.
The Gateway
A one-stop, any-stop access to high-quality internet-based lesson plans,
curriculum units and other education resources. Browse subject and keyword
lists, or search The Gateway Retrieved records will link directly to
the Internet resources they describe. The Gateway to Educational MaterialsSM (GEM)
is a consortium effort to provide educators with quick and easy access
to thousands of educational resources found on various federal, state,
university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites. GEM is sponsored
by the U.S. Department of Education.
General Services Administration
A one-stop shopping website for parents, teachers, after-school providers,
and kids to learn about after-school resources from many different government
and non-profit agencies.
Specific Resources:
Bringing Education to After-school Programs
Afterschool Action Kit
Mid-Continent
Regional Educational Laboratory
A useful compendium of Internet resources and examples of innovative
after-school programs compiled by one of the U.S. Department of Education-funded
regional education laboratories.
National Center for Community
Education (NCCE)
The National Center for Community Education
provides state-of-the-art leadership development, training and technical
assistance focusing on
community and educational change emphasizing community schools.
National Community Education Association
(NCEA)
A non-profit membership association which provides leadership to those
who build learning communities in response to individual and community
needs. Activities and information for members include national and regional
training conferences and workshops; specialized periodicals, publications,
and products; opportunities for peer support and networking; and information
and referral services.
In addition, NCEA acts as an advocate for community education by working with related organizations and promoting at the national, state, and local levels: parent and community involvement in public education; the formation of community partnerships to address community needs; and the expansion of lifelong learning opportunities for all community residents.
National
Governor’s Association
The
National Governor’s Association has a Center for Best Practices
with information on schools and after-school programs, among many other
things.
Specific Resources:
Extra Learning Opportunities, a web-based publication on giving information regarding best practices and recent activities in after-school programs.
EXTRA: Quarterly publication used to disseminate information on after-school issues and practices
National Institute for Out-of-School
Time (NIOST)
NIOST, at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College, has
successfully brought national attention to the importance of children’s
out-of-school time, influenced policy, increased standards and professional
recognition, and spearheaded community action aimed at improving the
availability, quality and viability of programs serving children and
youth.
Specific Resources:
How Afterschool Programs Can Most Effectively Promote Positive Youth Development as a Support to Academic Achievement (Publication)
Literacy: Exploring Strategies to Enhance Learning in Out-of-School Time (1999) explores, through research, different ways that after-school programs can support children’s literacy development.
Making the Case: A Fact Sheet on Children and Youth in Out-of-School Time (Publication)
National Network
for Child Care (NNCC)
Extensive database of publications and
a listserv supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Cooperative Extension Service.
Specific Resources:
NNCC School-Age Child Care Database: a resource that contains articles and abstracts about before- and after-school care. Topics include not-for-profit status for school-age care programs, selecting staff, and preventing conflict.
National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA)
The only national membership organization representing
the entire array of public, private, and community-based providers of
after-school programs, NSACA promotes national standards of quality school-age
care for children and youth 5 - 14 years old, and grants accreditation
to programs meeting the standards. NSACA’s mission is to build a
profession that develops supports and promotes quality after-school care.
Specific Resources:
NSACA Standards at a Glance: a brochure containing an overview of the NSACA program improvement and accreditation system including all 144 standards.
NSACA Standards for Quality School-Age Care (in cooperation with the National Institute for Out-of-School-Time) -- a source of professionally recognized standards for the field of after-school. This provides a valuable guide and model for quality that can be applied to all after-school programs, regardless of their particular focus.
School-Age Review: a journal with important developments in theory, research and practice in the after-school field.
Selecting a Quality After-school Programs provides a handy quality checklist with key questions helps families ask detailed questions when seeking a program for their child.
New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition http://www.njsacc.org
The Ohio State University Extension, Center for Action on Coalition
Development
Ohio State University Extension is broadly recognized throughout the
state as a premier educational network. It is a dynamic organization
strengthening individuals, families and communities in partnership with
the Federal Extension System.
Specific Resources:
Building Coalitions Fact Sheet. This fact sheet series developed by the Ohio Center for Action on Coalitions, is organized to assist individuals in understanding of the terms and some reasons for building coalitions.
Programs in After School Education and Research (PAER)
Dedicated to making meaningful theoretical and practical contributions
to the field of youth development, with a particular focus on afterschool
time. PAER takes a developmental approach to the study of new models
of effective afterschool programming, and incorporates educational, health,
public policy, and psychological perspectives.
Promising Practices in AfterSchool
You
can see promising practices from programs around the country, talk with
other afterschool staff, and share your own "aha's." Whether
you're interested in planning activities for your program, finding funding,
or looking for a new curriculum, the PPAS website has just what you need!
Search Institute
Search Institute is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission
is to provide leadership, knowledge, and resources to promote healthy
children, youth, and communities.
Specific Resource:
Developmental Assets: At the heart of the institute's work is the framework of 40 developmental assets, which are positive experiences and personal qualities that young people need to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.
School-Age Notes
Catalog
of resources for before and after school programs and summer programs
for ages 5 – 14.
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
The
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) is a private, not-for-profit
education research and development (R&D) corporation
based in Austin, Texas. SEDL works with educators, parents, community
members, and policymakers to build or find strategies and tools addressing
pressing educational problems. Then, SEDL works with them to put the
strategies into practice so they can improve education for all students.
Specific Resources:
Resource Guide for Planning and Operation After-School Programs: This document includes a description of resources to support after-school programs for school-aged children. Also included are resources for before-school, summer programs and community learning centers. These resources are timely, readily available and inexpensive.
University of California at Irvine
After-school staff training and program resource materials for local
projects in California and beyond can be found on this very rich website.
Financing & Sustainability
Dollar General Community Grants
Provides support for non-profit organizations committed to the advancement
of literacy, drop-out prevention and character education.
GrantsAlert
To make life a little easier for those who devote their time to searching
for education grants and identifying new funding opportunities for their
organizations, schools, districts, consortia and state education agencies.
The Finance
Project
This website is part of a series of technical assistance resources on
financing and sustaining out-of-school time and community school initiatives
developed by The Finance Project, with support from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's
Digest Fund.
Specific Resources:
The Child Care Partnership Project is an initiative to develop and disseminate technical assistance materials on public-private partnerships for childcare, as well as to provide direct assistance to the state child-care administrators on how to create and sustain effective partnerships.
Out-of-School-Time Project provides technical assistance on financing and sustainability of after-school programs.
Starting Points is an initiative to provide and develop a series of publications and technical assistance materials designed to promote young children’s readiness for school.
Using Title I to Support Out-of-School Time and Community Initiatives (January 2002, Vol. 2. No. 4): a strategy brief about using Title I funds.
The
Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation
Focuses their education efforts on assisting low-income children achieve
in school and gain access to higher education.
Carnegie Corporation
Mission is to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and
understanding. The three educational initiatives are advancing literacy,
urban school reform and higher education.
C. S.
Mott Foundation
A
leading partner in the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century
Community Learning Centers initiative, the C. S. Mott Foundation is a
private philanthropy that awards grants, in four program areas, in the
United States and selected regions internationally.
Specific Resources:
Learning Together: The Developing Field of School-Community Issues, a report chronicling the ideas, approaches, and strategies employed by 20 school-community initiatives across the United States.
Making After-School Count (Numerous Volumes): a publication on the important issues of after-school care.
Philosophy, Programs, and Procedures: Pathways Out of Poverty provides guidelines and application procedures for the Pathways Out of Poverty program that provides funding for improved education.
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Is
dedicated exclusively to improving academic achievement for the region’s
underserved communities. The Foundation provides grants and technical
assistance to programs that concentrate on academic enrichment, college
planning, advising, preparation and retention support for low-income,
under-served students in grades 5 through 14, and adult learners. They
also sponsor research projects and conferences that examine critical
issues in education.
The Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds'
Their mission is to enable institutions to expand learning and enrichment
opportunities for all people by supporting and sharing effective ideas
and practices. Their current objectives are to strengthen education leaders,
improve after-school learning opportunities; and expand participation
in arts and culture.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Mission is to help people help themselves through the practical application
of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that
of future generations. Program priorities include: Youth and Education
and Volunteerism.
William
T. Grant Foundation’s
The goal of the William T. Grant Foundation is to help create a society
that values young people and enables them to reach their full potential.
The Foundation supports programs that focus on Youth Services and Capacity
Building. The Youth Service Grants initiative is to support local programs
for young people (8-25 years of age) in the Tri-State area of Connecticut,
New Jersey, and New York. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation funds
programs that actively engage young people and enable them to reach their
full potential.
Administration
for Children and Families (ACF)
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a federal agency
funding state, territory, local and tribal organizations to provide family
assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare
and other programs relating to children and families.
Afterschool.gov
Connecting people to federal resources that support children and youth
during out-of-school time hours.
Federal
Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
Resources for teaching and learning from 30 federal agencies with search
tools and a bulletin board for teachers and federal agencies to communicate
about potential collaboration on new teaching and learning resources.
Partnership for
Family Involvement in Education (PFIE)
The Department of Education administers the Partnership and offers resources,
ideas, funding, and conferences relevant to family and community involvement
in education, including after-school programs, and other resources.
Specific Resources:
After-School Programs: Keeping Children Safe and Smart focuses exclusively on the benefits children receive in terms of increased safety, reduced risk-taking, and improved learning.
Gives information to corporations for partnership within the community to benefit school programs for youth.
U.S.
Department of Agriculture
The Child Nutrition program of the Food and Nutrition Service provides
information on the after-school snack program, including eligibility
and reimbursement.
U.S.
Department of Education
The
Department presents information about national education issues, publications,
education statistics, and information about its different
offices and programs. For more about after-school programs, visit 21st Century
Community Learning Centers at: http://www.ed.gov/21stcclc
Specific Resources:
21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing Quality After-school Learning Opportunities for America’s Families is a publication on aspects of the 21st CCLC and a description of the initial challenges and successes of the program.
Bringing Education to After-school Programs: helps after-school providers understand how to integrate academic content (e.g., reading and mathematics) into their programs to enhance children’s learning.
Keeping Schools Open as Community Learning Centers: Extended Learning in a Safe, Drug-Free Environment Before and After-school is designed to help schools and community-based organizations begin their process of keeping neighborhood schools open for children and families.
Safe and Smart: Making After-School Hours Work for Kids highlights research evidence on the potential of after-school programs to increase the safety of children, reduce their risk-taking, and improve learning. The updated version is entitled Working for Children and Families: Safe and Smart After-School Programs (April 2000) and can be obtained at the following link.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The section on Health and Human Child Care Programs, including the Child Care Development Fund, offer useful resources.
Specific Resources:
Promoting Better Health for Young People Through Physical Activity and Sports: a report to the President from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education, available at:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): list other federal grant opportunities within department
U.S.
Department of Justice
This site provides information for children and youth on crime prevention,
staying safe, volunteer and community service opportunities, and the
criminal justice system.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Specific Resource:
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1997 Update on Violence: This report has given a face to juvenile crime and the juvenile justice system in the United States. This report contains the raw information needed to address the problems of juvenile crime and victimization.
After-School
Programs that Promote Child and Adolescent Development: Summary
of a Workshop (2000)
Committee on Community-Level Programs
for Youth, Jennifer Appleton Gootman, Editor, Board on Children,
Youth, and Families, National Research Council, Institute of Medicine.
Community
Programs to Promote Youth Development (2002)
Committee
on Community-Level Programs for Youth, Jacquelynne Eccles and Jennifer
Appleton Gootman, Editors, Board on Children, Youth, and Families,
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.
Beckett, M., Hawken A., Jacknowitz A. (2001)
Accountability
for After-School Care: Devising Standards and Measuring Adherence to
Them. Rand Corporation.
Fletcher,
A. J., (January 2001)
Balanced and Diversified Funding:
A Formula for Long-Term Sustainability for After School Programs. California
Department of Education/Foundation Consortium Partnership.
Jean Baldwin Grossman, Marilyn L. Price, Veronica Fellerath, Linda
Z. Jucovy, Lauren J. Kotloff, Rebecca Raley and Karen E. Walker (2002)
Multiple
Choices After School: Findings from the Extended-Service Schools Initiative.
Jean Baldwin Grossman, Karen Walker and Rebecca Raley (2001)
Challenges
and Opportunities in After-School Programs: Lessons for Policymakers
and Funders.
Hahn, A., Leavitt,
T., & Aaron, P. (June 1994)
Evaluation
of the Quantum Opportunities Program: Did the Program Work? Waltham,
MA: Brandeis University.
Hamilton,
Laura S., Vi-Nhuan Le, Stephen P. Klein. (1999)
Foundations
School-Age Enrichment Program: Evaluation of Student Achievement. Rand
Education.
Hanson,
L. Extended Day: An Innovative Support Program
The
Hood Children's Literacy Project, Lesley College, Cambridge, MA.
(March, 2002).
This paper describes and evaluates the effectiveness of the Extended-Day Academic Support Program (in Arlington, MA), a 10-week after-school program that focused on improving student achievement, specifically in writing. It begins with the program's three goals: improving grade 4, 5, and 8 students' achievement in writing; providing professional development for teachers in the teaching of writing; and giving parents access to information about how they can help support their children's writing development at home. The paper addresses organization of the program, program evaluation components, preliminary findings and results, and pre- and post-assessment writing results. It notes that teachers, students, and parents were generally positive in their perceptions of the program, and that, for the most part, posttests showed a great deal of growth, especially in topic development and organization.
Pierce, K. M, J. V. Hamm, and D. L. Vandell. Experiences in After-School
Programs and Children's Adjustment in First-Grade Classrooms. Child
Development 70, 756-67, 1999.
This article relates children's experience in after-school programs
to first-grade performance. The study reported that positive staff behavior
is associated with fewer behavior problems in boys, while negative reactions
by staff was related to poorer reading and math grades among the boys.
More frequent negative peer interactions in the programs was also correlated
with increased behavior problems and poorer social skills.
Posner, J. K. and D.L. Vandell. After-School Activities and the
Development of Low-Income Urban Children: A Longitudinal Study. Developmental
Psychology 35, 868-79, 1999.
This
paper studied after-school activities of third graders for two years.
It found that
children attending after-school programs spent more
time on academic and extracurricular activities; children in informal
care spent more time watching television and "hanging out."
Posner, J. K. and D. L. Vandell. Low-Income Children's After-School
Care: Are There Beneficial Effects of After-School Programs? Child
Development 65, 440-56, 1994.
This paper examined the effects of four different types of after-school
care arrangements (formal after-school programs, mother care, informal
adult supervision, and self-care) on 216 children from low-income families.
Children who participated in formal after-school programs had higher
academic and conduct grades in school and spent less time watching television
than children in the other care arrangements.
Rosenthal, R. and D. L. Vandell. Quality of Care at School-Aged
Child-Care Programs: Regulatable Features, Observed Experiences, Child
Perspectives, and Parent Perspectives. Child Development,
67, 2434-45, 1996.
This article examined the experiences of 180 children and 152 parents
in 30 child-care programs. It found that children had more positive perceptions
when programs offered a greater variety of activities, while parents
had more positive perceptions when child-adult ratios were smaller.
Schinke, S.P., Cole, K.C., Poulin, S.R. "Enhancing the Educational Achievement of At-Risk Youth," Prevention Science, 1, 1, 51-60, 2000.
Karen E. Walker, Jean Baldwin Grossman, Rebecca Raley with Veronica Fellerath and Glee Ivory Holton (2000) Extended-Service Schools: Putting Programming in Place.
Weisman, Stephanie A., Soulé, David A., and Womer, Shannon C. under the direction of Denise C. Gottfredson (2001) Maryland After School Community Grant Program: Report on the 1999-2000 School Year Evaluation of the Phase I After-School Programs.
REPORTS
Poll: Working Moms Worried About Kids' Safety After
School
A new nationwide survey by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
shows that 87 percent of working mothers say the hours after school are
when they are most concerned about their children's safety. For more
information and to see the complete report, go to: www.fightcrime.org.
Afterschool Summit Summary Report - This report summarizes the meeting hosted by the US Department of Education in June 2003. The summit brought together program evaluators, program and policy experts, educators and government officials for the purpose of discussing ways to measure and improve the quality of afterschool programs. Participants were asked to identify performance and evaluation measures that would effectively capture program impact on student success and the program elements that must be present to achieve these indicators. The report captures these conversations and constitutes the early stages of a conversation around the type of program level data that might be collected to document positive outcomes for students. The full report is available at: http://www.publicengagement.com/afterschoolsummit/Summit%20Report.pdf
Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success - This report, commissioned by the Nellie Mae Foundation, synthesizes available information from numerous studies of afterschool programs regarding the effects of these programs on student academic achievement and overall development of middle school students. Key findings:
- Quality afterschool programs increase student engagement by providing students with opportunities for positive interactions with adults, hand-on activities, and fostering positive relationships with others in their peer group.
- Students who are engaged in learning behave better in school, have better work habits, have improved attitudes towards school, better relationships with their parents and higher educational aspirations.
- The positive effects of afterschool programming extend to families, employers and the community as a whole.
The full report is available at: http://www.nmefdn.org/uimages/documents/Critical_Hours.pdf, (126 pages); the executive summary is also available at http://www.nmefdn.org/uimages/documents/Critical_Hours_Summary.pdf (28 pages).
Increasing Opportunities for Older Youth in After-School Programs - This report summarizes the results of a three-year Boys & Girls Club initiative to enhance services to traditionally underserved teens in Boston and New York City. Three of the eight clubhouses in the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club in New York City and all five clubhouses with the Boys & Girls Club of Boston participated. Although each organization focused on different target groups, common elements in their approaches included: increasing teen access to the clubs, infusing the programs with more academic and job-related content, monitoring youth progress, and collaborating with community agencies to recruit and refer students. Results indicate that the programs were successful in attracting and retaining youth. In addition, programs that were most attractive to teens provided them stipends, leadership development, and employment opportunities in addition to academic support. On-going challenges include: attracting and retaining higher-risk youth, addressing staff turnover, and implementing creative programming that reflects the interests of this age group. The full report is available at: http://www.ppv.org/pdffiles/boysandgirlsclubreport.pdf
The New Jersey Character Education Partnership
The purpose of this initiative is to assist public school
educators to adopt validated character education programs that will meet
the developmental needs of students throughout New Jersey by promoting
pro-social student behaviors and creating a caring, disciplined school
climate conducive to learning. The website has programs and resources
from across the country.
New Jersey Center for Character Education
The
mission of NJCCE is to provide you with access to high quality information
and professional development resources that
will help you engage in effective character education activity and efforts,
whatever your role in New Jersey’s schools or communities.
Character Education Partnership
The Character Education Partnership (CEP) is a nonpartisan
coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to developing moral
character and civic virtue in our nation's youth as one means of creating
a more compassionate and responsible society
The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional
Learning
Promotes coordinated, evidence-based social, emotional,
and academic learning as an essential part of education from preschool
though high school.
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