Where Can You Go for Help on Afterschool Issues? (continued)

Superintendents of successful afterschool programs understand that students want something markedly different from their afterschool program, even when such programs are academically focused. Without it they simply won’t come.

At the same time choosing and delivering program content that enhances engagement in learning and improves academic achievement in the short term is still an area that requires much research.

While that research is under way, however, many school districts are developing thematic and projectbased strategies to combine academics and other developmental skill and knowledge sets.

Websites and Resources

Afterschool Programs in Cities Across the United States Survey Report, The United States Conference of Mayors, January 2003. www.usmayors.org

Bagby, Janet, and DeAngelis, Tori. Resource Guide for Planning and Operating Afterschool Programs (2nd Edition), Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2004. www.sedl.org/pubs/index. cgi?l=item&id=fam95

“What Makes a Good Afterschool Program?” Monitor on Psychology 32, 3 (March 2001). www.apa.org/monitor/ mar01/afterschool.html

Eaton, Newell, and Quinn, Jane. “Afterschool Enrichment: Policy and Practice Strategies for Promoting Children’s Learning and Development.” Presented at the Leave No Child Behind: Improving Under-performing Urban Schools conference, SUNY Albany, March 2002. www.albany.edu/aire/ urban/eaton-quinn.html

Lauer, P., Akiba, M., Wilkerson, S., Apthorp, H., Snow, D., Martin-Glenn, M. The Effectiveness of Out-of-School- Time Strategies in Assisting Low- Achieving Students in Reading and Mathematics: A Research Synthesis, prepared for the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) under contract to the Institute for Educational Sciences, Department of Education, Washington, D.C., October 2003. http://www.mcrel.org/ topics/productDetail. asp?productID=151

Miller, Beth. Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, May 2003. www.nmefdn.org/uimages/ documents/Critical_Hours(4).pdf

Pittman, Karen. Out-of-School Time Policy Commentary #5, "Inside the Black Box: Exploring the ‘Content’ of Afterschool, Forum for Youth Investment," November 2003, www.forumfyi. org/Files//ostpc5.pdf

Roth, Jodie, and Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne. “What Do Adolescents Need for Healthy Development? Implications for Youth Policy.” Social Policy Report XIV, 1 (2000). 20 pages.

Resources for Afterschool Programing (including Beyond the Bell Toolkit), North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. www.ncrel.org/after/

21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing Quality Afterschool Learning Opportunities for America’s Families, U.S. Department of Education, September 2000. www.ed.gov/pubs

Walker, K. E., Grossman, J. B., and Raley, R. Extended-Service Schools: Putting Programming in Place. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures, 2000. 83 pages.

Staffing

School administrators and education experts agree that staffing can be a real challenge for afterschool programs. Often staff is part time or volunteer; there may be difficulties coordinating afterschool programs with the regular school day. Without really strong staff, administrators point out, the students won’t come, especially those in middle and high school who have other demands on their time.

During a focus group of superintendents held during AASA’s 2004 National Conference on EducationTM, the discussion turned to how to address staffing issues.

“We made sure we had some pretty dynamic teachers who were well liked by the students. We went after the very best teachers and through them we got the kids to come,” Philomena Pezzano, superintendent in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., points out.

For Bexley, Ohio, superintendent Michael Johnson, ongoing staff development proves essential. Site coordinators often receive little guidance and must rely on their own experience and expertise in designing programs. Since these positions are usually a low salary level, and not fulltime, the responsibilities of site coordinators can be overwhelming. Researcher and afterschool pioneer Michelle Seligson agrees that staff development is important, but the kind of staff training that she believes is necessary is a step beyond what many districts provide.

Unfortunately, she says, much staff training doesn’t address the core issue of how students learn. “There is a body of knowledge on how kids learn that is not informing policy decisions in education."

Teachers need to understand social/ emotional development if they are to teach young people successfully, she continues. “What is so often lost is the humanistic approach, and this is even more important in afterschool programs.” Researcher J.B. Grossman would agree that “having a high-quality staff is a key — perhaps the key — to success.” In one study that looked at four indicators of program quality, “relationships between adults and youth was consistently the strongest” indicator. In high-quality programs, “staff worked hard to make time with youth both fun and meaningful” and exuded a natural fondness for young people (Walker et al).