Afterschool programs that strive to be inclusive should remember to welcome participants with disabilities. A new instrument can help afterschool programs determine how well they are doing at including kids with disabilities and assess whether those providing the services—leaders and staff—overestimate their organization’s inclusiveness as compared to those who use the services.
English learners are a diverse group with diverse experiences and needs. While schools focus on teaching them English, afterschool programs can build on their strengths to address their social and emotional needs.
A three-day art project in an afterschool program with no specific arts component illustrates the potential—and the challenges—of engaging children in creating art using recycled materials.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Angela EckhoffAmy HallenbeckMindy Spearman
This article explores the partnership between the Baltimore County 4-H program and the Baltimore County Public Library, which forged a partnership to offer structured experiential programming opportunities to meet the afterschool needs of youth who visit their local library. Their experience suggests that libraries and youth development organizations can fruitfully collaborate to create sustainable quality afterschool programming.
As program evaluations become increasingly popular (and necessary), afterschool program evaluators seek appropriate evaluation methods. Focus groups with participants and staff offer a great deal of promise, but they also offer specific challenges that must be addressed in order to use this method successfully.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Nicole Schaefer-McDanielKimberly LibmanSarah Zeller-BerkmanKira Krenichyn
If the schools can provide the instructional boost and afterschool can offer the engaging enrichment, students will have what they deserve: the best of both worlds.
A unique afterschool class in making comic strips and comic books, taught by a professional comic artist, encourages both literacy development and identity development in adolescent participants.
Out-of-school time (OST) programs can benefit the growing population of English learners in U.S. public schools by giving them the gift of time in which to learn both English and subject matter content.
This paper outlines the need for sustainable, scalable afterschool computer science programs targeting girls and describes the development of one such curriculum. Evaluation research on girls’ learning of computer science and on the capacity of afterschool staff and organizations to provide computer science programming leads to our description of a research-based approach to sustaining and scaling the program nationally—an approach that other programs might use to expand their reach and impact.
Self-assessment can be a powerful tool for evaluating program quality, yet the available self-assessment instruments do not comprehensively address practices that promote academic enrichment.
Drugs and alcohol, free time and empty houses are readily available in affluent communities. But positive role models and meaningful activities are often in short supply.