New Harvard Report on Supports Year-Round Learning
Year-Round Learning: Linking School, Afterschool, and Summer Learning to Support Student Success, a new report from Harvard Family Research Project, examines an approach to expanded learning—one that provides students with access to quality learning environments across the year—to inform discussions about how to expand learning opportunities for today’s youth. This report comes at a time when expanded learning is at the forefront of discussions about education reform. Policymakers and providers are working to discover the best ways to support students beyond the traditional school model.
New Wallace Foundation Study on Benefits of Afterschool for Teens
After-School Programs for High School Students - An Evaluation of After School Matters, a rigorous evaluation compares results for teens in Chicago’s After School Matters apprentice-like program to results for similar students; finds statistically significant benefits for After School Matters students on some measures of youth development; and reduced problem behaviors, but no differences in job skills or school performance.
More than Half a Million Pennsylvania Children Need – But Don’t Have – Afterschool Programs, According to “America After 3PM” Study
87 percent of Pennsylvania adults surveyed believe that there should be some type of organized activity for young people
A new study finds that more than a quarter of Pennsylvania’s schoolchildren are on their own in the afternoons, and another 15 percent are in the care of their siblings. There has been no progress in participation in afterschool programs by Pennsylvania youth over the last five years, even as statewide demand for afterschool programs has increased. The rate of participation in afterschool held steady at just nine percent, trailing the national average of 15 percent. The data come from the landmark America After 3PM study, conducted for the Afterschool Alliance and sponsored by the JCPenney Afterschool Fund.
Click here to read the full release (PDF format).
Click here for the America After 3PM report and accompanying data.
New America 3-6pm Looks at Afterschool in Rural, Urban, and Suburban Communities
The Afterschool Alliance released its latest report on a child’s afterschool experience in the rural, urban and suburban setting. Based upon results of the 2009 America After 3PM survey, nearly 30,000 households participated, sharing their experience on afterschool access, enrollment, barriers, satisfaction and more. Click here to read the report.
PA Legislative Budget & Finance Committee Report
House Resolution 824 of 2008 (sponsored by Representative Jack Wheatley) called on the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LB&FC) to assess the availability and affordability of afterschool programs in the Commonwealth. To view the full LB&FC report, click here.
AYPF Compendium — Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond
This publication describes 23 programs that have been proven to help young people successfully complete high school and be prepared for success in postsecondary education and careers. To read the compendium, click here.
Additional briefs and trip reports are available online at www.aypf.org/events; publications are available online at www.aypf.org/publications.
The Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs — MDRC
This report presents two-year implementation and impact findings on two supplemental academic instruction approaches developed for after-school settings — one for math and one for reading. It addresses whether one-year impacts are different in the second year of program operations and whether students benefit from being offered two years of enhanced after-school academic instruction. To read entire report, click here.
New AIP Brief: Using the Child Care and Development fund to Support a System of Quality Improvement for School-Age Programs
This publication provides information and considerations for state child care administrators and policymakers for improving access to high quality school-age programs. To read more, click here.
Building an Evaluation Toolkit for Professional Development
The need for effective professional development for out-of-school-time (OST) staff is well documented. Researchers and practitioners have shown increasing interest in finding and utilizing methods that effectively evaluate professional development for this population. In the summer of 2004, we at the Out-of-School Time Resource Center (OSTRC), housed within the Center for Research on Youth and Social Policy (CRYSP) at the University of Pennsylvania, attempted to locate research based survey instruments used to evaluate OST professional development. Read More.