Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)—chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee—along with the support of all of the Democrats on the Committee, has posted an Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill to replace the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. The committee is expected to discuss and mark up the bill tomorrow. A Republican bill, Every Child Ready for College or Career Act, led by HELP Committee Ranking Member Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), was released late last week.
Chairman Harkin’s bill, the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013, supports teachers and principals to help provide high-quality instruction, ensures disadvantaged students get the supports they need to succeed, and focuses federal attention on supporting states and districts in turning around low-performing schools and closing achievement gaps.
With regard to the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative the bill is very similar to the one that passed the Committee in the fall of 2011. Our main concern is that in an era of sequestration and budget cuts, the language in the bill will dilute and divert much-needed afterschool dollars to pay for a longer school day. In addition, the bill would allow 21st CCLC to fund activities normally funded by local education agencies such as teacher planning time and more time in a traditional classroom. It would also allow the funds to be used for wholescale school redesign, which could be an expensive drain on a stretched funding stream. There are other ways to fund a longer school day without cutting afterschool programming and these are included in Sen. Harkin’s bill. Currently, more than $13 billion in federal funding through Title I, Race to the Top, School Improvements Grants and I3 grants are already available to fund a longer school day.
We do applaud changes in the bill that allow for better reporting and data sharing between schools and community based organizations working with students. Specifically Section 4107 of the bill, which addresses 21st CCLC, states:
funds would still flow by formula to state education agencies that would then hold competitions at the state level. Partnerships of local education agencies (LEA) and public entities or non-profit organizations would be eligible to apply for funding, with either the LEA or the public entity or non-profit serving as the lead funded entity.
Like the 2011 Senate ESEA legislation, eligible entities will have the option of applying for funds to provide afterschool, summer learning and before-school programming; adding time to the school day, week or year for academics, enrichment and engagement; and/or comprehensively redesigning and expanding the school day, week or year to provide more academics, enrichment, and teacher and staff professional development.
Amendment language from the 2011 version has been included in Harkin’s new bill in order to prevent a federal preference or priority on which approach (afterschool, summer learning, expanded learning for some students, expanded learning for all students). The bill also includes a stronger requirement for partnerships between school districts and community-based organizations and public entities, with only a narrow exception for rural communities for whom the requirement would be a significant hardship. By requiring partnerships the bill goes further than current law, which only prioritizes such partnerships. The local education agencies or nonprofit and public partners can be the lead fiscal agent on 21st CCLC grants. The bill also requires collection, reporting and sharing of data and outcomes between school and community partners to inform implementation and focus programming, an area that needed improvement from current law.
While the 21st CCLC section of the legislation represents an improvement over many of the prior proposals to replace funding for afterschool programs with funding for a longer school day, concerns remain over the language within the bill that allows 21st CCLC funds to be used for expensive, whole-scale school redesign—an initiative that is also funded elsewhere in the bill through School Improvement Grants. Specifically, there is the real possibility under this legislation that 21st CCLC funds would be diverted to school reform and lengthening school days by an hour per day at the expense of providing quality afterschool programs for children an average of 14 hours per week. With 15 million children already unsupervised during the hours of 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., policies that could add to the number of unsupervised children should be avoided.
Elsewhere in the legislation, the STEM Master Teacher Corps program includes the option of afterschool STEM education (Sec. 4225); the financial literacy section allows afterschool financial literacy education (Sec. 4312); and the Successful, Safe and Healthy Students section calls for collaboration with before- and afterschool programming to keep young people safe and provide physical activity and mental health services (Sec. 4404). With regard to youth development, the reauthorization bill addresses conditions for learning, with support for bullying prevention, positive discipline, character development, social and emotional learning, family engagement, youth violence prevention, mental health, and physical activity. A new "whole school" model that embraces the community school philosophy is added to the school turnaround interventions. More information on the bill is available here.
While the bill will likely pass committee next week—its prospects for passing on the Senate floor are dim without bipartisan support. A recent tracking survey found that 87 percent of education policy insiders believe ESEA reauthorization will occur after January 2015. The Harkin bill is partisan and differs considerably from the approach of Sen. Alexander’s bill, which scales back federal involvement in education. The Every Child Ready for College or Career Act would consolidate and effectively eliminate the 21st CCLC initiative along with more than 60 other ESEA programs as part of a flexible block grant that allows school districts to determine whether to fund afterschool programs or a variety of other programs from parent engagement to physical education and school counseling after conducting a needs assessment.
The House Education and the Workforce Committee also plans to mark up separate Republican and Democratic versions of a ESEA reauthorization bill on June 19. A blog looking at the House ESEA process will follow shortly.
Friends of afterschool can email representatives and senators to emphasize the value and importance of afterschool and summer learning programs through June as the education committees discuss ESEA.
Graduation is around the corner for high school seniors across the country. This is often a time of reflection; reminiscing about the past four high school years—the friendships, relationships, lessons learned, teams, clubs, dances, classes and activities. But if we asked seniors to look back at their last four years and evaluate their learning experiences, how many of them would agree that they were engaging and relevant to their lives? How many would say they felt a sense of ownership and agency over their learning? How many would have a strong and supportive adult mentor to point to that guided them through their middle adolescent years?
A new report, “Realizing the Potential of Learning in Middle Adolescence,” by Drs. Robert Halpern of the Erikson Institute; Paul Heckman of the University of California, Davis; and Reed Larson of the University of Illinois emphasizes high schoolers’ enormous potential for learning if in the right learning environment, given the necessary supports and afforded specific opportunities for growth. Yet despite the research that shows middle adolescence—the period from ages 14 to 18—is the time when young people begin to develop advanced and complex forms of reasoning and analysis; increase their capacity to understand the dynamics of systems, institutions and individuals; and learn more about their interests, strengths, voice and beliefs, the authors find that a number of high schoolers are disengaged, bored at school, lack direction, and leave or drop out of high school without the skills they’ll need in the workplace.
The report calls on society to take on the role of engaging youth, and it’s both heartening and gratifying to see that the report’s authors recognize the important role out-of-school-time programs play, stating “Non-school learning settings demonstrate how powerful the principles of learning can be.” Afterschool programs are creative and flexible—combining learning and fun to provide young people with a learning environment that embodies the principles of effective learning and is attuned to their interests; allows them to immerse themselves in a subject; creates personal connections between students, adults, the community and the work at hand; respects and listens to youth voice; and offers insightful and continuous feedback.
The 10 principles of effective learning for older youth are:
Providing time for in-depth work opportunities, where high schoolers can immerse themselves in a subject—practicing new tasks and developing new skills and knowledge—on their path toward mastery of a discipline.
Working and learning in a community of practice, where youth can participate and learn in a collaborative environment alongside peers and mentors.
Challenging young people’s critical thinking skills, but also structuring learning to allow them to develop understanding gradually.
Discovering, cultivating and growing young people’s motivation, which drives greater and deeper learning.
Supporting youth agency, recognizing and encouraging their capabilities and development, as well as understanding their limitations.
Creating a learning experience that is meaningful to young people, linking projects to issues that are not only relevant to youth, but show youth how the activity is relevant to their life.
Recognizing that emotion plays a role in learning, having the ability to enhance the learning experience and drive of youth.
Using timely, specific and continuous assessment to help young people develop their skills and mastery of a subject, as well as understand and familiarize them with the benefits that result from an iterative process.
Ensuring diverse learning experiences for youth that will expose them to the wide range of issues, fields, roles and opportunities available.
Providing a strong adult role that youth can trust, who can help mentor and guide youth, help youth work though problems, approach problems through different lenses and reflect on their learning experiences.
The report concludes, “…[non-school learning settings] must also be viewed as a critical part of the learning ecology for middle adolescents. It is essential that we recognize, nurture, make accessible, finance, and legitimize the thousands of non-school learning settings for high-school youth that provide conditions for good learning.” I wholeheartedly agree. Before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs are a crucial part of making sure youth are best prepared for college, career and life, yet these programs are in danger of losing funding. Learn what you can do to help afterschool programs keep their doors open and meet the needs of the youth and families in their communities.
Last week I attended the “Reimagining Education: Empowering Learning in a Connected World” summit and was inspired and moved by the dedication and passion expressed in the room to change the current educational circumstances of young people in our nation. Everyone in attendance was focused on the goal of making sure all youth are prepared for the unique challenges of our time, equipped with the knowledge, skills and support they need to succeed. It was impressive to hear thinking around creating a new ecosystem for learning that recognizes that learning takes place everywhere and makes it relevant to young people—drawing on their interests; connecting them to their peers and to mentors; and linking both interests and relationships to academics, career and community.
I was blown away, and in some cases a little starstruck, listening to speakers that included astronaut Leland Melvin, NBA All-Star and afterschool advocate Chris Paul, Howard University student and afterschool program graduate Marcus Prince, and Digital Youth Network founder and DePaul University Associate Professor Nichole Pinkard. I walked away from the two-day event excited about the possibilities and enthusiastic to further participate in reimagining education.
The Reimagining Education summit was just the start of conversations that are taking place around the country. A great piece in the Huffington Post by Connie Yowell, director of education grantmaking at the MacArthur Foundation, and Pharrell Williams—singer, rapper, song writer, producer and education advocate—discusses what it’s going to take to create a world where all kids have the opportunity for lifetime success and shares how we can better engage, challenge and motivate youth to become lifelong learners.
You can also join the conversation at #reimagineed, connect with others interested in connected learning through the National Writing Project’s Educator Innovator, take “A Dive Into Connected Learning” by watching a webinar hosted by Alliance for Educational Excellence, and take part in events and projects through the Summer of Making and Connecting. Just last week we hosted the first of a three-part webinar series introducing the afterschool field to maker culture as a part of the Summer of Making and Connecting. Sign up for our newsletter to be one of the first to find out when our next webinar on the maker movement is taking place.
Last week the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services proposed to amend the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations. According to ACF, this proposed rule would strengthen health and safety requirements for child care providers, reflect current state and local practices to improve the quality of child care, infuse new accountability for federal tax dollars, and leverage the latest knowledge and research in the field of early care and education to better serve low-income children and families.
The proposed rule would only apply directly to child care providers who accept CCDF funds. More than 500,000 providers serve about 1.6 million low-income children through CCDF, including about 650,000 school-age children in afterschool and before-school settings. Many more children would benefit, however, because the providers also serve non-CCDF children. Under the proposed rule, states would require that all CCDF-funded child care providers:
Receive health and safety trainings in specific areas
Comply with applicable state and local fire, health and building codes
The rule would also require states to share information with parents about provider health, safety and licensing information through user-friendly websites. While some states already post health and safety reports online, the new rule would bring all states up to this standard. The proposed rule establishes new minimum standards but also recognizes the need for innovation and flexibility and allows states and communities to tailor their specific approaches to best meet the needs of the children and families they serve. The flexibility should benefit school-age care providers by allowing professional development opportunities tailored to staff serving children ages 6 to 13. The rule would not change or impede a state’s ability to license child care providers as they see fit.
The proposed rule includes a background on CCDF that emphasizes the value of quality school-age before-school and afterschool programs:
Because of the strong relationship between early experience and later success, investments in improving the quality of early childhood and before-and after-school programs can pay large dividends. Nurturing and responsive relationships with parents and caregivers, and engaging learning environments in early care and education settings can provide young children with the capacity for tremendous growth. Children attending high-quality school-age programs are more likely to succeed in school and have stronger social and inter-personal skills. In short, high-quality early education is a linchpin to creating an educational system that is internationally competitive and vital to the country's workforce development, economic security and global competitiveness.
Furthermore the role of collaboration with state afterschool networks and state afterschool associations are called out in Section 98.14 of the proposed rule:
We propose to add agencies responsible for administering statewide afterschool networks or other coordinating entities for out-of-school time care (if applicable) at new paragraph (H). Approximately, 39 states have established statewide afterschool networks. (National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks,www.statewideafterschoolnetworks.net) These networks bring together different stakeholders to consider ways to improve the quality, quantity, and sustainability of school-age programs in their State. The CCDF program provides assistance to children up to age 13, therefore we believe it is critical that child care administrators partner with statewide afterschool networks or other entities, such as State associations of school-age programs, in order to better understand and respond to the unique issues related to improving access to and the quality of before-and-after school programs.
ACF has made it clear that these proposed regulations to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) do not replace a reauthorization of the program by Congress. CCDBG was last reauthorized in 1996, and Congress continues to work on CCDBG reauthorization. The regulation is currently open for comment, with a closing date of Aug. 5, 2013. The complete proposed rule can be accessed online. The Afterschool Alliance is developing comments to the proposed rule and will post those here in the coming weeks.
It seems these days that if you’re keeping up with what’s happening in education, you can’t help but hear about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Last week, our vice president for policy and research, Jen Rinehart, wrote a stellar blog that not only walks you through what the Common Core State Standards are, but explains why they were developed, what they mean for education policy and the valuable role the afterschool field can play to support learning under the Common Core.
To keep up the Afterschool Alliance’s drumbeat of providing the afterschool field with helpful information connecting afterschool and the Common Core, I tuned in to “Leveraging Expanded Learning Opportunities to Support Common Core Implementation,” a webinar hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and America’s Promise Alliance. The webinar featured Jenell Holsted, Ph.D. of University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, who discussed a recent brief, “Making the Connection: Next Generation Learning and Expanded Learning Opportunities,” and Sarah Cruz, director of expanded learning opportunities at the Statewide Network for New Jersey’s Afterschool Communities (NJSACC), who shared information about New Jersey’s statewide pilot training program that helps providers align their programming with the Common Core State Standards.
What stood out most to me during the webinar was just how well-situated afterschool programs are to support students’ learning and growth under the Common Core. Jenell highlighted afterschool programs in Wisconsin that are helping their kids achieve under the Common Core in innovative and promising ways. For example, The Goodman Community Center, one program she reviewed, excels at connecting the afterschool program to learning that takes place during the school day. The afterschool program has eight school day teachers on staff who help develop academic enrichment activities using the CCSS; the program sends monthly newsletters to teachers at each school; and program staff attend Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings for students enrolled in the program, attend school functions and also observe their students during the school day. The program also collects data on their students’ grades, test scores, behavior and attendance to develop a portfolio for each student that identifies their needs and helps assess their progress. This individualized analysis not only monitors students’ progress, but it allows staff to most effectively help students develop mastery of subject content in areas such as reading and writing.
As a resource for afterschool programs that are looking to learn more about the Common Core and how to use it to complement their programming, NJSACC developed Supporting Student Success (S3). Sarah shared that NJSACC worked with 10 afterschool programs, providing webinar training and technical support to plan and implement program activities that support the Common Core, creating a community that facilitates peer-to-peer learning and administering assessment to look at the impact of the training. One example of an afterschool program taking part in the project was the 21st Century Community Learning Center in Pemberton, NJ. Through the project, the program created a reading program aligned with English language arts Common Core. However, the program made certain that the program content developed was engaging and looked different than reading taking place during the school day. For instance, reading groups were based on a student’s interest, rather than their reading level. The mixed reading level groups allowed students to help one another and become more enthusiastic about reading because it was tied to something relevant and meaningful in their lives. Sarah revealed that students in the program felt that participation made them more engaged in their classes during the school day and also helped them better understand what they were taught during the school day.
The webinar was one hour long, but I wish it could have been longer to hear more about these afterschool programs that show just how valuable the out-of-school hours are to the implementation of the Common Core and preparing students for success in school, college and career. On the bright side, there are a number of resources out there to learn more about the role afterschool programs can play to support the Common Core, and be sure to check back here as we continue to share more information related to the Common Core.
While volunteering in my daughter’s kindergarten classroom recently, I noticed a stack of kindergarten math workbooks that proudly advertised, “Aligned with the Common Core State Standards.” It was a clear sign that the Common Core standards have arrived in classrooms across the country and a reminder to me that the Afterschool Alliance can help afterschool providers better understand Common Core and what roles afterschool stakeholders can play in supporting learning under the Common Core.
So what are the Common Core State Standards? They are a set of standards in reading/language arts and math that resulted from several years of collective thinking by teachers, researchers and leading experts in the education field about what students should know and be able to do in mathematics and English language arts. Prior to the Common Core, most states had their own individual sets of standards.
Why do the Common Core State Standards exist? Proponents of Common Core argue that with the adoption of the standards, students who move from state to state, and especially students in military families who might make multiple moves in a K-12 career, will have a smoother transition because the schools in each state will be working from the same set of high expectations about what kids in each grade should be able to do. They also point out that states can share instructional resources like textbooks and even assessments, which are currently under development and expected to be rolled out during the 2013-2014 school year. As you might imagine, there are alsoeducation leaders who question the value of Common Core, particularly since the Common Core were not pilot tested prior to roll out to nearly all states, and who view Common Core and the related assessments as costly (both for the country and our children’s futures) experiments in learning.
What does Common Core mean for afterschool? Whether you agree or disagree with Common Core, these standards are the reality for students, families and educators in nearly every state. While the goals of afterschool go well beyond academic support, given the importance of Common Core to educators and the ways in which Common Core will impact the learning experience for children and youth, the Common Core will surely affect afterschool providers as well.
How can you help prepare afterschool programs and staff to support learning under the Common Core State Standards?
Educate yourself about Common Core and the role of afterschool. Achieve has a variety of resources on Common Core, including guides for elementary and secondary school leaders and guidance counselors. In addition, there are briefs focused on the role of afterschool that share examples of programs and recommendations for supporting learning under the Common Core.
Help parents better understand the Common Core and what it means for their children. The National PTA and the Council of Great City Schools both have parent resources on Common Core available for download. Given the strong relationship that afterschool providers have with parents and families, programs are well positioned to help educate parents about the Common Core.
Promote opportunities for professional development and sharing among afterschool staff and school staff. Expanding Minds and Opportunities includes an article on Common Core and expanded learning that features a couple of examples:
In Wisconsin, district and local expanded learning programs are connecting with school curriculum online and directly with teachers. Programs include current and retired teachers on their staff to facilitate effective engagement with schools and the academic content students are learning.
The New Jersey State Afterschool Network, NJSACC, in cooperation with the New Jersey State Department of Education, completed a statewide pilot training program on the Common Core for afterschool program leaders. Training sessions focused on how to align student activities and curriculum with the Common Core.
Check out examples of afterschool providers who are helping students reach Common Core.
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and America’s Promise Alliance have an upcoming webinar on May 6 that will explore the ways in which afterschool and summer programs can help students achieve under the Common Core standards. Examples from New Jersey and Wisconsin will be highlighted and case studies, best practices and lessons learned will be featured.
As the recognition of the valuable role that afterschool and summer programs play in supporting student learning continues to grow, it is essential that afterschool providers demonstrate how they can expand on and complement the learning that happens during the school day. Throughout the rest of 2013 and beyond, we’ll be working to provide the afterschool community with resources related to Common Core and the role of afterschool in helping all students succeed in school and out.
The president recently released his budget request for FY2014 and we wrote about the implications for afterschool in a recent blog post. The budget proposes a sweeping (and unprecedented) reorganization of federal STEM education investments—it consolidates or restructures 114 programs out of the existing 226 federal STEM programs. In the budget proposal, 78 programs are terminated and the funds from these programs ($176 million dollars) are redirected to other agencies, 49 programs are consolidated within agencies and 13 new programs have been proposed.
The $176 million from the eliminated programs would be split as follows:
$100.3 million to the Department of Education for K-12 education programs
$51.1 million to the National Science Foundation for undergraduate education and fellowship programs
$25 million to the Smithsonian Institution for a new STEM engagement initiative
There are several places to get the full details of the president’s budget request for STEM education—the White House R&D budget site and the American Institute of Physics FYI analysis are good places to start.
There would be a significant reduction of investment in informal STEM education (ISE) if this budget request were to be approved. Federal science mission agencies—such as NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency—that have invested in ISE and afterschool see a significant reduction if not a complete elimination of their STEM education budgets. Of particular interest to the afterschool community, NASA’s Summer of Innovation program, which has provided funds to summer and afterschool providers, has been zeroed out. The National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal Science Learning program also sees a $13.6 million cut below its current level of funding.
The Smithsonian is a new and surprising partner in STEM education, and the details of the $25 million request for “STEM engagement” are still being worked out. One of its main roles will likely be to serve as a centralized location for the education resources generated by the various science mission agencies. According to the budget request:
“The STEM initiative will be coordinated by the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, which will create new online resources and experiences for students that have a measurable impact, align Smithsonian content with learning standards set by the states and create communities of teachers who may use Smithsonian content and tools to customize their own programs.”
At the Department of Education, the only real new opportunity for ISE lies with the “STEM Innovation Networks,” a new program to help school districts build strategic partnerships with institutions of higher education, museums, businesses, government agencies, etc. The three pillars for these networks are supposed to be teacher preparation, teacher professional development and ISE. However, the only required partnership as of right now is between school districts and universities, raising a concern that ISE will (again) not play its rightful role in STEM education reform.
The focus of the other K-12 programs proposed by the department is on teacher recruitment, preparation and professional development—$80 million to prepare 100,000 excellent teachers over the next decade (the "100k in 10" initiative) and $35 million to pilot a new program, the STEM Master Teacher Corps, that would recognize and reward the best and brightest STEM teachers and help them play a leadership role in their schools and communities. The Effective Teaching and Learning Program (formerly the Math and Science Partnerships Program) will receive $150 million; this program has been mostly used to provide professional development to teachers.
There are still many details to be worked out in this large-scale redesign of STEM education. While the proposal is worrisome for those of us who strongly believe that ISE should play an integral role in STEM education reform, it is still just a budget request. The ISE and afterschool community should view it as an opportunity to engage the Administration and Congress in a dialogue about the research base and evidence for building an “ecosystem for learning” that includes afterschool. Let’s rally to make it clear that young people lose when they can’t participate in innovative engaging afterschool STEM learning opportunities.
This week I was in Kansas City as a keynote speaker for the 2013 Best Practices Forum on Dropout Prevention, hosted by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. I was thrilled to be a part of the event and share with the audience the many ways the afterschool field is helping our students come to school, stay in school and graduate. Afterschool programs are an instrumental part of any effort to help our students not only graduate from high school, but prepare them for lifelong success and help shape the adult he or she will become.
This is why I am so pleased with the newly released video (below) and guidebook by America’s Promise Alliance, “Expanding Learning, Expanding Opportunities.” Both the video and accompanying guidebook highlights the many ways expanded learning opportunities—including afterschool programs, summer learning programs, and expanded learning time—are providing our kids with opportunities to express themselves creatively, explore their interests and gain hands-on learning experiences they might not have during the school day. Also included are a variety of resources, such as research, best practices and toolkits to assist those interested in learning more about the out-of-school hours.
What happens outside of the classroom can be as important to a student as what happens inside of the classroom. Research has shown that kids in afterschool programs see improvements in their grades, school attendance and behavior in the classroom. Children also become more self-confident and develop higher self-esteem. Students in afterschool programs are also less likely to be victims or perpetrators of violence and working parents have peace of mind with the knowledge that their children are in a safe environment surrounded by caring adults.
Afterschool programs across the country are helping to keep kids safe, inspire learning and help working families. Yet, despite the wealth of research and stories we hear every day on the ways afterschool programs are supporting kids and families, we’ve found that afterschool programs are struggling to keep up their services and meet the demands for afterschool in their communities. Close to 8 in 10 voters want their newly elected federal, state and local officials to fund afterschool programs, and more than three-quarters of voters want them to provide more funding for afterschool programs given the current challenging economic environment.
I hope that you’ll lend your voice to the thousands of other voices speaking out about the crucial role afterschool programs play in making sure our children stay safe, stay in school, and stay excited and engaged in learning. This new guidebook and video from America’s Promise Alliance can be a great tool for engaging others in your community in better understanding and valuing the role of afterschool and ideally get them to lend their voices as well.
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