This piece was originally published as a commentary in Education Week on March 6, 2013 (Vol. 32, Issue 23, Page 26). Read the original article here.
Few dispute that the after-school community has a vital role, and can make a crucial difference, in promoting science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, learning. Yet after-school providers are often so immersed in their work with students that they don't always present a unified voice in articulating their impact.
A 2013 Afterschool Alliance study that I led, "Defining Youth Outcomes for STEM Learning in Afterschool," could help change that. By reaching consensus among a group of after-school experts (including 55 experienced providers and 25 after-school STEM supporters, such as funders and national and state education policy leaders), the study lays out three major, achievable outcomes for youths in after-school STEM programs:
Developing interest in STEM and related learning activities;
Developing capacities to productively engage in STEM learning activities; and
Valuing the goals of STEM and STEM learning activities.
These are vital contributions that can change students' lives. Yet many in the after-school community are pessimistic that their impact will be recognized and valued. They aren't as confident about affecting the in-school outcomes that policymakers often focus on—grades and test scores—as they are about improving "foundational" skills, such as problem-solving and teamwork.
The after-school community needs to reinforce the point that its role in STEM isn't an either-or proposition, particularly as Congress moves to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and considers where after-school programs fit into K-12 funding priorities. It takes both after-school and in-school STEM efforts, and their respective strengths, to move toward educating a STEM-savvy workforce that can compete in the global economy.
After-school programs are uniquely suited to engaging students in flexible, hands-on learning that can spark an interest in STEM. They also build real skills and help students appreciate the value of science, technology, engineering, and math for themselves and their communities. That's why such programs are often the home of robotics and rocketry teams and environmental education programs, and why after-school educators frequently work with STEM-related companies and university professors, among others, to give students a glimpse of future careers in the field.
Such experiences can make all the difference for some students and provide a critical complement to their in-school classroom time. Moreover, by broadening the base of students who are interested in STEM, after-school programs increase both the diversity and sheer numbers of students likely to succeed in science and math classrooms—and careers.
Another report, also released in January by the organizations My College Options and STEM connector and called "Where Are the STEM Students?," reveals that the number of high school seniors interested in pursuing STEM-related studies in college and beyond has increased 20 percent since 2004. After-school programs can support continued growth in that area, as well as help address an increasing gender gap noted in the study, since a fundamental strength of after-school programs is their ability to reach underserved and underrepresented populations.
Indeed, the after-school community has seen increased interest from philanthropies and the business community precisely because many funders recognize that progress will not happen without the kind of informal STEM education that is offered after school.
Conversations around major STEM learning outcomes (as well as a number of indicators and sub-indicators of progress outlined in the Afterschool Alliance's study) cannot wait. As the reauthorization of the ESEA progresses and states devise new assessment measures in line with the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, policies that directly affect the funding and focus of many after-school programs will take effect.
At this crucial time, the outcomes and the associated indicators of learning identified here can, I hope, give the after-school community the clarity it needs to show what it does best and help policymakers understand that after-school programs are an essential partner without which STEM learning can't thrive.
If you didn't get a chance to see Brooklyn Castle in theaters, now you can!
The Afterschool Alliance invites you to join us for a showcase of local afterschool programs and a private screening of Brooklyn Castlethis Sunday, December 2. This award-winning documentary tells the story of a chess team at a below-the-poverty-line inner city junior high school—one that has won more national championships than any other in the country—facing recessionary budget cuts to extracurricular activities that threaten to eliminate the chess program.
The story of the I.S. 318 chess team underscores the importance of protecting the programs that keep our kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. The screening will also showcase local programs that will share firsthand the important impact of afterschool.
Bring your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors to see the film that critics are hailing as the best documentary of the year, and has been featured on major television networks like Fox News, CBS and MSNBC.
Private screening of Brooklyn Castle Sunday, December 2, 2012
2:30-5:00 pm
Sitar Arts Center
1700 Kalorama Road Northwest, Suite 101
Washington, DC 20009
Watch the trailer:
The movie will begin at 3:00 pm. Come early for an Afterschool Showcase at 2:30 pm. Students from the following local programs will be in attendance to show off their afterschool experiences:
Project Create – Project Create works with children, youth and families feeling the effects of homelessness and poverty. They use arts education as a tool to promote positive youth development. The programs goals are to create art, create community and create opportunity.
Sitar Arts Center– Sitar Arts Center is a program that allows children to explore and study visual and performing arts in a safe environment. Sitar works with local volunteer artists and arts organizations to provide students with a comprehensive education in the visual and performing arts.
People Animals Love – People Animals Love (PAL) is a year round program that works with low-income children struggling with gaps in their academic, emotional and social skills. Using children’s natural interest in animals, the PAL Club afterschool program works to improve the students’ reading, math and behavioral skills.
Chess Challenge in DC – Chess Challenge in DC seeks to promote academic, social and leadership development of students in Washington, DC. Children participating in the program learn to think strategically, develop self-discipline and positive social skills, and increase their self-esteem.
Check out our guest blog on First Book's blog, Bookmark, about how we've teamed up to celebrate Lights On Afterschool:
This year, we've entered into a great partnership with First Book to celebrate Lights On Afterschool. First Book is a nonprofit that provides brand new, free and low-cost books to programs that serve children in need. Once you register your Lights On Afterschool event, don’t forget to also sign up with First Book to take advantage of this awesome opportunity: for every 300 new eligible Lights On Afterschool registrants that also sign up to use First Book, they will randomly pick one registrant to receive a pallet of approximately 1,000 books. Through partnerships with organizations like ours, First Book has distributed nearly 100 million books to schools and community programs around the country that work directly with children from low-income families.
This Saturday is American Graduate Day: a multi-platform event featuring a live television broadcast on PBS stations nationwide and participation from more than 20 national partner organizations, celebrities and athletes to spotlight solutions to the nation’s dropout crisis in which 1 in 4 students do not finish high school. Viewers and listeners will be encouraged to become an “American Graduate Champion” by offering their time, donating resources, connecting with the organizations on social media or learning more about the crisis. American Graduate Day is part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen initiative.
With special guests including Michael Powell, representing America’s Promise Alliance, and PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Ray Suarez, the national television broadcast will air live on public television stations from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. EDT on Sept. 22 (check local listings). The event will feature 20 national organizations that are working with local public media stations to help young people stay in school and on track for on-time graduation including key afterschool and summer learning program providers like After School All-Stars, America SCORES, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, buildOn, City Year, Communities in Schools,Girls Inc., Harlem RBI, United Way, YouthBuild, the YMCA and more. Also featured will be segments about local community groups, compelling stories from students themselves, and highlights from PBS national and local content – from PBS NewsHour and Need to Know to Jim Glassman’s Ideas in Action and Tavis Smiley Reports: Too Important To Fail. The broadcast will also include the premiere of a new student film from Reel Works New York and a preview of the upcoming FRONTLINE documentary, Dropout Nation.
Afterschool advocates will be able to participate in the broadcast by asking questions and sharing ideas before and during the broadcast on Facebook as well as on Twitter using the #AmGrad hashtag. Those interested in becoming an American Graduate Champion can also call in at 800-313-2477or log on to AmericanGraduate.org to find out more about the national and regional organizations and how to help in their hometowns.
Unless graduation rates increase, nearly 12 million students will likely drop out over the next decade, resulting in a loss to the nation of $1.5 trillion in lost wages and increased social costs due to crime and healthcare. Among students who do graduate, one-third need remedial courses in college and far fewer will go on to earn a college degree. Yet, more than half of all new jobs in the next decade will require some postsecondary education. Studies show that afterschool programs effectively address and help resolve many of the issues that lead students to dropout. These programs are especially crucial in reaching young people who are most at risk at turning points as they transition from middle school to high school and are searching for meaningful academic, vocational and recreational activities that keep them invested in their own success.
Want to provide a chance for your afterschool group to learn about important current issues while utilizing technology and thinking creatively?
If so, you’ll want to take advantage of the video contest Population Connection is hosting for high school students. Students are challenged to create a 30-45 second video Public Service Announcement (PSA) that illustrates the connection between world population at seven billion and one of the following three topics: food security, the global status of women and girls, or wildlife habitat. Students can work by themselves or in a group, and there are cash prizes of up to $1,000 for the winners in each of the three topics. Participating teachers are also eligible to receive free curriculum resources.
As a former afterschool coordinator, I realize the importance of the afterschool space. This contest would be a great fit, as it is not only a fun way of learning about relevant issues, but it is a perfect outlet for students to showcase their creativity and maybe even find a talent that they did not know they possessed. The contest is open to any and all high school students, and we would love to see as many students participate as possible! Videos can be submitted throughout the school year, up until our deadline of February 21, 2013. Full contest details including guidelines, frequently asked questions, and even research resources covering each topic can be found at www.Worldof7Billion.org.
Nathan J. Wallace is an education program fellow at Population Education. Learn more at www.populationeducation.org.
Each weekday from September to June, at roughly 3:00 in the afternoon, school bells across the land ring, signaling the end of classes for the day. The sound that follows in many classrooms is familiar to anyone who's been in a classroom: books snapping shut, chair legs screeching on floors, and children moving on to their next stop. Just what that next stop is varies from community to community, family to family, and child to child. Some go off to structured activities with adult supervision; some go home to a waiting adult; some go home and are unsupervised; and some have no real option but to hang out in places where trouble is especially likely to find them.
In that first category are about 8.4 million children who are lucky enough to have afterschool programs that keep them safe and inspire them to learn, and that also help their working parents continue to work productively, secure in the knowledge that their kids are under the watchful eye of caring professionals. Unfortunately, a much larger group of children—15.1 million—are left alone—no parents, no afterschool program, no adult supervision.
The policy challenge those numbers frame for us is obvious: We need to shrink the number of children left on their own in the often-perilous afterschool hours, and we need to invest in growing the number of children who have enriching afterschool options available to them. Unfortunately, we seem to be heading in the wrong direction.
That's the inescapable conclusion from new research conducted for the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign by a team of George Washington University researchers. The report focuses on state funding for programs supporting students who face economic disadvantages, with a particular eye on the effect of the recession on those programs and the children they serve.
Much of the dialogue about such programs these days focuses on the federal level and the ongoing budget debates that have dominated our politics for the past few years. But many states have been fighting budget battles of their own, and the report concludes that one result of those losing battles is that the overall gap between support services and student needs in those states has widened.
That's particularly true in the case of afterschool and summer learning programs, the researchers conclude. (The two programs are often run by the same entities, serving similar groups of students.) After taking a close look at funding levels in four states—Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia—they calculated that states had cut afterschool and summer program funding by an average of 16 percent per pupil.
Of course, afterschool programs aren't solely dependent on state dollars. But their other funding sources are no more ample. Fees paid by parents account for the lion's share of afterschool program funding, but high unemployment and recession-suppressed wages make that harder than ever for many families to swing. Support from the business and philanthropic communities are a challenge, as well; both have taken hits from the recession and have fewer dollars to devote to charitable causes, no matter how valuable. And federal support, chiefly from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, has been cut as a result of the budget wars in Washington. Worse, an epic post-election budget battle looms, as Congress tries to come to grips with the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts now scheduled to take effect in January—again as a result of past budget agreements. A report released this week by the Afterschool Alliance also echoes the finding that afterschool and summer learning program budgets are shrinking, leaving programs struggling to meet the needs of children and families in their communities.
Those who see afterschool programs as expendable budget items likely have never set foot in one. Walk into an afterschool program, and you'll see kids receiving homework help and special tutoring; getting exercise; learning about science, technology and engineering; going on field trips that expand their love of music and the arts; or building robots or cars or computers. And they do these things under the supervision of afterschool providers and with the help of volunteers from community organizations or local businesses.
It's exactly that sort of community engagement and that mix of fun and learning that makes these programs so successful. Great afterschool programs don't staple another couple of hours of class time onto the school day; they focus on the kinds of experiential learning activities that engage young people in their own education, connect lessons to the real world, and help students learn more during the regular school day. A number of studies show reading and mathematics gains among afterschool students, as well as behavior and attendance improvements.
For some reason, too many budget-writers seem to see afterschool and summer learning programs as add-ons, something that's nice to have when we can afford them, but not something we can pay for when times are tight. They're exactly wrong. Key to stemming the summer learning loss that drags down academic achievement among low-income students, and thus wastes precious school dollars, these programs are a terrific investment, particularly when economic times are tough.
Now that the Back To School Season is in full swing, it’s a great time to start thinking about college readiness. Last week we had a great turnout for our first webinar, “College Access 101: How Afterschool Can Bridge the Gap.” This was our inaugural webinar in what we hope will be a long-running series designed to present the latest ideas and strategies as well as engage the large field of afterschool advocates in important discussions on a range of topics and issues relating to out-of-school time.
Afterschool programs have the opportunity to play a significant role in exposing at-risk youth to new opportunities to pursue higher education and helping them navigate the often challenging admissions process. Our panelists, Amy Smitter from Campus Compact and Jason Hamilton from Arkansas Commitment, offered the perspectives of two highly successful programs that have helped students transition from high school to college by leveraging relationships with community partners, mentors, parents, school staff and universities.
The webinar is now available for viewing on our website. For those of you who didn’t sign up for the live webinar, you can access the recording by registering your information. Also, when you register, you’ll be the first to know about upcoming webinars and be given priority access to registration. If you did register for the College Access webinar (even if you weren’t able to join the live stream) the Express Login feature will take you straight to our webinar archive.
Stay tuned for news about our next webinar coming soon!
It is August in the nation’s capital: an ideal time to connect with your Members of Congress while they are home in their Congressional districts. Senators and representatives use the August recess to meet with constituents in their home states before returning to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7, 2012. Parents, educators, students, program staff and all friends of afterschool can use the August recess to reach out to their elected officials in support of maintaining federal funding for quality afterschool and summer learning programs. Members of Congress and their staff need to hear about the positive impact afterschool programs have on young people, particularly in light of the potentially devastating impact of funding reductions and/or across-the-board cuts (sequestration) currently set to go into effect in January 2013.
Why this Matters to Young People and Your Community:
An analysis of 68 studies of afterschool programs concluded that high-quality afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs can lead to improved school attendance, behavior and coursework. Students participating in a high-quality afterschool program went to school more often, behaved better, received better grades and did better on tests compared to nonparticipating students. Afterschool programs also keep young people safe during the hours of 3 to 6 p.m. and help working families.
While 22 million children are eligible to participate in afterschool programs through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, limited federal support for afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs results in only 1.6 million children participating though the 21st CCLC initiative and 600,000 school-age children participating through the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF).
If Congress fails to act and sequestration goes into effect, the 21st CCLC initiative and CCDF face up to an additional 8 percent budget cut. This would mean at least 145,180 fewer students served by afterschool and summer learning programs during the next school year, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Three Actions You Can Take:
Schedule meetings with your Members of Congress or their staff.
To do so, you can either visit your Members’ websites or call their district offices. Enter your zip code on our website to obtain contact information for your Members. Do not be discouraged if your meeting is with a staff member. Treat your meeting with them just as you would a meeting with the Member, whom they are there to represent. Here are talking points you can use for your meetings and also remember to share your own story on the value and power of afterschool programs.
Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
We’ve made it easy. Customize our template to send to the editor of your local newspaper. Be sure to include the name of your senators and representative in your letter to the editor in order to get the attention of the Members’ offices. Also, please note that most newspapers have a word limit for letters (usually 200 words), so we’ve kept the message short and to the point. Submit your letter here.
Attend a town hall meeting.
To find out when and where these events are being held, check your Members’ websites, Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, local newspapers, or call their offices. Some town hall meetings are held telephonically. Don’t be afraid to ask your questions on the phone or in person. Campaign season is also just around the corner and presents a host of additional opportunities to start making afterschool programs and the success of children an issue for the November election at all levels. Our website has a number of resources to help you make afterschool an election issue.
After you take action this month, let us know how your outreach went by commenting below or contacting us through the website.
Now that the Back To School Season is in full swing, it’s a great time to start thinking about college readiness. Last week we had a great turnout for our first webinar, “College Access 101: How Afterschool Can Bridge the Gap.” This was our inaugural webinar in what we hope will be a long-running series designed to present the latest ideas and strategies as well as engage the large field of afterschool advocates in important discussions on a range of topics and issues relating to out-of-school time.
Be the first to comment on this entry.
+ Add a Comment: