Issue Briefs

Afterschool: Providing Multiple Benefits to Middle School Students (2010)

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the first of four issue briefs in this series examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief discusses the specific needs of middle school youth, the ways afterschool programs can meet these needs, and the barriers to participation that exist among middle school youth.

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Afterschool: Supporting Career and College Pathways for Middle School-Age Youth (2011)

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the third of four issue briefs in this series examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief focuses on the importance of high school and postsecondary school completion for career readiness, and highlights the opportunities afterschool programs can provide to expose students to higher education options and career paths.

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Afterschool: Supporting Family Involvement in Schools (2008)

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the last of four issue briefs in a series examining the vital role afterschool programs play in supporting children, families and communities. This brief emphasizes the benefits to students, schools and families that comes with family involvement in school and explores the various ways afterschool programs create linkages between school and home.

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Afterschool: The Bridge Connecting Schools and Communities (2007)

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the second of four issue briefs in a series examining the vital role afterschool programs play in supporting children, families and communities. This briefs addresses the benefits of bridging schools and communities, outlines how afterschool can help build this bridge and identifies quality programs that are already successfully linking school and communities.

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Afterschool: The Natural Platform for Youth Development (2004)

This brief discusses the relatively new "youth development" movement, and explores the ways in which this movement can utilize afterschool programs as a solution to the increasing number of challenges our unsupervised youth are facing today.

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Aligning Afterschool with the Regular School Day: The Perfect Complement (2011)

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the first of four issue briefs in our fourth series examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief discusses the benefits of aligning afterschool with the regular school day, including attacking the achievement gap, and provides strategies necessary for making alignment successful.

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An Ideal Opportunity: The Role of Afterschool in Social and Emotional Learning (May 2018)

Ensuring all children and youth thrive as they move through school and into their adult lives requires that they have the opportunity to develop the skills and competencies that will help them land their first job, navigate and overcome the challenges they will face, keep positive relationships, and make good decisions. Learn more in this issue brief about afterschool and summer learning programs, which have long been a place for positive youth development, helping in students' social and emotional development. In addition, in-depth afterschool program profiles that highlight the different roles programs play to support social and emotional learning complement this issue brief:

• WINGS for Kids: Taking an intentional and integrated approach to build students' social and emotional skills and competencies
• Girls on the Run: Prioritizing staff training and development
• Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley and McKinley Afterschool Program: Providing relevant and engaging project-based opportunities
• The Possibility Project: Promoting youth agency and voice

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Summary

Arts and Afterschool: A Powerful Combination (2005)

In this increasingly competitive information age and creative economy, art education is being squeezed out of school curricula, but knowledge and skills in the arts remains important. This brief addresses how the arts support creative achievement, unite communities, encourage self-expression and teach students about cultural history. This brief also highlights the role afterschool programs can play in filling the current gap in art education.

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Arts Enrichment in Afterschool (2012)

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the second of four issue briefs in our fifth series examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief addresses the positive influences art has on a child's development, the challenges schools face in providing comprehensive arts education and the role afterschool programs can play to support arts enrichment.

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Back to School in the Time of COVID-19 – Wave 3 (November 2020)

Eight months into COVID-19, three key trends are shaping the landscape of afterschool programs across the nation. First, many more afterschool programs are operating now than were in the spring and summer. Second, programs are able to serve only about half as many students as they supported before the pandemic. Third, the children being left behind are disproportionately those from low-income families. These findings are documented in the brief, Back to School in the Time of COVID-19, based on the third in a series of surveys of afterschool program providers to monitor the state of the afterschool field. The Wave 3 provider survey of 1,445 program providers, was conducted between September 28 and October 27, and represents more than 7,300 program sites.

• Wave 3 Toplines
• Waves 1, 2, and 3 Comparison Toplines
• Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 survey page

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