Building Effective Afterschool Programs


Book Description

Through a comprehensive review of various afterschool programs across the United States, this resource provides a practical overview of the research and best practices that can be easily adapted and applied in the development of highly effective afterschool programs. chapters focus on: (1) "Why Afterschool Programs?" (benefits, challenges, and functions, research methodology, types of programs, and program evaluation); (2) "Language Arts Afterschool Programs" (e.g., extended-day tutoring and the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program); (3) "Enrichment Afterschool Programs" (e.g., Hands On Science Outreach and the Imaginitis Learning System); (4) "Tutoring Programs to Improve Reading and Study Skills Programs" (e.g., Book Buddies and Early Identification Programs); (5) "Community-Based Afterschool Programs" (e.g., Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Police Athletic League); (6) "How to Create an Afterschool Program: From Conception to Implementation" (e.g., assessing the situation, creating the components, and training the service providers); (7) "Evaluation" (e.g., why evaluation is important, effective evaluations, and creating a solid evaluation infrastructure); and (8) "Conclusions and Implications: What Works" (patterns of success among the programs and barriers to participation). A list of resources is included. (Contains 143 references.) (SM)




Afterschool Matters


Book Description

"Exemplifies good teaching that might occur anywhere—not just after school. The author presents sound educational endeavors that respond sensitively and inventively to children′s interests, needs, and predilections but extend their knowledge, skills, and understanding into new domains." —From the Foreword by Glynda A. Hull "Tackles the issue of the place of afterschool programs in raising student achievement and warns that it is unwise to solely create another layer of school. Afterschool programs also have to have an element of FUN." —Paul Young, Executive Director West After School Center, Inc. Create an out-of-school time program that bridges enrichment activities and academics! School leaders and afterschool specialists recognize that successful afterschool programs rely on achieving a balance between academic and enrichment activities. With contributions from researchers and practitioners in the field of out-of-school time, Afterschool Matters provides concrete models that demonstrate how to help youth who are struggling academically and how to support them in their overall development. Editor Sara Hill brings together a range of projects grounded in student interests to enhance multiple student competencies. Embracing the social, artistic, civic, emotional, and intellectual growth of students, this volume: Aligns learning standards with youth development principles Provides quality program models from experts in the field Addresses the challenges and successes in designing and sustaining afterschool activities Supported by The Robert Bowne Foundation, a leading funder of afterschool programs, this guidebook can help you create, revise, or improve your local program.




Great Afterschool Programs and Spaces That Wow!


Book Description

Unique resource that outlines the many aspects of designing quality physical, temporal, and interactive out-of-school-time environments for school-age children.




Expanding Minds and Opportunities


Book Description

Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success presents an impressive and significant body of work that comprises almost 70 reports, research studies, essays, articles, and commentaries by more than 100 authors representing a range of researchers, educators, policy makers, and professionals in the field, as well as thought leaders and opinion influencers. Collectively, these writings boldly state that there is now a solid base of research and best practices clearly showing that quality afterschool and summer learning programs-including 21st Century Community Learning Centers-make a positive difference for students, families, schools, and communities.




Beginning to Read


Book Description

Beginning to Read reconciles the debate that has divided theorists for decades over what is the "right" way to help children learn to read. Beginning to Read reconciles the debate that has divided theorists for decades over the "right" way to help children learn to read. Drawing on a rich array of research on the nature and development of reading proficiency, Adams shows educators that they need not remain trapped in the phonics versus teaching-for-meaning dilemma. She proposes that phonics can work together with the whole language approach to teaching reading and provides an integrated treatment of the knowledge and process involved in skillful reading, the issues surrounding their acquisition, and the implications for reading instruction. A Bradford Book




Making Out-of-School-Time Matter


Book Description

Presents the findings of a broad-ranging literature review intended to identify, frame, and assess relevant issues concerning effective out-of-school-time (OST) programs. Drawing on recent studies the authors identify and address the level of demand for OST services, the effectiveness of offerings, what constitutes quality in OST programs, how to encourage participation, and how to build further community capacity. They make recommendations for improving the information used in policy making.




Measure, Use, Improve!


Book Description

Measure, Use, Improve! Data Use in Out-of-School Time shares the experience and wisdom from a broad cross-section of out-of-school time professionals, ranging from internal evaluators, to funders, to researchers, to policy advocates. Key themes of the volume include building support for learning and evaluation within out-of-school time programs, creating and sustaining continuous quality improvement efforts, authentically engaging young people and caregivers in evaluation, and securing funder support for learning and evaluation. This volume will be particularly useful to leadership-level staff in out-of-school time organizations that are thinking about deepening their own learning and evaluation systems, yet aren’t sure where to start. Authors share conceptual frameworks that have helped inform their thinking, walk through practical examples of how they use data in out-of-school time, and offer advice to colleagues.




Building Effective Physical Education Programs


Book Description

Building Effective Physical Education Programs is a unique text focused on designing and delivering school physical education programs. The text succeeds in helping pre-service, novice, and more experienced teachers to understand the essential components necessary to create and deliver impactful physical education programs within their school or organization. Through its use of engaging learning experiences found in each chapter, this text is ideal for use across various physical education teacher courses and teacher professional development programs. Written for an international audience, Building Effective Physical Education Programs acknowledges both the similarities and differences of physical education programs from country to country. International case studies are included to further illustrate worldwide practices. This text is appropriate for the student who is interested in the field of physical education as well as the seasoned professional with years of experience. Key Features: Learning Experience boxes help readers apply knowledge gained from the text to real-world practice by utilizing activities and critical-thinking questions to drive comprehension. An international perspective on physical education provides a global viewpoint and gives students a broad context for different program types A focus on current trends and issues makes this text relevant and timely Ancillaries provide instructors with the tools to implement a successful physical education teacher education course. Instructor resources include: Instructor's Manual, Test Bank and PowerPoint presentations Student resources include: Companion website and Student Study Guide




Helping Students Graduate


Book Description

This book describes the fifteen strategies identified through research reviewed by The National Dropout Prevention Center and Network at Clemson University. Each chapter in this book was written by a nationally recognized authority in that field. Research has shown that these 15 strategies have been successfully implemented in all school levels from K - 12 in rural, suburban, and urban centers; as stand-alone programs or as part of systemic school improvement plans. Helping Students Graduate: A Strategic Approach to Dropout Prevention also covers No Child Left Behind and its effects on dropout rates; Dealing with Hispanic dropouts; Differences and similarities between rural and urban dropouts. These fifteen strategies have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Education. They are applicable to all students, including students with disabilities.




Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings


Book Description

More and more young people are learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a wide variety of afterschool, summer, and informal programs. At the same time, there has been increasing awareness of the value of such programs in sparking, sustaining, and extending interest in and understanding of STEM. To help policy makers, funders and education leaders in both school and out-of-school settings make informed decisions about how to best leverage the educational and learning resources in their community, this report identifies features of productive STEM programs in out-of-school settings. Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in Out-of-School Settings draws from a wide range of research traditions to illustrate that interest in STEM and deep STEM learning develop across time and settings. The report provides guidance on how to evaluate and sustain programs. This report is a resource for local, state, and federal policy makers seeking to broaden access to multiple, high-quality STEM learning opportunities in their community.