Afterschool and Summer Activities – Broader BOLDER Approach to Education

Commentaries on the importance of afterschool and summer learning opportunities

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 18:00:06 +0000

These commentaries offer a range of perspectives on the importance of afterschool and summer learning opportunities:

As Erik Peterson of the Afterschool Alliance notes in Child nutrition policy proposals focus on afterschool and summer learning programs, quality afterschool and summer programs nourish not only children’s brains, but their bodies.
In Inclusive Out-of-School Time, the New York State Afterschool Network calls attention to an often neglected aspect of the issue – inclusion of the millions of US children with disabilities.

BBA case studies of high-quality afterschool and summer programs

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:58:20 +0000

Across the communities featured in BBA case studies, high-quality afterschool and summer options for enrichment are built into the school system.

Several of these case studies are of community schools districts. In another such district, Oakland, CA, an evaluation of 92 afterschool programs found that the vast majority of participating students felt safer in those programs than at any other point during the day.
This 2013 report, The Growing Convergence of Community Schools and Expanded Learning Opportunities, describes this core component of the community school model, featuring the wide variety of programs available to students at community schools through their multiple partnerships with community stakeholders.

The Time Collaborative

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:56:25 +0000

The Time Collaborative, a joint effort of the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time and Learning, advances a Broader, Bolder Approach through efforts in five states to demonstrate how expanding and redesigning the school calendar can substantially improve teaching and learning. See press coverage of five-state launch and video on Colorado effort, “A New Day.”

Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:55:23 +0000

The definitive compendium, Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success, offers dozens of searchable research studies, reports, essays and commentaries by more than 100 scholars, policymakers, and practitioners.

After-School All Stars

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:54:19 +0000

One example of such programs is After-School All Stars. In Chicago, participants had fewer suspensions (17% lower) and regular school-day absences (14%) and achievement gains in both reading and math of greater than half a month of regular-school-day gains.

Meta-analysis of studies of high-quality afterschool programs

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:52:50 +0000

This meta-analysis of studies of high-quality afterschool programs across the country illustrates the academic, behavioral, and other gains for students and their families and explains the factors that advance their success.

These infographics illustrate some of these benefits, including providing greater equity in afterschool enrichment activities, reducing summer learning loss, and tax savings and other public benefits from these investments.

Afterschool Alliance publication

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:50:56 +0000

This Afterschool Alliance publicationsets forth eight principles, derived from high-quality afterschool opportunities, that are key to developing successful expanded learning programs.

Afterschool infographics

Elaine Weiss — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 20:03:18 +0000

These infographics illustrate some of these benefits, including providing greater equity in afterschool enrichment activities, reducing summer learning loss, and tax savings and other public benefits from these investments.