November 2005

Letter from the Director

Dear Readers:

I am happy to announce the launching of our new and improved website. The address is the same but special features and design updates have been added to make it more user friendly. Be sure to check out the "What's New" section which highlights our advisory council.

Please email me to let me know what you think of the new website.

It's also my pleasure to welcome you to the November edition of NCSE-News.This month's issue focuses on the role of after school programs in promoting the three A's of school success - attendance, attachment and achievement.

A decade of research validates the benefits of after school programming. Most recently a study by Joseph Mahoney and Heather Lord of Yale and Erica Carryl of New York University concluded that students in after school programs have significantly higher reading achievement and expectations of academic success than other students.Click here for more information on this study.

The feature article, Afterschool Programs: A Critical School Engagement Strategy for the States, details benefits of regular participation of after school programs and highlights action that can be taken to support after school programs.

The second feature article highlights Lights on AfterSchool!, a national day of celebration held on October 20, 2005, to emphasize the importance of after school programs across the country. The article details how this special day was celebrated in Denver, Colorado. I had the opportunity to celebrate Lights On AfterSchool with the After School Club in Sterling, Colorado. This rural community in Northeastern Colorado celebrated by distributing flashlights, which symbolized "keeping the lights on after school." Prior to the celebration, children created artwork reflecting their favorite activity at the After School Club. Sterling Federal Credit Union provided the funds to purchase flashlights and the artwork was displayed at the Logan County Courthouse showing tremendous community support.

Two participants in the After School Club demonstrate their flashlights and reflectors which symbolized "keeping the lights on after school."

I wish to thank the After School Club at Franklin School for making me feel welcome and part of their celebration. Special thanks to: Kathy Kissler, Director; Staff Members - Renee Pimple, Nate Reyes and Emily Brown; Junior Volunteers - Michael Pierce, Jamie Pimple, Kyle Pimple, Levi Bolin and Jay Dunn.

Judy Martinez, NCSE Director (second from left) with Kathy Kissler, Director of the Franklin School After School Club (seventh from left), along with staff and junior volunteers.

Don't forget to review the Funding Opportunities and Resources and Research in this edition. You will find information to help support after school programs in your community.

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Afterschool Programs:
A Critical School Engagement Strategy for States
By Elisabeth Wright, Senior Policy Analyst
National Governors Association Center for
Best Practices

Over the past decade, public and private support for after school programs has skyrocketed. Policymakers, especially, have placed renewed emphasis on their contributions to student achievement. By linking families, schools, and communities, after school programs strengthen student attachment to school. Studies have found that compared to their higher-income peers who participated in extracurricular opportunities, low-income tenth graders who spent no time in such activities were more likely to drop out of high school or be suspended. A number of studies have documented that regular participation in out-of-school time programs contributes to:

• better school attendance
• increased engagement in school and learning, including improved school behavior
• increased educational aspirations and better work habits

After school programs can also promote increased family involvement, providing the door through which parents engage with schools. Programs with a family involvement component have been linked to improved school achievement and completion, decreases in risky behavior, and longer-term benefits such as higher earnings, home ownership, and reduced need for welfare and other social services.

Governors and other policymakers recognize the importance of after school hours to foster connections between schools and communities. Accordingly, states are at the forefront of improving quality and quantity of after school opportunities. In over 30 states, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation supports statewide after school networks to connect policymakers, after school providers, parents, private sector leaders and other stakeholders. These networks seek to determine a united course for state after school policies among partners. Through such coordinated action, state and local policymakers can tap the potential of hours after school to bridge schools and communities and promote new ways to learn both in and outside the classroom.

References:
N. Zill, C. W. Nord, and L. S. Loomis, Adolescent Time Use, Risky Behavior, and Outcomes: An Analysis of National Data (Rockville, Md.: Westat, 1995) as cited in Beth M. Miller, Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success (Quincy, Mass.: Nellie Mae Education Foundation, 2002), 8. Available at: <http://www.nmefdn.org/CriticalHours.htm>.
D. W. James and G. Partee, No More Islands: Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs
(Washington, D.C. : American Youth Policy Forum, 2003). Available at: <www.aypf.org>; and Harvard Family Research Project, "Evaluating Family Involvement Programs," The Evaluation Exchange 10 (4). Available at: <www.hfrp.org>. (Washington, D.C. : American Youth Policy Forum, 2003). Available at: <www.aypf.org>; and Harvard Family Research Project, "Evaluating Family Involvement Programs," The Evaluation Exchange 10 (4). Available at: <www.hfrp.org>.

Article Adapted from Supporting Student Success: A Governor's Guide to Extra Learning Opportunities of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.

National Governors Association is the collective voice of the national governors and one of D.C.'s most respected public policy organizations. The NGA Center for Best Practices focuses on state innovations and best practices on issues that range from education and health to technology, welfare reform, and the environment.

Lights on Afterschool!:
Denver Leaders Highlight Importance of After School Programs
By Philip Chung,
Policy and Funding Analyst,
Colorado AfterSchool Network (CAN)

On October 20th, school leaders, elected officials, and youth advocates across Denver gathered to highlight and promote the importance of after school programs. This event, which is part of a national day of celebration called Lights On Afterschool! called attention to the opportunities and benefits after school programs provide to Colorado's youth, families, and communities.

In Colorado, approximately one-third of youth are left unsupervised during after school hours while only 11% participate in an after school program.By the same token, after school hours are the peak period during which youth engage in at-risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol use and juvenile crime.These findings are not unique to Colorado but in fact mirror much of the nation.

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet and Crystal Titus, a fourth grader who attends Summer Scholars, speak about the importance of after schools programs

The Denver Lights On Afterschool! event served as a call to action for leaders across the state to ensure that quality after school programs become and remain a central component of the education experience. Speakers, including the Denver Public Schools Superintendent, Denver Chief of Police, and a Colorado state legislator, emphasized how after school programs support the academic and social development of youth, and that without these programs many students would lack the necessary support to succeed in and outside of school.

Now in its sixth year, Lights On Afterschool! is a national initiative held each October by the Afterschool Alliance, a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to quality, affordable after school programs. This year alone over 1 million Americans gathered to celebrate Lights On Afterschool!

Youth from the Denver Parks and Community Recreation after school program perform an African dance

The Colorado AfterSchool Network, one of 30 state after school networks funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, organized the Denver event as part of its statewide campaign to build public awareness and support. In addition, the Network provided technical assistance and materials to other programs across the state that hosted a Lights On Afterschool! event in their community.

As an initiative, the Colorado AfterSchool Network supports local and state efforts to expand opportunities for all of Colorado's youth during the after school hours through three broad-based goals:

• Build public will - Develop a network of statewide, regional, and local after school programs and partners to build public will to support after school programs
• Inform policy development - Monitor and analyze policies affecting after school programs, and advocate for policies that lead to long-term funding
• Improve the quality of after school programs - Increase the quality and success of after school programs through information sharing, peer networking, access to research, training, and evaluation.

  For more information visit the Colorado AfterSchool Network website.

  References:
  Afterschool Alliance. (2004). After 3pm. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. (2000). America's After-School Choice: The Prime Time for Juvenile Crime, Or Youth Enrichment and Achievement.

  Return to the Index of this Issue
  
  

Hot Topics
This month's hot topic focuses on defining school engagement. The following question was recently asked of NCSE Truancy Listserv participants: What is school engagement to you?
Here are some notable responses.

• School engagement to me is an overall feeling of pride and attachment to my individual school and learning experience. I think of it as feelings of safety and support. (Response from Maryland)
  
• School engagement means sharing/participating in activities - academic, extra-curricular, social, that are held at or related to school. (Response from Hawaii)
  
• School engagement means attending school and doing your best with a goal in mind. Lots of factors contribute to school engagement including but not limited to: parent and family support; health, both physical and mental; peer connections; career goals; caring, secure environment; and the law. (Response from California)
  
• To me, school engagement would means that students would feel that they were an integral part of their school in some way...I think that could be very subjective. For example, one may be engaged in academics where others could be engaged socially, or with athletics, performing arts, foreign language, student government, campus clubs or organizations, and so on. (Another response from California)
  
• To me, "engagement" in this case means something close to what it means for a couple planning marriage - it is a mutually beneficial relationship based on fulfilling a life-changing promise. It means not only caring, but caring deeply. (Response from Arkansas)
  
  Join the ListServ and tell us how you define school
  engagement.

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Funding Opportunities

Coca Cola Foundation - The foundation aims to provide youth with the educational opportunities and support systems they need to become knowledgeable about the world in which they live and better able to give back to their communities. Supports drop-out prevention programs, programs for minority education and arts education, global and environmental education programs. Proposals accepted year-round.

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation - The foundation works with partners to help individuals attain economic independence by advancing educational achievement and entrepreneurial success. In general, Kauffman Foundation grants are limited to programs and/or initiatives that have significant potential to demonstrate innovative service delivery, in support of education and entrepreneurship. Foundation looks for ways to advance promising national programs and to leverage additional funding and resources in these two areas of interest. Proposals accepted year-round.

Hasbro Children's Foundation - The Foundation is committed to improving the emotional, social and physical well-being of disadvantaged children, birth through age 12, through the support of innovative direct service programs in the areas of health, education and social services. Proposals accepted year-round.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation - The foundation targets its grants toward: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to themes of: leadership; information and communication technology; diversity; and social and economic community development. The overall goal is to support healthy infant, child, and youth development by mobilizing, strengthening, and aligning systems that affect children's learning. Proposals accepted year-round, may submit pre-proposal online.

Youth Garden Program Grants - Who should apply: Schools, youth groups, community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities, and intergenerational groups throughout the are eligible. Applicants must plan to garden in 2006 with at least 15 children between the ages of three and 18 years. Applications must be postmarked and mailed no later than November 30, 2005.

For more funding opportunities, focused primarily in Colorado, go to Colorado AfterSchool Network

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Resources and Research

Afterschool Alliance, After 3pm: A Household Survey on Afterschool in America
The first-ever national household survey on how kids spend after school hours. This report contains national and state-by-state data on working families and after school programs.

"Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer: A Progressive Education Agenda For a Stronger Nation"
This report was produced by a special task force comprised of two influential think tanks, the Center for American Progress and the Institute for America's Future. The report outlines a comprehensive public education agenda that includes expansion of after school opportunities.

Harvard Family Research Project: "After School for Cindy"
A case study that can be used in training teachers and community workers to understand the challenges faced by low-income families in securing Out of School Time (OST) care for their children. It explores both interpersonal and systemic issues in the roles of family, school, and community in children's OST experiences.

Statewide After School Networks
The national network of statewide after school networks has a collective mission to build partnerships and policies that are committed to the development and sustainability of quality afterschool programs.
Funded through the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the network is centered around three goals:
(1) Create a sustainable structure of statewide, regional and local partnerships, particularly school-community partnerships, focused on supporting policy development at all levels;
(2) Support the development and growth of statewide policies that will secure the resources that are needed to sustain new and existing afterschool programs;
(3) Support statewide systems to ensure programs are of high quality.

The Colorado Trust, Afterschool Initiative Evaluation
This evaluation report presents findings of a five-year, $11 million after school initiative that supported over 30 after school programs and 12,000 youth in Colorado. The major findings show that youth who participated in after school programs reported positive life choices, sense of self, cultural competency, community involvement, and academic success.

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Conferences and Trainings

2006 National Afterschool Association Conference
Location: Louisville, KY
Dates: February 23-25, 2006
Information at: http://www.naaconference.org/

National Community Education Association 40^th Annual Conference
"Community Education: Gateway to Strong Diverse Communities" - Celebrating 40 Years of Excellence
Location: Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis Missouri
Dates: December 7-10, 2005
The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning is offering two pre-conference workshops.
Information at: http://www.ncea.com/conferences/index.cfm

Foundation, Inc.
"Beyond School Hours: A New Twist on Afterschool"
features legendary performer, and advocate for afterschool programs, Chubby Checker. This year the U. S. Department of Education 21^st Century Community Learning Center Programs has joined Foundation, Inc. as a co-sponsor of the conference.
This conference offers youth development professionals, teachers, program directors, and administrators a unique opportunity to discover best practices, network among their peers, share success stories, and learn about the latest trends in education that effect their programs. Organizers expect over 1,200 after school educators who represent programs throughout the country.
Location: Wyndham Anatole in Dallas, TX
Dates: February 19-22, 2006
Information at: http://www.foundationsinc.org/EventsFolder/beyond9/

Center for Summer Learning - Johns Hopkins University
"Enhancing Summer Learning in All Settings"
Location: Baltimore, MD
Dates: March 22-24, 2006
Information at: http://www.summerlearning.org/events/index.html

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