| Change Is Inevitable. Are Out-of-School Time Programs Ready for It? | 13068 | GP0|#b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211;L0|#0b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211|Afterschool;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>The out-of-school time (OST) sector provides many opportunities for staff learning and improvement, including webinars, newsletters, and professional conferences. These opportunities also provide time and space for networking, generating new ideas, and potentially using those ideas to change existing operations, practices, and strategies. But sometimes the ideas just don't take hold. Why is that? How could it be that the research- and evidence-based strategies that you just learned about didn’t work for your program?</p><p>This could happen for any number of reasons, including lack of time and resources, staff resistance to new ideas, confusion from youth participants about the change, or misalignment with existing policies and practices. These are just a few examples that add up to a bigger piece of the implementation puzzle: readiness.</p>The concept of “readiness”—or lack thereof—is often the culprit behind challenges in implementation.<div><br></div><div><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.21698" target="_blank">Research</a> has described readiness as the product of an organization’s motivation and capacity to implement an innovation. We have spent the last two years building on this foundational work to explore what readiness means for OST programs, by diving deep into the literature and talking to OST practitioners and field leaders.</div><div><br></div><div>One key takeaway from our work: Organizations don’t make change happen, people do. Organizations, and those who lead them, can create processes and practices that support implementation, but ultimately it is the practitioners, participants, and other key stakeholders who are essential to change management. These people are the ones responsible for implementation. In other words, all of these people need to be “ready” before any change can happen.</div><div><br></div><div>We define readiness in OST as the overall willingness and capacity within an organization and its staff that enables change to occur successfully. More specifically for programs, this means:<br><br><ol><li>Having
<strong>strong operations and procedures. </strong>This<strong> </strong>includes building a positive culture and climate, creating processes for collaborative decision-making, ensuring alignment with existing policies and practices, and having the capacity and plans for implementation.<br>
<br> </li><li>Ensuring
<strong>staff well-being</strong>. Programs should help staff develop self-efficacy and a growth mindset, as well as ensure staff feel that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to help facilitate change.<br><br> </li><li>Keeping stakeholders, including young people and their families,
<strong>engaged and informed. </strong>Programs should<strong> </strong>ensure they have input into decisions and an understanding of how these decisions will affect them.
<br>
<br> </li><li>
<strong>Accessing specific resources, materials, and training</strong> that are unique to the specific and intentional change programs are making or new idea they are introducing. </li></ol><p>This last item in the list—gathering knowledge, resources, and materials—is often where organizations start, but it is only
<em>part </em>of being ready. To be truly ready means attending to all four elements of readiness—the specific intentional practices, and the more general practices of operations, staff, and stakeholders. Our research shows that they are all equally important.</p><p>If this feels like a lot to think about, don’t worry! We have learned that readiness is something that can be measured and built over time. We find peace in this idea because it gives us a starting place to engage in readiness thinking when starting something new. We have also used what we’ve learned to create a
<a href="https://www.readytoolkit.org/" target="_blank">free, online toolkit</a> for OST leaders and staff to help support and develop readiness thinking. Users can create a free account, take a readiness assessment, and receive an automated report with readiness scores to gain insight into where they are more and less ready for change. </p><p>The toolkit links to the many other resources and tools already available that may be used to build readiness. It also includes a growing number of
<a href="https://readytoolkit.org/learn-more-about-ost-readiness/" target="_blank">readiness-specific tools</a> for those who are just beginning to think about readiness.</p><p>It is our hope that by introducing the idea of readiness and creating tools and resources to measure and build readiness, programs can more smoothly engage with new ideas and ensure that they are ready to implement them. We encourage you to consider: Are you ready for change?<br></p></div> | Jessy Newman and Arielle Lentz | 133 | | 2023-05-02T04:00:00Z | Two researchers explain readiness, why it matters, and how OST programs can build and measure it | | 5/2/2023 2:17:31 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Change Is Inevitable Two researchers explain readiness, why it matters, and how OST programs can build and measure it | 568 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| More Arts = More Benefits for Kids | 13053 | GP0|#d2020f9f-c87c-4828-b93b-572786ae94a8;L0|#0d2020f9f-c87c-4828-b93b-572786ae94a8|Arts Education;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>A recent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.22449" target="_blank">study</a> brings good news about arts education: it can boost students’ writing skills, build social and emotional skills, and increase school engagement. But the same study warns that arts learning has been deprioritized in K-12 education since the 1980s, as schools have shifted tight budgets to align instruction with standardized testing. Additionally, few studies exist that demonstrate that the arts in schools are a beneficial investment.</p><p>This study is the first large-scale, randomized controlled trial of a city’s collective efforts to restore arts education in schools through community partnerships and investments. It examined the impact of participation in Houston’s Arts Access Initiative, a coalition of more than 50 cultural institutions, philanthropies, and other local organizations dedicated to providing more arts resources to schools that lack them. Brian Kisida, assistant professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, and Daniel Bowen, a professor of educational administration at Texas A&M, worked with the district to follow two groups of schools randomly selected to either participate in the initiative or act as a control group–a total of more than 15,000 children from grades three to eight. </p><p>The arts experiences included theater, dance, music, and visual arts and were provided through teaching-artist residencies, in-school professional artist performances and workshops, field trips, and out-of-school-time art programs. Compared with the control group, the schools with extra arts experiences saw improvements in student behavior and increases in standardized writing achievement scores. The researchers also conducted surveys that showed an increase in students’ compassion for others, higher engagement in school, and stronger college aspirations.</p><p>Kisida and Bowen, who together co-direct the <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/qJjDCqxDQniyp5KuZ1hmf?domain=artslab.tamu.edu/" target="_blank"><em>Arts, Humanities, and Civic Engagement</em></a><a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/qJjDCqxDQniyp5KuZ1hmf?domain=artslab.tamu.edu/"><em>Lab</em></a> supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, also studied <a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/decade-long-effort-to-expand-arts-education-in-boston-pays-off.aspx?_ga=2.175317028.720931135.1682361553-41959513.1679494370">arts education in Boston</a>. They found similar results, including consistent positive effects on student attendance, and higher parent and student school engagement. </p><p>We caught up with them to talk more about the benefits of arts education for students, important policy considerations for retaining arts education, and more.</p><p><strong>The Wallace Foundation: </strong>Can you talk about the importance of school-community partnerships? How can approaching arts education from a systems perspective help improve access to/remove barriers to arts education? </p><p><strong>Brian Kisida</strong>: To begin with, many under-resourced schools can leverage school-community partnerships to supplement arts education experiences and reverse the declines we’ve seen with access to the arts. But there are larger systemic benefits from these approaches. By making education a community endeavor that brings together educators, artists, nonprofits, philanthropies, and researchers, education becomes a more collaborative experience that strengthens a community’s involvement and commitment to education. </p><p><strong>Dan Bowen</strong>: In Houston, we have seen how these partnerships can promote systemic change in addition to increasing students’ arts learning opportunities. Despite the concern that these partnerships become substitutes for system-wide commitments and resources, we have seen how they can promote and complement these efforts.</p><p><strong>WF: </strong>According to your research, the academic performance of students in math, reading, and science was no different for those who got more art than those who didn’t get access to extra art. Is this a bad thing? Why or why not? </p><p><strong>BK:</strong> Unfortunately, there have been many claims made by arts advocates that increased involvement in the arts can boost test scores in other subjects, but these claims have not been supported by rigorous evidence. In our study, we didn’t expect to find gains in test scores, and we don’t think it’s a bad thing that we didn’t. In fact, arts advocates and education policymakers should consider that finding no effect on test scores is actually a win for the arts. Consider that school administrators often shift resources away from the arts in order to divert more resources to tested subjects, with the belief that doing so would boost test scores. If this were true, we would have expected the schools in our control group to outperform the treatment group on tested outcomes. The fact that there is no difference on test scores, yet the arts are producing meaningful impacts on other measures of behavior and social-emotional development, suggest that schools that cut the arts are missing out on these benefits without experiencing gains in test scores.</p><p><strong>WF: </strong>Why do you think there were positive outcomes on writing test scores but not on math, science, and reading test scores? </p><p><strong>BK</strong>: The arts programs that many of the students were involved in provided many opportunities for students to learn how to express themselves, to present a point of view, and form their own perspectives. Some of the programs even involved writing components that tied to arts experiences. When we disaggregate the writing score gains made by the treatment group into the two components measured by the state’s writing test–multiple choice items on mechanical skills and open-response expository essays–we find significant increases for treatment group students on both sections, but effects are greater in magnitude and significance for the written composition portion of the exam. This aligns with our expectations given the focus of arts programs on students’ self-expression skills.</p><p><strong>WF: </strong>You saw similar positive outcomes with your study in Boston. To what extent do you think these results would replicate in other cities? Do you have advice for other communities that want to mimic the Houston Arts Access Initiative?</p><p><strong>DB:</strong> Finding similar results in Boston was very encouraging and gives us hope that these findings would be similar with other cities. One concern might be that Houston and Boston are large metropolitan areas with abundances of arts resources, and we would not find the same results in smaller or less arts-rich locations. We definitely think it will be important to further investigate the question of how these contexts affect impacts. However, from our experiences, we often find that even smaller, more rural parts of the U.S. tend to have untapped arts resources that are potentially ripe for school partnerships. We find that these partnerships produce meaningful, sustained learning opportunities when schools regularly engage with artists and arts organizations to identify respective needs and resources.   </p><p><strong>WF: </strong>How can this study help school and district leaders make the case for adding more arts experiences for students in schools? How can this study inform public policy decisions?</p><p><strong>BK</strong>: Education policymakers are increasingly interested in providing a well-rounded educational experience that produces benefits beyond test scores. Student attendance, behavior, engagement, and social-emotional development are increasingly viewed as important outcomes, and related research finds that these skills are incredibly important for success later in life. But few interventions have demonstrated the ability to move the needle on these outcomes. The arts seem well-poised to play a critical role in providing the kinds of engaging educational experiences that can move the needle on these outcomes.</p><p><strong>WF: </strong>Why is it so important to study the relationship between arts learning and educational outcomes? What do you hope to find out in future studies?</p><p><strong>DB:</strong> We don’t personally need to be convinced of the intrinsic benefits of the arts. However, policymaking works best when it is guided by evidence, and research on the benefits of arts education has been regrettably limited compared to other education topics. We hope our ongoing and future studies will shed further light on the value of the arts in promoting human development and social and emotional well-being.  <strong></strong></p> | Jenna Doleh | 91 | | 2023-04-25T04:00:00Z | Study of arts education in Houston finds school engagement and student behavior improve–and test scores don’t decline | | 4/25/2023 2:59:03 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / More Arts = More Benefits for Kids Study of arts education in Houston finds school engagement and student behavior | 1457 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| What Do Black Students Need from Principals? | 29948 | GP0|#330c9173-9d0f-423a-b58d-f88b8fb02708;L0|#0330c9173-9d0f-423a-b58d-f88b8fb02708|School Leadership;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>Good principal preparation and principal leadership are not only key elements in the success of students, but are also imperative for the social, emotional, and academic lives of Black students in public schools, says Linda C. Tillman, a distinguished visiting professor in the School of Education’s Educational Leadership for Social Justice doctoral program at Loyola Marymount University. </p><p>Tillman will be giving the Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture at the <a href="https://www.aera.net/Events-Meetings/2023-Annual-Meeting/2023-Annual-Meeting-Program-Information/Major-Events-Lectures-and-Speakers" target="_blank">2023 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting</a>, the single largest gathering of scholars in the education research field. Her speech will draw on research and center on the importance of effective principal preparation programs and principal leadership for Black students in public schools.</p><p>Tillman’s research has focused on school leadership, the education of Black students in K-12 education, culturally sensitive research approaches, and mentoring in higher education. </p><p>In fact, she was the mentor of Wallace’s education leadership program officer, Angel Miles Nash. “The funny full-circle story is that Dr. Tillman’s retirement celebration in 2014 was my entrance into AERA and the first event I attended,” Miles Nash recalls. “Fast forward to today, she has since returned to the academy in many ways and currently, as a visiting scholar at LMU. But she has never left the academy as it relates to mentoring students. She is always mentoring students, junior faculty, senior faculty, everyone. Her reputation precedes her as a champion for all of those groups, not only in education leadership but across the academy in all disciplines in education.” </p><p>Miles Nash sat down with Tillman to preview some of the themes in her speech. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. </p><p><strong>Angel Miles Nash: </strong>You’ve spent several decades as a scholar and leader in the K-12 and higher education sectors focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in education leadership, making institutional systems more racially equitable, creating supportive structures for students and faculty of color and mentoring students and faculty of color. Can you talk about how you got started with this work and why it is so important?  </p><p><strong>Linda C. Tillman: </strong>I was a quasi administrator in Columbus Public Schools in Ohio before I got my doctorate. Within the school system, I don't really think I noticed much of the inequities in terms of supports that Black students get. I don't really think that I knew much about racial inequity or Black students not being supported when I was teaching, because when I was teaching, I always taught with a lot of Black teachers. When I was a quasi-administrator, there were always a lot of Black administrators in our district. It was when I went to graduate school at Ohio State to get my PhD, that I began to see more broadly. You start to read. You start to go to conferences. You start to explore the literature more, and then you begin to see that these inequities are really on a broader scale than what you had imagined. </p><p>I started my faculty career in New Orleans. I remember pretty distinctly saying, "My goodness, this district really needs to make some drastic changes to educate Black students," because I was so unaccustomed to such high failure rates, to unsafe buildings, to not having books, to students not finishing high school. I was so unaccustomed to that kind of an educational culture that when I went there, I was just stunned. I saw so many inequities in terms of Black schools. </p><p>That made me think, how does this work for Black people who send their children to school? How do they know that these children are going to get an education? Who's going to be teaching them, and who's going to be leading them? I began to focus on those questions. When I left New Orleans, I went to Detroit. The hyper-segregated context of Detroit was very much like New Orleans—the failure rates of students, the dropout rates of Black students, the constant turnover of superintendents, the underachievement of students. How do the principals lead in these situations where it almost seems like the failure of Black students is a given? </p><p><strong>AMN: </strong>Can you talk about the representation gap between students and principals? How has the composition of the principal workforce measured up to the rapid changes in student demographics?</p><p><strong>LCT: </strong>It hasn't. In my speech, I'll point out that 15 percent of all students in public schools are Black students. Only 11 percent of principals in public schools are Black. Several reports that I'll refer to suggest that there are going to have to be more principals of color, period, to keep up with the diversification of the student body in public schools. Right now, Black students are at a disadvantage in terms of having a Black principal, and so are Latinx students. In California public schools, 80 percent of all students are students of color. Twenty percent of all principals are principals of color. There is a huge mismatch there. There is quite a bit of data on the mismatch between students of color, Black students, Latinx students, and principals of color. The literature also suggests that having a Black principal means that you will have more Black teachers. Students will do better academically. The dropout rate will decrease. The suspension rate decreases. The college-going rate increases.</p><p>We still have a severe shortage of Black principals so it's a pipeline issue for sure. I'll cite three studies, one that was done for the Wallace Foundation by <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/how-principals-affect-students-and-schools-a-systematic-synthesis-of-two-decades-of-research.aspx">Jason Grissom, Anna Egalite, and Constance Lindsay</a>. What they talk about is it is absolutely necessary to increase the pipeline of Black principals. What does that mean? Many students might never have a Black principal or a Black teacher. Because there's a teacher shortage and, of course, NASSP said in its <a href="https://www.nassp.org/news/nassp-survey-signals-a-looming-mass-exodus-of-principals-from-schools/" target="_blank">2021 survey</a>, 4 in 10 principals are expected to leave the profession. That is certainly going to point to more Black people leaving the profession or not even entering into the principalship.</p><p><strong>AMN: </strong>Mentoring has been a big focus of much of your writing. Why is mentoring so valuable to educators?</p><p><strong>LCT: </strong>I did a case study when I was in New Orleans on a Black female teacher who was in the process of being mentored through the state's mentoring program for novice teachers. That teacher had come from an elite high school with high-performing students, all kinds of awards and accolades. Then she goes to a high school that's low performing. She was beyond frazzled. She was at the lowest she could be. She was having pedagogical issues, in other words, how to teach these Black students who she thought were unruly, and the parents were unruly. She was also having emotional and professional issues in that she felt she was a failure. She even said, "I know they sent you to save me." </p><p>Then the same race affiliation, same gender affiliation began to kick in for me. I wanted to know, should the mentors be of the same race? Should they be of the same gender? Should they have similar backgrounds?</p><p>I think most teachers who go into teaching need mentoring. Mentoring helps a person get their footing and get their confidence to do what is necessary to move from one level to the next level, particularly in teaching. One of the reasons we have such a high turnover rate of teachers is because not all districts have a structured program.</p><p><strong>AMN: </strong>Principals can have significant positive impacts on specific student populations, including students of color, low-income students, and English-language learners. What are some practices that define effective school leadership, and how can principals carry out those practices to promote equitable education in their schools?</p><p><strong>LCT: </strong>Well, in the <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/how-principals-affect-students-and-schools-a-systematic-synthesis-of-two-decades-of-research.aspx">Grissom, et al. study</a>, they certainly pointed out that leadership is direct and indirect. Directly to me means you are talking with students, you are talking with their parents. <a href="https://education.msu.edu/people/edwards-patricia/?email=edwards6%40msu.edu" target="_blank">Patricia Edwards</a> says when we began desegregation, Black parents became members of the audience. You don't make them feel like they're members of the audience. You let them know that their children matter. Then indirectly, you make sure that the teachers know that the children are important. Their social, emotional, and academic achievement is important, and teachers take seriously what needs to be done to teach these students, particularly, a student like an English language learner. If I were a teacher and I didn't speak another language, or if I were a principal, I would have to go get some mentoring. The other thing is these principal preparation programs tend to still be very generic in terms of their teaching. It's as if everyone who will lead is white and everybody that they will teach is white, which is not the case. Even while schools have these social justice focuses, they're not intentional in trying to help or train leaders who can lead in a particular context, such as English language learners or high populations of Black students who live in high-poverty neighborhoods. </p><p>One of the things I'll talk about in my speech is what I call my four dimensions of Black principal leadership. One is resistance to ideologies and individuals opposed to the education of Black students. The second one is the academic and social development of Black students as a priority, so all students as a priority. The third one is the importance of the cultural perspectives of the Black principal. And finally, leadership based on interpersonal caring.</p><p><strong>AMN: </strong>We know from research that effective principals are important, and their preparation, development and support can make a major difference. Yet, principals’ access to high-quality learning opportunities varies across states and by school poverty level. What advice do you have for policymakers to help make principal preparation more equitable?</p><p><strong>LCT: </strong>I don't know if the policymakers can do that. I think that's a district issue. Does the district feel that it is important for school leaders, assistant principals, and principals? We've got plenty of policy. We've got the information, but what does the district, the superintendent, the board of education–those people who actually consent to these policies–think is important? It's the district prioritizing it, and then the district working out a way that principals can comfortably engage in professional development.</p><p><strong>AMN: </strong>Given the ongoing work of diversity, equity and inclusion, can you talk about where things were when you started working in K-12 education and how it has evolved since then? </p><p><strong>LCT: </strong>Well, I'm not sure we have DEI much anymore. I used to be on the faculty at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and two weeks ago they said, "Take out every word that has anything to do with DEI." There are 13 states that are going to follow the lead of Chapel Hill, so I'm not sure we have DEI. It appears that DEI initiatives have been linked to the backlash against Critical Race Theory. Some states have implemented laws that do not allow the teaching of CRT in schools, universities, or diversity trainings. Similar to CRT, DEI is being viewed as unnecessary. That goes back to leadership preparation. We work in colleges of education that espouse a DEI social justice focus, but if we're being told that we have to take everything out, then how do we do that?</p><p><strong>AMN:</strong> What gives you hope or encouragement as you look to the future? </p><p><strong>LCT:</strong> I am hopeful that all children, and especially children of color who are underserved and undereducated, will experience the principal leadership that they deserve. I am hopeful that principals will be committed to the education of all children and will implement policies, practices, and procedures that help to ensure that all students receive more than an adequate education. University leadership preparation programs and other organizations can play a critical role in preparing effective school leaders who will be instrumental in educating all children. There is still much work to be done.</p> | Wallace editorial team | 79 | | 2023-04-11T04:00:00Z | Scholar with extensive experience in the K-12 and higher education sectors discusses importance of effective school leadership for Black students | | 4/26/2023 7:13:38 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / What Do Black Students Need from Principals Scholar with extensive experience in the K-12 and higher education sectors | 1282 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Ensuring Access to Out-of-School-Time Programs and Using Federal Funds to Pay for It | 1412 | GP0|#b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211;L0|#0b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211|Afterschool;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61;GP0|#ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13;L0|#0ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13|Summer Learning;GP0|#890cbc1f-f78a-45e7-9bf2-a5986c564667;L0|#0890cbc1f-f78a-45e7-9bf2-a5986c564667|Social and Emotional Learning | <p>Ask people about the book they remember most clearly, a movie script they could recite, or the weirdest song they can sing along to, and chances are they’ll name something from their adolescence. The tween and early teen years, for better or worse, can stick with us throughout our lives, determining who we are, where we feel we belong and where we want to be when we grow up.</p><p>How can today’s adults help young people use these crucial years to become healthy, productive, and empathetic adults of tomorrow? One way is to offer meaningful and enriching out-of-school activities that provide safe spaces to experiment with new experiences, new interests, and new ways of relating to the world. </p><p>Unfortunately, many young people lack access to such activities. <a href="http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/AA3PM/">A 2020 survey conducted by the Afterschool Alliance</a> found that there were 24.6 million children in the U.S. who were not enrolled in out-of-school-time programs but would be if such programs were available to them. For every child enrolled in out-of-school programs, according to the same survey, there were three who would attend if they could. </p><p>Access is especially limited for youth from low-income backgrounds, many of whom may most need afterschool support while parents or guardians work multiple jobs to make ends meet. <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/publications/participation-in-out-of-school-time-activities-and-programs">According to a 2014 Child Trends survey</a>, 72.7 percent of households with incomes more than twice the federal poverty level enrolled children in out-of-school activities. For households making less than that, the number fell to just 43.9 percent, a 29-point difference. </p><p><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/ensuring-access-to-out-of-school-time-programs-and-using-federal-funds-to-pay-for-it/Federal-funds-for-OST-ch.jpg" alt="Federal-funds-for-OST-ch.jpg" style="margin:5px;" /><br></p><p>Decades of Wallace experience suggest that a focus on systems—the coordinated efforts of entities such as departments of education, school boards, philanthropies, nonprofit groups, and intermediary organizations—could help change this picture and expand access to quality out-of-school-time programs. Efforts in cities around the country, including <a href="/knowledge-center/Pages/building-an-effective-social-and-emotional-learning-committe-dallas-vol2-pt3.aspx">Dallas</a>, <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/expanding-social-and-emotional-learning-boston-vol2-pt2.aspx">Boston</a> and <a href="/knowledge-center/Pages/learning-to-focus-on-adult-sel-first-tulsa-vol2-pt7.aspx">Tulsa</a>, point to elements of systems that could help more young people access the programs they need, including:</p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">An entity to coordinate the work of different groups and the resources available to them </div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Clear standards of quality</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Data systems that keep track of who has access to out-of-school-time programs, populations that may be excluded from them, the quality of services these programs provide, and opportunities to improve them</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Committed leadership from prominent officials such as mayors and county executives</div><p></p><p>Wallace has <a href="/knowledge-center/after-school/pages/default.aspx">several resources available</a> to help cities develop such systems. Among them are guides to:</p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Help <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/from-access-to-equity-making-out-of-school-time-spaces-meaningful-for-teens-from-marginalized-communities.aspx">ensure equity</a> in out-of-school-time programs </div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Use <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/framework-for-measurement-continuous-improvement-and-equitable-systems.aspx">data to assess their effectiveness</a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Identify<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/federal-funding-guide-for-summer-and-afterschool.aspx"> federal funding opportunities</a>, made available through the American Rescue Plan of 2021, that could help pay for the development of these systems</div><p></p> | Wallace editorial team | 79 | | 2023-03-21T04:00:00Z | Your source for research and ideas to expand high quality learning and enrichment opportunities. Supporting: School Leadership, After School, Summer and Extended Learning Time, Arts Education and Building Audiences for the Arts. | | 3/21/2023 4:40:28 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Ensuring Access to Out-of-School-Time Programs and Using Federal Funds to Pay for It Resources to help develop and cover | 1178 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| What Can Young People Teach Us About Out-of-School Time? | 193 | GP0|#b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211;L0|#0b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211|Afterschool;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p class="wf-Element-Callout">“It's so important to think about the part that youth can play in shaping what an out-of-school-time or an afterschool program looks like.”<br></p><p><br>That’s what Shelby Drayton had to say about the importance of including young people in out-of-school-time (OST) planning in Episode One of our new podcast series, <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/beyond-the-classroom-podcast.aspx"><em>Beyond the Classroom</em></a>. Drayton is a senior program manager for UP Partnership, a San Antonio-based nonprofit that convenes partners in Bexar County to provide healing, access, and voice to local youth. </p><p>The podcast series explores findings from a <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/youth-perspectives-on-designing-equitable-out-of-school-time-programs.aspx">recent Wallace-commissioned, student-designed study </a>which surfaced young people’s insights into how to improve out-of-school-time programs. Topics discussed range from how to make programs accessible and welcoming to supporting youth workers. Read on to learn more about each of the three episodes and the guests, or start listening <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/beyond-the-classroom-podcast.aspx">here</a>.<br><br></p><p><a href="/knowledge-center/pages/making-out-of-school-time-programs-more-accessible-epidode-1.aspx">Episode 1: Making Out-of-School-Time Programs More Accessible</a><br></p><p>
Student researchers and OST practitioners discuss some of the most common barriers to participation in OST programs and what can be done to address them.</p><p><strong>Guests:</strong><br>
Shelby Drayton, Senior Manager, UP Partnership<br>
Connor Flick, Student, Gatton Academy High School, Kentucky</p><p><strong>Host: </strong><br>
Spandana Pavuluri, Student, duPont Manual High School, Kentucky<br><br></p><p><a href="/knowledge-center/pages/creating-programs-where-everyone-belongs-episode-2.aspx">Episode 2: Creating Programs Where Everyone Belongs</a><br>
Student and adult researchers discuss various strategies for building a sense of belonging and inclusion in OST spaces, beginning with centering the youth voice in the program’s design.</p><p><strong>Guests:</strong><br>
Spandana Pavuluri, Student, duPont Manual High School, Kentucky<br>
Syeda Tabassum, Student, Macaulay Honors College, New York <br>
Daniela DiGiacomo, Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky School of Information Science <br>
Sam Mejias, Associate Professor of Social Justice and Community Engagement, Parsons School of Design - The New School </p><p><strong>Host: </strong><br>
Connor Flick, Student, Gatton Academy High School, Kentucky<br><br></p><p><a href="/knowledge-center/pages/professionalization-and-precarity-of-the-workforce-episode-3.aspx?_ga=2.241407618.1275959992.1678288819-1225651268.1678288819">Episode 3: Professionalization and Precarity of the Workforce</a><br>
Researchers and practitioners discuss strategies for more effectively recruiting and retaining skilled youth workers. </p><p><strong>Guests:<br>
</strong>Bianca Baldridge, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard University <br>
Vanessa Roberts, Executive Director, Project VOYCE <br>
Deepa Vasudevan, Researcher, Human Services: Youth, Family, & Community Development, American Institutes for Research<br>
Sarai Hertz-Velázquez, Student, Wellesley College </p><p><strong>Host: <br>
</strong>Ben Kirshner, Professor and Program Chair of Learning Sciences and Human Development, University of Colorado Boulder</p><p>Listen wherever you get your podcasts.</p> | Andrea Ruggirello | 114 | | 2023-03-14T04:00:00Z | Beyond the Classroom podcast digs into findings from a student-led study on improving out-of-school-time programs | | 3/14/2023 4:00:12 AM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / What Can Young People Teach Us About Out-of-School Time "Beyond the Classroom" podcast digs into findings from a student-led | 1110 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Want Transformational School Leaders? Invest in Partnerships, Support, and Equity | 27647 | GP0|#330c9173-9d0f-423a-b58d-f88b8fb02708;L0|#0330c9173-9d0f-423a-b58d-f88b8fb02708|School Leadership;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>Back in 2016, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) committed to using federal funding to support school leaders. Those involved knew immediately that they needed the right voices at the table to help determine what that support would look like.<br></p><p>Enter “The Big 5.”</p><p>The five largest school districts in Wisconsin–known as “the Big 5”--along with the <a href="https://ulgm.org/" target="_blank">Urban League of Greater Madison</a> and the <a href="https://www.awsa.org/" target="_blank">Association of Wisconsin School Administrators</a>, signed on to the project. They began by participating in frank and open conversations with DPI about what school leaders in those districts needed to best support their students. DPI quickly recognized the need for professional development specifically geared toward school leaders in the Big 5 districts (Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine).</p><p>“There are unique characteristics and challenges that each of the big five districts face that the rest of the state wouldn’t face,” said Eric Gallien, superintendent of Racine Unified School District. He noted that the big five districts have their own specific, complex cultural and economic needs. They are also home to the majority of the state’s lowest-performing schools. </p><h2 class="wf-Element-H2">An Institute Is Born</h2><p>The creation of an ongoing, two-year professional development program for principals that would become the <a href="https://dpi.wi.gov/title-i/wisconsin-urban-leadership-institute" target="_blank">Wisconsin Urban Leadership Institute</a> (WI-ULI) became the focus of the team’s work. Members of the team were part of a Wallace-supported initiative called the <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/all-the-voices-statewide-collaborations-for-school-leadership-under-essa.aspx" target="_blank">ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC)</a>. The initiative brought together 11 state teams that included representatives from districts, community groups, and state agencies to promote effective school leadership. Additionally, the Wisconsin team moved quickly to partner with the New York City Leadership Academy, which has supported the development of thousands of principals in school systems across the country with a focus on equity. NYCLA helped to develop the curriculum for the institute and the ELLC team worked to “Wisconsin-ite” it , aligning it to state professional development and leadership standards.<br></p><p>Along with the Urban League and an outside facilitator from <a href="https://4amconsulting.com/">4AM </a><a href="https://4amconsulting.com/" target="_blank">Consulting</a>, the participating district leaders developed a set of competencies for successful principals in their schools that would serve as the framework for the institute.</p><p> <img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/want-transformational-school-leaders-invest-in-partnerships-support-and-equity/wuli_handout_competencies-graphic.jpg" alt="wuli_handout_competencies-graphic.jpg" style="margin:5px;" /><br>
<br>
The group identified four competencies of culturally competent school leaders and created a corresponding framework to help principals develop those competencies. The four competencies and equity dispositions are: </p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Designing a school improvement strategy for results</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Discovering self as an equity champion</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Developing cultural competence</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Building a school culture of excellence with equity</div><p>The institute’s two-year curriculum for principals focuses on monthly training, coaching, a capstone project and networking opportunities during the first year. Year two focuses on cohort coaching and continued networking opportunities.</p><p>The institute launched in September 2018 with its first cohort of 27 principals from the Big 5 districts. Each district determined how it would select principals to attend; some, like Kenosha, had an application process, while other districts made the selections within the central office. WI-ULI quickly gained support from local and national partners and businesses: Northwestern Mutual hosted planning meetings in its offices and the Educators Credit Union ran sessions about personal finance management and even hosted a virtual “paint and sip” event for participants.</p><p>The institute remained flexible and responsive through societal upheavals such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice uprising following the murder of George Floyd. In fact, the institute became a place where principals could connect and learn from each other about how to face these momentous challenges, noted Alisia Moutry, project manager and lead facilitator for the ELLC team.</p><p>“It was nice to have a learning community to be that critical friend,” Moutry said of the shared ideas and best practices that emerged from the institute.<br>
<br>Similarly, building camaraderie and mitigating isolation were major benefits for participating principals from Gallien’s–the Racine superintendent–viewpoint.</p><p>“The greatest opportunity is getting to collaborate and learn from other leaders in similar settings,” Gallien said. “They see that the challenges they face are not unique to them.”<br>
<br>Reflection on policy and practice was also a key component of the institute’s curriculum. For example, principals learned how to analyze data on their students from historically marginalized groups and how to lead meaningful conversations about racial equity with their school staff. Participants also had the opportunity to analyze and discuss policies that prevented them from leading with equity, which opened up conversations with the state about issues such as inequitable funding. And participants also reflected on their own practices, biases and expectations for students and teachers.</p><p>“There was a lot of bravery in principals being really honest about what they learned about themselves,” said Leslie Anderson, senior managing director at Policy Studies Associates and documenter for the ELLC team.</p><p>ELLC facilitator Moutry spoke highly of the partnerships that have supported the institute so far and suggested engaging even more partners through dedicated outreach. She believes the work of the institute already aligns with the missions of many organizations and businesses that want to support education–the connection just needs to be made for them sometimes.</p><p><strong>Looking to the Future</strong></p><p>To date, 89 principals have completed WI-ULI. Initial evaluations of the program have been positive, with nearly all participants surveyed reporting that the institute has positively affected their practice. The state has committed to funding and supporting the institute for the next ten years. Meantime, there are lessons in Wisconsin’s experience for other states. </p><p>“Myles Horton (an educator and activist during the Civil Rights Movement) said, ‘It’s a hard truth, harder to live by than the golden rule: the people who have the problem likely have the solution,’” says Mary Dean Barringer, a consultant on the project. “The [state education agency] put money out there and said, ‘We’re going to learn from the people who have the problem; can we create a situation where they’re allowed to come up with a solution?’”</p><p>The agency did just that by convening the districts who were calling for improved professional development for principals to not just inform, but lead on the development of a solution. </p><p>As for the future of WI-ULI and principal development in Wisconsin, members of the team have a range of hopes and goals that include the desire to see similar programs implemented for rural and suburban districts.</p><p>Additionally, Anderson would like to see formalized processes for participating principals to communicate with the state department about inequities in policy and practice. This would help provide principals with assurance that their work matters, she said, and help ensure that they are changing what needs to be changed so their students can thrive in school.</p><p>“The ultimate goal is to create better student achievement,” Gallien says of his hopes for the institute’s lasting effects. “And enhance school culture as well.”<br></p> | Andrea Ruggirello | 114 | | 2023-03-02T05:00:00Z | How five large urban school districts in Wisconsin used federal funds to build a successful leadership institute | | 3/2/2023 6:00:08 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Want Transformational School Leaders How five large urban school districts in Wisconsin used federal funds to build a | 575 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| What Young People Want from Afterschool Programs | 42608 | GP0|#b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211;L0|#0b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211|Afterschool;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 |
<p><a href="/knowledge-center/pages/the-value-of-out-of-school-time-programs.aspx?_ga=2.116943174.1727170393.1677083209-1728090683.1676648512">Research has shown</a> that out-of-school-time programs are generally effective at producing the benefits for young people that they set out to provide–whether academic gains, enriching experiences, or homework help. But while there are numerous sources of federal and state funds available for afterschool and summer programs, they have seen consistently low rates of student participation. </p><p>Take, for instance, the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program, a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides over $1 billion in funding annually for afterschool and summer programs for children in grades K through 12. Nearly half of the regular participants in the 21st CCLC programs attend fewer than 30 days a year.</p><p>We know this because of a
<a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/7459d0266b83629b887ac324b4f8307c/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y" target="_blank">recent analysis</a> of the current 21st CCLC policy by Jane Quinn, a venerable figure in the world of out-of-school-time.
<a href="https://www.childrensaidnyc.org/impact/stories/jane-quinn-leader-and-advocate-community-schools" target="_blank">An expert in afterschool and OST, she has more than five decades of experience</a> in the sector, having working as a social and youth worker for organizations including the Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago, Girls Clubs of America, Children’s Aid—and as program director here at Wallace for seven years in the 1990s.</p><p>Quinn is also, at age 78, a newly minted Ph.D. In fact, her findings about the low participation rate in out-of-school-time programs emerged from her dissertation for a doctoral program in urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center. In her thesis, Quinn analyzes the strengths and shortcomings of the current 21st CCLC policy. She argues that the challenge of meager participation can be addressed by “listening to the voices of young people and responding to their desire for engagement and challenge in out-of-school time programs.” We sat down with her to learn more about this and other key findings in the study. Her responses have been edited for length and clarity. </p><p>
<strong>Wallace Foundation: Your study found that nearly half of regular participants in the 21st CCLC programs attend fewer than 30 days a year. Why do you think attendance is so low, and what can be done to improve it?</strong> </p><p>Jane Quinn: According to the U.S. Department of Education’s data–specifically, their Annual Performance Reports on the 21st Century Community Learning Centers–fully 45 percent of students deemed to be “regular participants” in these programs across the country were reported to attend fewer than 30 days a year.  This number is problematic for several reasons, including the fact that we know from
<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/the-value-of-out-of-school-time-programs.aspx?_ga=2.116943174.1727170393.1677083209-1728090683.1676648512">prior research</a> that “dosage makes a difference,” meaning that higher program attendance has been shown to produce better outcomes. </p><p>When we combine this information about low attendance rates with US DOE [Department of Education] data about the content of 21st CCLC programs, we can begin to surmise why these rates might be so low. The Annual Performance Reports show that two of the three most frequently offered programs in 21st Century Community Learning Centers are homework help and tutoring, suggesting that many of the programs have largely become “more school” and are operating in ways that are not consistent with what young people say they want to do during their non-school hours. Homework help is offered five times more frequently than mentoring–something young people
<em>do</em> want–and tutoring is offered four times more frequently than leadership development. </p><p>
<strong>WF: Why is enrichment so important, and why do you think it is so overlooked?</strong></p><p>JQ: In the context of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers policy and program, enrichment should be considered important because it is central to the Congressionally mandated purpose of the program. However, the legislation never defines what is meant by enrichment, which has led to multiple interpretations, many of which seem off base to me. </p><p>In the context of what we know about young people’s development, enrichment is critical because it starts with student interests and focuses on engaging young people in their own learning. Why is it overlooked in many schools and afterschool programs? Because most people don’t understand what the term means, and some have never seen high-quality enrichment in practice. </p><p>Enrichment involves both pedagogy and program content. According to Professor Joseph Renzulli and his University of Connecticut colleagues, enrichment as a pedagogy consists of four elements: it is based on student interest; it uses authentic methodologies, such as project-based learning; it addresses issues that have no existing solution or “right” answer; and it results in culminating activities that allow young people to demonstrate what they have learned. This kind of pedagogy can be applied to a nearly endless array of content. The experts I interviewed had no problem naming the kinds of programming that they viewed as enrichment: book clubs, chess, debate, music, drama, dance, visual arts, robotics, computer programming, community service, sports, mentoring, and leadership development, among others.<br></p><p class="wf-Element-Callout">I believe that kids shouldn't have to be born rich to have access to enrichment. </p><p></p><strong>WF: Can you describe some characteristics of a good enrichment program? </strong> 
<p>
<br>JQ: Joseph Renzulli says that good enrichment programs are characterized by engagement, enjoyment, and enthusiasm. Many years ago, before I became acquainted with his work, I wrote a column for
<em>Youth</em><em>Today</em>, in which I described a similar set of characteristics. Mine were engagement, exposure, and experience. By exposure, I meant that afterschool and youth development programs can introduce young people to new relationships that build their social capital, to new ideas that enlarge their sense of the world around them, and to new opportunities that feed their aspirations. More affluent children and youth tend to have these kinds of experiences built into their academic and at-home environments. I believe that kids shouldn’t have to be born rich to have access to enrichment.  </p><p>
<strong>WF: What are some ways the quality of the programs can be improved, and how should quality be measured?</strong></p><p>JQ:<strong> </strong>When conducting my dissertation research, I was rather astonished to find that the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers legislation and guidance said almost nothing about program quality, despite the great advancements over the past 25 years in the field’s definition of best practices. The field has produced well-documented guides, rooted in research, about the program factors that are associated with the achievement of positive results.<br><br>In addition, we now have several quality assessment tools that program operators can use to examine and strengthen their own practice. One of the best tools, in my view, is the
<a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/vuFuC4x463i48x3cOFbHx?domain=forumfyi.org/" target="_blank">Youth Program Quality Assessment</a>, supported by the Weikart Center.  When assessing program quality, we want to look at a range of factors, including program content, health and safety, staff qualifications, youth voice and choice, and interpersonal relationships, including peer-to-peer and adult-youth interactions.</p><p>
<strong>WF: </strong><strong>You were involved in the community schools movement from the early days. Can you reflect on where it was back then and how it has evolved?</strong></p><p>JQ:<strong> </strong>Well, I wasn’t there in the<em> really</em> early days—that would have been at the turn of the 20th century when John Dewey, the renowned educational philosopher, wrote a monograph entitled
<em>Schools as Social Centers</em> (1902). He had the right idea then, and his work has influenced several generations of community school leaders. In 1998, John Rogers, a UCLA education professor, wrote a seminal paper on the history of community schooling in America, documenting that the current generation of community schools is the fourth such iteration of the work to foster strong relationships between schools and their local communities. </p><p>My involvement in this current generation of community schooling includes two phases. First was my work as a program director at Wallace in the mid- to late-1990s, which helped to create the
<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/findings-from-the-extended-service-schools-initiative.aspx">Extended-Service Schools</a> Initiative. And second, was my 18-year tenure as director of the National Center for Community Schools, a program of Children’s Aid. </p><p>In my view, all of these early investments contributed substantially to the current community schools movement, which is demonstrating success in informing federal, state, and local education policy and in responding to the documented needs of students and families in what is now being referred to as the post-COVID environment. More than 100 districts nationwide have adopted community schools as a preferred reform strategy, and Congress recently authorized an additional $75 million for the USDOE’s Full-Service Community Schools program, which will provide incentives for additional districts to adopt this strategy. </p><p class="wf-Element-Callout">The first and most important is clarifying what is meant by enrichment </p><p></p><p>
<strong>WF: What do you think policymakers should consider if they were to reimagine the 21st Century Community Learning Centers?</strong></p><p>JQ:<strong> </strong>My research offers 10 lessons for strengthening the 21st CCLC policy and program. The first and most important is clarifying what is meant by enrichment —an element that distinguishes this program from other federal initiatives that focus on remediation and compensatory approaches. </p><p>A related lesson is finding ways to address the participation rate problem. My sense is that, if programs were required and supported to offer genuine enrichment, rather than a steady diet of homework help and tutoring, young people would make it their businessto participate. And, in turn, outcomes would improve because young people would be engaged in activities of their own choosing.  </p><p>Another consideration would be how to encourage the creation of authentic partnerships between schools and such community resources as youth development agencies, arts organizations, and science museums. And, since 21st Century funding is one of the few sources of public support for summer programming, the authors of federal guidance could consider placing more emphasis on encouraging and enabling providers to include summer enrichment in their 21st Century-funded programs. </p><p>Policymakers should seize the opportunity provided by COVID’s disruptions of the educational landscape by re-envisioning the enrichment role of out-of-school-time programs in the lives of America’s children and youth.  <br><br></p> | Jenna Doleh | 91 | | 2023-02-24T05:00:00Z | An expert on out-of-school-time argues for focusing on vital enrichment programs rather than on homework help or tutoring | | 2/23/2023 8:37:56 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / What Young People Want from Afterschool Programs An expert on out-of-school-time argues for focusing on vital enrichment | 866 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| The Future of Diversity and Equity in Museums | 42576 | GP0|#a2eb43fb-abab-4f1c-ae41-72fd1022ddb0;L0|#0a2eb43fb-abab-4f1c-ae41-72fd1022ddb0|The Arts;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>What does a commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion look like for a fine arts museum, a children’s museum or a historical society? What about zoos and aquariums? <br></p><p>The American Alliance of Museums, which provides resources and guidance for each of these types of organizations and more, is now embedding DEAI as an integral part of museum excellence. Its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/arts/design/american-alliance-of-museums-diversity-equity-inclusion.html" target="_blank">new initiative</a> will update its accreditation and the standards it sets for professional practices for member organizations.</p><p>In addition to DEAI, AAM’s Core Standards for Museums include guidelines on risk management, financial stability, public trust, collections stewardship, and planning. This is the first time in 20 years that the organization has updated its standards. Once finalized, the new standards will become required of the 1,096 accredited member museums and considered professional practice for the remaining 35,000 individual members. The multi-year process will be led by an advisory committee of six to eight people from the industry through conversations with professionals from across the field, including those often underrepresented in the establishment of museum standards, such as emerging museum professionals, Chief Diversity Officers, and museum professionals of color. </p><p>We spoke to <a href="https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-aam/our-staff/" target="_blank">Laura Lott</a>, CEO and President of AAM, to discuss the state of DEAI work at museums, the impetus for this initiative, and what they anticipate the implementation process will look like. </p><p><strong>Wallace Foundation: What prompted the organization’s decision to start this initiative and the process of updating AAM’s standards to reflect diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns?</strong> </p><p>Laura Lott: This really started back in 2016 when diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in all aspects of museum structure and programming was prioritized in our strategic plan as one of three focus areas for AAM. That came out of dozens of conversations with thousands of museum directors and professionals across the sector who told us that DEAI was a top concern for them, along with financial sustainability and how they were positioned in communities related to the education system. </p><p>One of the first things that we did was develop a DEAI working group made up of people who had been doing DEAI work in the field, some for decades. Generally, the consensus was that they hadn't seen as much change as they'd hoped. And so the working group was charged with asking the question: Why? </p><p>That group issued <a href="https://www.aam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/AAM-DEAI-Working-Group-Full-Report-2018.pdf" target="_blank">a report</a> in 2018, which identified and examined five ways that DEAI work hadn't stuck or made as much change in museums as hoped. One of those five insights was the value of systemic change. Oftentimes we found that DEAI initiatives were focused externally; they were about the audience that the museum was reaching or the programming it was doing, but not necessarily the systemic change to its culture, processes, systems, budgets, and values—everything that would really be needed. </p><p>Within that same timeframe, someone said to me, “We really should only be talking about excellence in museums,” rather than topics like DEAI. It was an <em>Aha! </em>moment: we need to make sure that people understand DEAI <em>is </em>museum excellence. Excellence is the term that we use for the whole continuum from when a museum first joins the professional alliance to becoming accredited, and DEAI needed to be part of that system in order to make the sustained change that our field needs and our communities deserve.</p><p><strong>WF: When you look at museums across the country, what are some of the more specific issues that you have been seeing regarding DEAI?</strong></p><p>LL: There are three big things: One is the history and culture of museums, which from the founding of the concept of a museum, has been colonialist and racist. That means it's pretty hard to change because it's at the core of how museums were founded, what they were originally meant to do, and who founded them, too. It's a problematic history.</p><p>The second is resource limitations in the museum field. We know lots of arts and cultural organizations—and nonprofits overall—are always struggling to find new dollars to do new work. DEAI takes resources and a sustained investment of time and money for the expertise that's needed and oftentimes not within a museum already, such as training for existing boards and staffs.</p><p>The third is just the nature of DEAI work. Unlike mounting an exhibit, where there's a very defined beginning, middle, and end, DEAI work is never ending. It's people and culture work, so it's a different way that we have to learn to work. Each person and organization has to do that work—there's no shortcut. </p><p><strong>WF: That said, can you share any examples of strong and effective DEAI initiatives that you've started to see as well? </strong></p><p>LL: First and foremost, some of the most impactful work that results in actual change isn't the big, grand initiatives or something that's announced, launched, done, and celebrated. I think the most impactful work is the thoughtful, steady—sometimes incremental or too slow, it seems, for all of our patience levels—changes happening in museums. </p><p>For example, we've seen in the last year or two a significant increase in the number of Chief Diversity Officer or DEAI leadership positions in museums, which is a huge dedication of resources by museums to find the expertise and have that as a core part of their leadership teams. The Phillips Collection, here in Washington D.C., was one of the first to create a Chief Diversity Officer position, get it endowed so that it doesn't go away, and work with the person in that position—Makeba Clay, at the time—to really make these kinds of changes throughout the institution and to look at how they partnered in a bigger way with the D.C. community, not just a portion of the D.C. community.</p><p>Additionally, the Burke Museum in Seattle is a leader in being in community with their Native populations. When you walk into that museum, there is a <a href="https://www.burkemuseum.org/news/acknowledging-land-building-deeper-relationships" target="_blank">statement right on the wall</a>—that I'm certain was a years-long process and a difficult thing to do—addressing their history and culpability in collecting from and not including the voices of the Native folks that they were interpreting or talking about. They now have a committee as part of their governance structure that is comprised of Native people and it’s part and parcel of how they make decisions now. That's another example of years-long structural change that really has impacted the way that the museum works and collects.</p><p><strong>WF: Can you talk about what the process of updating the standards will look like? </strong></p><p>LL: It's a consensus-building process that started with the “Excellence in DEAI” task force, part of our “Facing Change” initiative, that issued a <a href="https://www.aam-us.org/2022/08/02/excellence-in-deai-report/" target="_blank">report</a> a couple of months ago. That task force was charged with examining what excellence in DEAI looks like and the indicators of a museum really progressing through a DEAI journey. I'm so grateful to that committee, which began their work in 2019, so it was not a short or easy process, especially during pandemic times, to define specific core concepts and key indicators that can be built into the new standards and the application of the standards. </p><p>After the new year, we'll appoint a steering committee of Chief Diversity Officers, museum leaders, and AAM volunteer leadership. I expect some of the biggest changes to be not necessarily in the language of the standards, though there will be some, but in how they're applied and evaluated by the accreditation commission and peer reviewers. It's a little bit behind the scenes, but it will change a lot about what we actually ask museums to tell us in their self-studies—what the peer reviewers look for, and what they observe when they're doing their visits. Our goal is to nurture excellence, so part of our job is providing the case studies, resources, and training on how to actually implement the standards. </p><p><strong>WF: With your member organizations spanning different sizes, areas of focus, and audience bases, how do you account for the variety of programs and approaches museums might take in this work?</strong> </p><p>LL: It's definitely not one size fits all—certainly not with DEAI—but it isn't really with anything that's in the standards. It's such a broad field, and it's why the standards, if you look at them now, are a little vague. They have to be adaptable to zoos, children's museums, big institutions, and very old institutions, as well as ones that are brand new. That's why a lot of the changes that I feel will be most important through this process will be in how the standards are applied and how they're evaluated because we can't expect to see the same thing and call it progress or excellence in each institution's case. </p><p>For example, one of the core concepts is about DEAI demanding an ongoing commitment of resources, and one of the indicators of this commitment is that an organization has allocated a budget for the work. Then the question becomes how much is enough? And that's obviously going to be a very different answer depending on the type of institution and where it is. It probably won't be in the standards that museums need to dedicate a certain percent of their budget, but in the self-study, how we frame this indicator and how it's evaluated by the peer reviewers and the accreditation commission will be where that definition comes in. It's never easy for our field, but that's where this idea of even having core concepts and key indicators helps us get more precise about what we’re looking for.</p><p><strong>WF: Finally, what impact do you hope the new standards will have? </strong></p><p>LL: Even just declaring that we're doing this work is a step so that DEAI is understood as part of professional practice for all museums. It's just like collection stewardship and interpretation, which are also practices that are constantly being refined and improved. It's not like we handle collections care now in the same way that we did a hundred years ago—there's new technology, tactics, and learnings. DEAI is very similar in that way, but it needs to be understood as part of best practice, taught as best practice in museum studies programs, and implemented by museums as core functions of the institution and embedded throughout them.</p><p><em>The American Alliance of Museums is a partner with The Wallace Foundation.</em></p> | Wallace editorial team | 79 | | 2023-02-14T05:00:00Z | Your source for research and ideas to expand high quality learning and enrichment opportunities. Supporting: School Leadership, After School, Summer and Extended Learning Time, Arts Education and Building Audiences for the Arts. | | 2/14/2023 3:14:52 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / The Future of Diversity and Equity in Museums For the first time in 20 years, the American Alliance of Museums is updating | 1692 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| All Hands on Deck to Support Principals | 23663 | GP0|#330c9173-9d0f-423a-b58d-f88b8fb02708;L0|#0330c9173-9d0f-423a-b58d-f88b8fb02708|School Leadership;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>“Replace isolation with collaboration.” That was the theme of a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n012s3KPDlg&feature=youtu.be">webinar</a>, which featured findings from a <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/states-as-leaders,-followers-and-partners-essa-luniversity-principal-prep.aspx">report</a> by Paul Manna, director of public policy and the Hyman Distinguished University Professor of Government at William & Mary. <br>
<br>The report draws from two Wallace-supported initiatives aimed at developing and supporting principals. The ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC) brought together 11 state teams that included representatives from districts, community groups, state agencies and others to promote effective school leadership. The University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI) focused on improving pre-service school leadership training by assembling universities, school districts, and state agencies to redesign university-based preparation programs.<br>
<br>Manna shared the common lessons highlighted in his report:</p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">State standards are a powerful cross-cutting policy lever to help shape specific decisions about training, developing, and supporting principals.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">When states foster networks that connect districts, universities and other partners, creative problem-solving emerges and programs are likely to succeed. </div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">States, districts, universities, and other partners each have a role to play in supporting principals. </div><p></p><p>You can find Manna’s full presentation <a href="/News-and-Media/Videos-and-Presentations/Documents/ecosystems-of-policy-and-practice-develop-support-principals.pdf">here</a> and view the webinar <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n012s3KPDlg&feature=youtu.be">here</a>.<br>
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A panel followed the presentation and, while the central theme was collaboration, panelists representing districts, state, and universities did not shy away from the challenges. </p><p>For Ebony Love, director of continuous improvement at the Texas Education Agency, building trust was something that took time but was critical to true collaboration. She said her team worked on listening and demonstrating that their goal was not compliance but partnership. She noted that when organizations and partners started to see the state education agency as an advocate, their conversations moved in a more positive direction. </p><p class="wf-Element-Callout">“Are we willing to lay down our righteousness and do what’s best for kids?” Smith-Anderson said.<br></p><p>Sheila Smith-Anderson, district leadership consultant at St. Louis Public Schools, similarly shared that every collaborator comes to the table with their own agenda. It’s important to remember, she said, that at the end of the day, their agendas are about helping our nation’s children.</p><p>“Are we willing to lay down our righteousness and do what’s best for kids?” Smith-Anderson said.</p><p>Moderator Carol Johnson Dean, a former school superintendent, acknowledged that doing more together takes time and effort. “It will require a different mindset about what has to happen,” she said.</p><p>“I can attest to the fact that it’s worth it,” said Richard Gonzales, an associate professor at the Neag School of Education at UConn.</p><p>Gonzales highlighted one successful approach to the <a href="/news-and-media/blog/pages/it-takes-a-village-to-train-an-effective-principal.aspx">collaborative efforts he led as part of UPPI</a>: expanding the definition of expertise to be more inclusive. He pointed out that while universities are often seen as the experts, states, districts, communities, families and students all bring their own expertise to the table. All of their voices should be part of building effective preparation programs, he said.<br></p><p class="wf-Element-Callout">“Start somewhere,” Manna said. “Get some wins and feel the momentum, feel the energy, build around that, and eventually you’ll start to add up these small wins.”<br></p><p>All panelists agreed that there is no one-size-fits all approach to supporting principals.<br> <br>
“Start somewhere,” Manna said. “Get some wins and feel the momentum, feel the energy, build around that, and eventually you’ll start to add up these small wins.”</p><p>Watch the full webinar <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n012s3KPDlg&feature=youtu.be">here</a>. </p> | Andrea Ruggirello | 114 | | 2023-02-09T05:00:00Z | Your source for research and ideas to expand high quality learning and enrichment opportunities. Supporting: School Leadership, After School, Summer and Extended Learning Time, Arts Education and Building Audiences for the Arts. | | 2/9/2023 7:02:01 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / All Hands on Deck to Support Principals State, district, and university leaders discuss systems and tools to better equip | 1259 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| How Seven Foundations Bolstered Afterschool, Summer Programming as COVID Raged | 42467 | GP0|#ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13;L0|#0ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13|Summer Learning;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 |
<p>In the frantic early days of the pandemic, afterschool program providers went into overdrive. While schools shut, many programs stayed open, delivering meals, helping families meet basic needs, moving youth programs online, or launching all-day learning centers for the children of essential workers.<br></p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/Cover_EmergingVoicesSeries_Brief.png" alt="Cover_EmergingVoicesSeries_Brief.png" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:212px;height:275px;" />For seven philanthropies, the heavy load shouldered by youth programs was a crisis to address. It also presented an opportunity—to heighten awareness among policymakers and others of the importance of the out-of-school-time (OST) sector, which includes afterschool, summer and other beyond-the-school-bell programs. Their response, organized through Grantmakers for Education, was to pool $1.5 million to invest in a range of projects to help national organizations both advocate for OST programs
<em>and</em> provide guidance to their members and affiliates scrambling to meet pandemic-created needs. </p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/jodi-grant.jpg" alt="jodi-grant.jpg" class="wf-Image-Right" style="margin:5px;width:161px;height:201px;" />It was a move perhaps unprecedented for OST donors. “In 18 years, this is the first time I’ve seen this kind of collaboration with funders,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, one of the first four of the eight Afterschool and Summer Recovery and Opportunity Fund grantees in 2020 and 2021.</p><p>Personal stories can be influential with policymakers, Grant noted, and so her group used a portion of its grant to fund its Afterschool Ambassadors and Youth Ambassadors programs, which train providers and young people to speak publicly about their experiences with afterschool programs. Ambassadors are of diverse races and ethnicities and represent all regions of the country and communities in urban, rural, and suburban areas, Grant said. “Getting all those people to be seen and heard is key.”</p><p>She thinks similar communications efforts by a number of grantees helped lay the groundwork for the approval in federal pandemic relief packages of significant funding to bolster out-of-school-time efforts. “To date, we believe about $5 billion in federal COVID dollars have been used to support afterschool and summer learning programs,” she said. “Normally the federal budget is $1.3 billion for afterschool, so we’re talking about more than tripling that.”</p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/GinaWarner.jpg" alt="GinaWarner.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:125px;height:167px;" />Amid the protests surrounding George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, social justice became a focus for the fund. The National AfterSchool Association, for one, used its grant in part to develop the <a href="https://naaweb.org/all-documents/41-the-ost-leaders-guide-to-equitable-hiring-and-staff-development-practices/file"><em>OST Leader’s Guide to Equitable Hiring and Staff Development</em></a>, a resource to help its 32,000 members establish more equitable workplace practices. While many nonprofits post equity statements and have good intentions, they often lack needed plans of action, such as strategies for attracting a more diverse applicant pool and reducing bias in interviews, according to Gina Warner, the association’s president and CEO. “I don’t think it’s a lack of interest,” she said. “It’s a lack of awareness and understanding, and access to resources for how to do it.” </p><p>In partnership with another grantee—Every Hour Counts, a coalition of organizations that coordinate communitywide out-of-school-time efforts—the group also led “equity strategy sessions” for more than 500 afterschool leaders, including those heading statewide or citywide program networks.</p><h3 class="wf-Element-H3">More Diverse Perspectives Needed</h3><p>The first four grantees, which included the National Summer Learning Association, met through video conferences with the philanthropies to share information from the sector and discuss how funders could most effectively respond, especially in communities of color hardest hit by the pandemic. Yet it was evident that more diverse perspectives were needed, recalled Grant. “We were all very aware that we were four organizations led by white people even though the communities we serve are much more diverse.”</p><p>The second group of grantees—the National Urban League, the National Indian Education Association, UnidosUS, and the Coalition for Community Schools—had deep expertise with K-12 education in communities of color as well as experience supporting OST initiatives.<br></p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/EmergingVoicesBrief_Graphic3.png" alt="EmergingVoicesBrief_Graphic3.png" style="color:#555555;font-size:14px;margin:5px;" /><br><br></p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/Claudia-DeMegret.jpg" alt="Claudia-DeMegret.jpg" class="wf-Image-Right" style="margin:5px;width:194px;height:217px;" />“The idea was to diversify and strengthen the national out-of-school-time community,” said Claudia DeMegret, a senior program officer at Wallace, one of the funders. “We laid the groundwork for that to happen.”</p><p>Like the first four grantees, the members of the next cohort were given flexibility to spend their grant dollars on projects they believed would have the most impact.</p><p>The National Urban League wanted to spotlight a problem raised by its local affiliates—the number of young people who pulled back from school during the pandemic. In a powerful series of 13 short films titled <a href="https://nul.org/event/emerging-voices-pandemic-students-speak-out" target="_blank">Emerging Voices from the Pandemic: Students Speak Out</a>, teens interviewed peers about the circumstances that had led to their disengagement and solicited ideas for improving learning and student well-being in schools. The need for more emotional support emerged as a theme.<br></p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/EmergingVoicesBrief_Graphic4.png" alt="EmergingVoicesBrief_Graphic4.png" style="margin:5px;" />
<br>
<br>
</p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/Horatio-Blackmanv1-Headshot.png" alt="Horatio-Blackmanv1-Headshot.png" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:200px;height:200px;" />“In our conversations with national policy tables, staffers on the Hill, and local advocates and our affiliates, people have told us that they’ve seen those videos and that they impacted their thinking on how to support youth,” said Horatio Blackman, vice president of education policy, advocacy, and engagement at the National Urban League. “I think it helped push the national conversation on social-emotional learning and whole child support.”</p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/Diana-Cournoyer.jpg" alt="Diana-Cournoyer.jpg" class="wf-Image-Right" style="margin:5px;width:175px;height:175px;" />The National Indian Education Association used its grant to conduct a study of the characteristics and availability of afterschool programs in Native American communities nationwide. “I wanted to shine a light on these issues that don’t always get talked about in afterschool learning,” said Executive Director Diana Cournoyer.</p><p>Among other findings, nearly 36 percent of native parents surveyed did not enroll their child in an afterschool program because of lack of program availability or accessibility. For many Native American students in rural communities, commuting to and from school can take 90 minutes to four hours a day, Cournoyer explained. Running extra buses for afterschool programs, she said, is an expense rural school districts often can’t afford and grantmakers typically don’t cover.</p><h3 class="wf-Element-H3">A New Direction for Wallace</h3><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/GrantmakingPracticesOSTRecoveryOpportunityFund10-7-22-1.jpg" alt="GrantmakingPracticesOSTRecoveryOpportunityFund10-7-22-1.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:195px;height:252px;" />As a culminating activity, the eight grantees <a href="https://www.edfunders.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GrantmakingPracticesOSTRecoveryOpportunityFund10-7-22.pdf" target="_blank">wrote a report</a> with recommendations to out-of-school-time funders. Suggestions included allowing nonprofits more flexibility in defining grant outcomes that meet their own priorities, getting community input into foundation initiatives, and putting longer grant cycles into place.</p><p>Gigi Antoni, director of learning and enrichment at Wallace, said that the foundation is using what it learned from the grantees’ feedback and its experience with the pooled fund to rethink its approach to out-of-school-time grant making.</p><p>For example, instead of soliciting grant proposals only from selected national nonprofits, which is typical for a national foundation, she said, Wallace recently put out a broad call for first-round applicants to a forthcoming, one-year venture. The hope is that this will lead to a more diverse applicant pool from which to draw finalists.</p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/how-seven-foundations-bolstered-afterschool-summer-programming-as-covid-raged/Gigi-Antoni.jpg" alt="Gigi-Antoni.jpg" class="wf-Image-Right" style="margin:5px;width:158px;height:167px;" />“We’ve talked to hundreds of communities in the last couple of months,” Antoni said, “and now have 1,700 applications from rural, suburban, and urban communities in every state in the country.”</p><p>The other contributors to the Afterschool and Summer Recovery and Opportunity Fund were the Bezos Family Foundation, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, New York Life Foundation, Overdeck Family Foundation, and Susan Crown Exchange.<br><br><br></p> | Elizabeth Duffrin | 97 | | 2023-01-24T05:00:00Z | Novel fund supported pandemic guidance for youth programs and efforts to raise awareness of their importance | | 1/26/2023 5:04:11 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / How Seven Foundations Bolstered Afterschool, Summer Programming as COVID Raged Novel fund supported pandemic guidance for | 729 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |