| School/OST Partnerships Help Kids Thrive, Thanks to Pandemic Funding | 15866 | GP0|#b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211;L0|#0b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211|Afterschool;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>Almost every headline about young people today seems to mention the learning loss and mental health challenges created by the pandemic. For good reason. The latest <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/" target="_blank">National Assessment of Educational Progress</a> found that math, reading, civics, and U.S. history scores for students decreased, in some cases with scores lower than all previous assessments dating back to 2005. </p><p>School attendance as well has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, with estimates that the percentage of students who were chronically absent doubled from 8 million pre-pandemic to approximately 16 million in 2022. The prevalence of anxiety and depression among youth is also alarming. The CDC’s most recent <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/YRBS_Data-Summary-Trends_Report2023_508.pdf" target="_blank">Youth Risk Behavior Survey</a> found that more than two in five high schoolers report feeling sad or hopeless, an increase of 50 percent since 2011, and the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf" target="_blank">U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory</a> raises the alarm about the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the United States.   </p><p>Decades of research demonstrate that afterschool and summer programs can help stem these losses. Moreover, pandemic relief funding has created a once in a generation chance to expand these opportunities for youth. Recognizing the value of afterschool and summer programs in supporting students’ well-being and academic growth, the federal government has provided upwards of $30 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to states and localities that can be used to create or expand afterschool and summer learning. </p><h2 class="wf-Element-H2">Programs a “second home” </h2><p>Because they focus on the whole child, afterschool and summer learning programs can offer enriching activities that engage young people in hands-on learning and encourage them to try new things. Staff are trained to help kids talk about their emotions, gain confidence, build healthy relationships, and heal from trauma. Research shows that kids who participate in afterschool develop strong social skills, get excited about learning, attend school more often, improve math and reading performance, and gain workforce skills. </p><p>The data is powerful, but students help us put the benefits in even sharper focus. “My program became a second home for me,” says Madelyn Hinkleman, an afterschool student in South Dakota. “A place where my friends and I felt safe…where we go to discover who we were, take risks, and try new things.” </p><p><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/school-ost-partnerships-help-kids-thrive-thanks-to-pandemic-funding/YouthAmb_QuoteCard_MadelynHinkleman_Quote_home.png" alt="YouthAmb_QuoteCard_MadelynHinkleman_Quote_home.png" style="margin:5px;" /><br><br></p><p>Another student, Nekayla Stokes in Delaware, says she values “working with caring adults who encourage us to listen to each other, respect all voices in a room, and learn about different perspectives.” </p><p><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/school-ost-partnerships-help-kids-thrive-thanks-to-pandemic-funding/YouthAmb_QuoteCard_NekaylaStokes_Quote_caringadults.png" alt="YouthAmb_QuoteCard_NekaylaStokes_Quote_caringadults.png" style="margin:5px;" /><br></p><p>Millions of students like Madelyn and Nekayla are now thriving, thanks to those ARP investments. Some standout programs have included: </p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Experiential learning camps in Vermont, where youth learned how to use a compass and to identify wild edibles; </div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">STEM offerings in Bloomington, Illinois, where the school district teamed up with community partners like the Children's Discovery Museum, Illinois State University for Math and Science, and local Boys & Girls Clubs;</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Seattle’s $1 million investment in youth employment and paid internship opportunities.</div><p></p><h2 class="wf-Element-H2">Tapping (and mapping) federal funds</h2><p>But while strong examples exist, billions of dollars are still on the table. Of the $30 billion or so that can be invested in afterschool and summer, thus far just $6 billion has been tapped. To help spur more partnerships, the U.S. Department of Education created a special initiative, <a href="http://www.engageeverystudent.org/" target="_blank">Engage Every Student</a>, to help school districts, localities, and programs tap pandemic relief funds to support students after school and in the summer. </p><p>The Engage Every Student Initiative partners offer technical assistance to those interested, and the Afterschool Alliance and National League of Cities have developed a <a href="https://engageeverystudent.org/interactive-map/?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=Updated%20ARP%20Map%20%20ARP%20blogs&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">map</a> featuring more than 300 examples of states, school districts, and local governments that have invested pandemic funds in programming for youth. These examples serve as inspiration and models for other communities, and they help demonstrate to policymakers the effectiveness and sound use of pandemic funds to support students after school and in the summer. As relief funding ends in 2024, showing demonstrated success will be critical to make the case for continued investments at the local, state, and federal level. </p><h2 class="wf-Element-H2">Look for community partners </h2><p>The strongest examples of pandemic investments in afterschool and summer are built around partnerships with existing community providers, build on the evidence base for effective programming, and utilize the principles of expanded learning including both academic and enrichment opportunities that help support the whole child. </p><p>In Idaho, for example, an evaluation of out-of-school time programs made possible by COVID-relief funds found positive academic and social impacts. For example, 87 percent of families say the program helps their child succeed academically. More than nine in ten families say that their child enjoys attending the program and is gaining new experiences in it. In Tulsa, the school district developed a four-week summer program for 10,000 students in K-12 grades that offered a variety of activities including gardening, robotics, field trips, and academic enrichment. Students participating in the summer 2021 program showed gains in grade-level reading and math proficiency, respectively, on Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) assessments.</p><p>If you have tapped into federal pandemic relief funding to expand, enhance, or develop a new afterschool or summer learning program that embodies partnership, whole-child support, and evidence based practices, we encourage you to tell your story and be included on the map. To be featured, share your example using the <a href="https://engageeverystudent.org/join-us/#pledge" target="_blank">Engage Every Student pledge form</a>.<br></p> | Jodi Grant | 88 | | 2023-06-15T04:00:00Z | 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. | | 6/15/2023 2:29:24 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / School/OST Partnerships Help Kids Thrive, Thanks to Pandemic Funding But showing demonstrated success will be critical to | 2145 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| 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 | 1899 | 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 | 2132 | 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 | 1229 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Report Examines How School Districts Ramped Up Summer Learning in Response to Pandemic | 42535 | GP0|#ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13;L0|#0ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13|Summer Learning;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>For all of the talk about “moving the needle” in K-12 public education, it’s actually quite hard to do. There are any number of academic interventions and programs launched each year that hold significant promise, but ultimately they don’t stand up to the scrutiny of evaluation. <br></p><p>Summer learning programming, however, is one intervention that does, depending on how it is carried out. Research on the <a href="/how-we-work/our-work/pages/summer-learning.aspx?_ga=2.73386203.990642777.1673471938-1960687172.1666029165">National Summer Learning Project</a> showed that high-quality, well-attended school district–run summer learning programs offering a mix of academics and enrichment <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/every-summer-counts-a-longitudinal-analysis-of-outcomes-from-the-national-summer-learning-project.aspx?_ga=2.73386203.990642777.1673471938-1960687172.1666029165">can help</a> students academically and in other ways. </p><p>The challenge for the field? Figuring out how strong summer learning programming can be rolled out for students in a range of geographic contexts—and at a much larger scale.  </p><p>An ongoing study of how schools, districts and states nationwide embraced summer learning—as a strategy to mitigate the effects of school closures and other pandemic-related harms—could offer clues for communities that want to meet the challenge, both now and when COVID is in the rearview mirror.   </p><p>
<strong>
<em>Pandemic summer learning offers important lessons now, and for the future  </em></strong><br></p><p>The <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/national-call-to-action-for-summer-learning-how-did-school-districts-respond.aspx?_ga=2.73386203.990642777.1673471938-1960687172.1666029165"><em>National Summer Learning and Enrichment Study</em></a>, funded by Wallace, is being conducted by the Westat research organization. Last month, in the first publication to emerge from the research—<em>National Call to Action: How Did School Districts Respond?</em> –Westat began to document
<em>how</em>, exactly, school districts across the country took action. Understanding districts’ responses at this extraordinary moment—across a range of different geographic contexts and within a relatively quick time frame—is important over the next two years as remaining federal relief funds for education are spent. It also has the potential to inform policy, practice and research on summer learning and enrichment post-pandemic.</p><p>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/report-examines-how-school-districts-ramped-up-summer-learning-response-to-pandemic/Ann_5766.jpg" alt="Ann_5766.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:154px;height:216px;" />“We believe the Westat study can help district and state leaders as they seek to strengthen their summer programming in the years to come,” says Ann Stone, senior research officer at Wallace. “Support for this project is an outgrowth of Wallace’s long-term commitment to summer learning, and our evidence-based belief that high-quality, well-attended summer learning programs provide significant benefits for students.”</p><p>
<strong><em>How did districts respond?</em></strong></p><p>Through a survey of school districts that yielded nationally representative results, Westat found that fully 94 percent implemented summer learning programming in summer 2021, reaching, on average, approximately one-fifth (18 percent) of their students. Children K-6 were the largest population served. Other findings about the districts that had summer programming included:<br></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Cities  and rural areas served the greatest proportion of their students (22 percent and 18 percent, respectively) with school districts in suburbs serving the smallest proportion (13 percent). </div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Supporting students in pursuing learning disrupted by the pandemic was the most common programming approach, used by 75 percent of districts.  </div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">More than half of districts (57 percent) supplemented academic programming with social-emotional learning.<br></div> The report also yielded insights about implementation patterns and common characteristics of typical 2021 summer programming. For example:<p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet"> Two-thirds of districts with programs (67 percent) prioritized serving students with special needs.</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Student data was the most common source of information used to determine whom to prioritize.</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet"> 41 percent of districts with programs engaged partners to plan for and/or deliver summer programming.</div>
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<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/report-examines-how-school-districts-ramped-up-summer-learning-response-to-pandemic/blog-westat-national-call-to-action-for-summer-learning-12.jpg" alt="blog-westat-national-call-to-action-for-summer-learning-12.jpg" style="margin:5px;" />
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</p><p>Future reports from the study will examine how states lent their support to summer efforts and dig deeper, through interviews and other analysis, into the districts’ efforts. So, stay tuned to learn more as we publish these reports later this year. <br></p><p>P.S. Yes, it may be sub-zero outside, but for those who intend to carry out a summer 2023 program, it is not too early to start planning. This<a href="/knowledge-center/summer-learning/toolkit/pages/default.aspx"> toolkit</a>, a product of the National Summer Learning Project, can help. So can this <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/federal-funding-guide-for-summer-and-afterschool.aspx?_ga=2.161918196.990642777.1673471938-1960687172.1666029165">recent guide</a> to federal funding sources. The Westat report  also offers recommendations for summer learning. Finally, <a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/two-summer-programs-inch-towards-normal-as-covid-subsides.aspx?_ga=2.161918196.990642777.1673471938-1960687172.1666029165">this article</a> describes how two longtime summer programs relied on “creativity, flexibility and self-reflection” as they carried out their efforts in 2021.   </p> <br><br><br> | Rebecca Haessig | 131 | | 2023-01-17T05:00:00Z | COVID-spurred summer learning push could offer lessons for improved summer experiences beyond the crisis | | 1/17/2023 4:58:55 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Report Examines How School Districts Ramped Up Summer Learning in Response to Pandemic For all of the talk about | 551 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| It's Here: Wallace's Top Ten Posts of 2022 | 42593 | GP0|#b68a91d0-1c13-4d82-b12d-2b08588c04d7;L0|#0b68a91d0-1c13-4d82-b12d-2b08588c04d7|News;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>It has been a busy year here at Wallace. But don’t just take our word for it. Let’s look at a few numbers. Since January 1, 2022, we’ve:</p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet"> Launched a new five-year arts initiative with 18 arts organizations of color </div><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Received  more than 1,700 submissions for a new funding  opportunity focused on adolescents</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Continued working with eight large school districts to explore how to build pipelines that can produce school leaders capable of advancing their own district’s vision of equity</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Published more than 50 reports and articles, including the last of three “knowledge syntheses” examining what recent research says about important topics in school leadership</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Launched two podcast series</div><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Hosted several webinars and events, some with thousands of attendees</div><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Much of this work has been captured by our editorial staff and guest authors on The Wallace Blog, as you'll see in our annual Top Ten Blog Posts. We think the list gives a good sense of the breadth of our work while highlighting common themes, such as how people working in education and the arts are still experiencing effects from the pandemic, and how everyone is craving conversation (online or, thankfully this year, sometimes in person) with experts and their peers along with data and research.<br><br> We hope you enjoy revisiting these stories, and we hope you learn something new!<br><br><strong>10. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/focusing-on-principal-wellness-6-questions-for-school-leaders.aspx">
<strong>Focusing on Principal Wellness: 6 Questions for School Leaders:</strong></a><strong> </strong>Four principals—who, together, have more than 30 years of experience as school leaders—discuss what inspired them to become principals, how they deal with burnout and the impact of the pandemic, among other topics. 
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<strong>9. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/how-can-music-organizations-be-more-inclusive.aspx">
<strong>How Can Music Organizations Be More Inclusive?</strong></a><strong> </strong>In a Chamber Music America podcast episode, Slover Linett researcher Melody Buyukozer Dawkins highlights several insights from a recent study exploring 50 Black Americans’ perception of the arts. She also gives a few key takeaways for ensemble music professionals to use in their own work.<strong></strong><br><br><strong>8. </strong>
<a href="/news-and-media/blog/pages/three-districts-one-principal-pipeline.aspx">
<strong>Three Districts, One Principal Pipeline:</strong></a><strong> </strong>In this deep-dive into a sparsely populated section of rural Nebraska, we see how three small districts pooled their talent and resources to implement systemic improvements to the preparation, hiring, support and management of principals.<br><br><strong>7. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/how-can-arts-and-culture-organizations-be-more-welcoming.aspx">
<strong>How Can Arts and Culture Organizations Be More Welcoming?</strong></a><strong> </strong>Slover Linett researchers hit our Top 10 list twice this year, this time in a conversation upon the release of their report exploring Black Americans’ perspectives on arts and culture. The report also delves into how organizations can better support Black communities and work to earn their trust and make them feel welcome.<strong></strong><br><br><strong>6. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/five-takeaways-for-developing-high-quality-principals.aspx">
<strong>Five Takeaways for Developing High-Quality Principals:</strong></a><strong> </strong>Two reports released in 2022 show how states, districts and universities all have a role to play in improving the quality of principal preparation. Authors from the two research teams presented highlights from their work, along with a panel of experts to help dig into the findings. This blog post recaps five key takeaways from that conversation.
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<strong>5. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/why-afterschool-programs-need-social-and-emotional-learning-sel-now.aspx">
<strong>Why Afterschool Programs Need Social and Emotional Learning Now:</strong></a><strong> </strong>Read highlights from a webinar jointly hosted by The Afterschool Alliance, Every Hour Counts and the Forum for Youth Investment, which emphasizes how afterschool programs have used SEL strategies to help children throughout the pandemic.<strong></strong><br><br><strong>4. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/social-and-emotional-learning-in-the-spotlight.aspx">
<strong>Social and Emotional Learning in the Spotlight:</strong></a><strong> </strong>This post breaks down our three-part podcast series,
<em>Let’s Talk Social and Emotional Learning</em>, into short video clips in which Harvard’s Stephanie Jones highlights key topics in
<em>Navigating SEL From the Inside Out</em>.
<br><br><strong>3. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/helping-arts-workers-navigate-pandemic-induced-burnout.aspx">
<strong>Helping Arts Workers Navigate Pandemic-Induced Burnout:</strong></a><strong> </strong>Arts organizations offer up a slew of resources and ideas to support health and wellness for people working in the arts.
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<strong>2. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/two-summer-programs-inch-towards-normal-as-covid-subsides.aspx">
<strong>Two Summer Programs Inch Towards Normal as Covid Subsides:</strong></a><strong> </strong>What can summer do to help overcome the havoc Covid-19 has wreaked on young people’s lives? A fair bit, according to the parents, kids and staff we interviewed at two summer programs in New York and New Jersey. In the number two blog post of the year, they talk about their experiences, how the programs had to adapt due to the pandemic and what their plans are for the future. <strong> </strong>
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<strong>1. </strong>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/new-research-points-to-a-looming-principal-shortage.aspx">
<strong>New Research Points to a Looming Principal Shortage:</strong></a><strong> </strong>Teacher burnout and shortages have been hot topics all year in the news. But what about principals? In the most viewed blog post of 2022, school leaders discuss how the principal role is changing, why four in ten principals surveyed said they might soon leave the profession and what to do about it.<br><br></p> | Jenna Doleh | 91 | | 2022-12-13T05:00:00Z | Your favorite reads this year touched on everything from SEL to principals to community arts | | 12/13/2022 3:37:27 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / It's Here: Wallace's Top Ten Posts of 2022 Your favorite reads this year touched on everything from SEL to principals to | 1119 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Study Seeks to Understand Adults Working with Young People Outside of School | 42559 | GP0|#b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211;L0|#0b804f37e-c5dd-4433-a644-37b51bb2e211|Afterschool;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>Millions of professionals and volunteers work with young people every day in the many settings where they play, learn and grow outside of the school day. To learn more about these youth-serving professionals, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is conducting a study, with support from Wallace. The study includes a national survey called the <a href="https://powerofussurvey.org/"><em>Power of Us Workforce Survey</em></a>, in which the results are intended to ultimately better support the youth workforce and inform policy, practice and further research.</p><p>In this Q&A, Deborah Moroney, a vice president at AIR, and Ann Stone, senior research officer at Wallace, reflect on this work. This post originally appeared on the <a href="https://workforce-matters.org/">Workforce Matters</a> website and is reprinted with their permission.</p><p><strong>The Wallace Foundation: What is the Youth Fields Workforce Study?</strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Deborah</strong>: The U.S. Department of Education has challenged educators to <a href="https://engageeverystudent.org/">engage every student</a>. But who are the adults who are allies to, support and foster learning and development outside of the school day? While we know that those who work in youth fields play an important role, we lack the broader knowledge, context and holistic understanding of these individuals’ experiences and career pathways. The Youth Fields Workforce Study is a nationwide effort to fill that knowledge gap and gain critical insights into the people who make up these fields, where they work, what they do and what supports they need to continue engaging in transformative work with young people. </p><p><strong>WF: Why did the Wallace Foundation decide to invest in the Youth Fields Workforce Study?</strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Ann</strong>: Over the years, we’ve heard anecdotal evidence that staffing has been a consistent challenge for out-of-school time programs. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated labor shortage it caused, only made things worse. For example, a <a href="http://afterschoolalliance.org/documents/Afterschool-COVID-19-Wave-6-Brief.pdf">survey by the Afterschool Alliance</a> found that the top two concerns among afterschool providers were finding staff to hire or staffing shortages and maintaining staff levels through health concerns and safety protocols.</p><p>Given this, we felt it was important to learn more from the field itself about the state of the workforce. </p><p>The challenge is not a trivial one. Skilled staff are crucial to fostering the <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/the-value-of-out-of-school-time-programs.aspx">many benefits </a>that afterschool and summer programs can provide young people—including new skills, exposure to new experiences, academic gains, awareness of career options, and life skills like persistence. These benefits vary, based on how programs are designed. But no matter what kind of program, we know that staff are central to creating positive relationships with young people, setting the climate, and sharing special expertise. Hardworking, well-trained staff play a key role in quality, and quality plays a key role in outcomes, so it’s important that this vital workforce is better understood—and supported. </p><p><strong>WF: What do you hope to learn from the results of the Youth Fields Workforce Study?</strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Ann:</strong> The study is unusual in how thoroughly it seeks to incorporate views from those actually <em>in </em>the workforce. It will offer a window into who makes up the workforce, their career pathways, how they see their expertise and training needs, thoughts on job mobility, and retention. In capturing the lived experience of the staff who are forming relationships with youth, teaching skills and setting the climate, this study by AIR will not only help the field understand the challenge—but also suggest solutions. For example, understanding what motivates staff to stay in this field could be used to help attract new staff. This information should be especially useful since the pandemic, along with the influx of federal funding, have elevated the importance of afterschool and summer programming. </p><p><strong>Deborah:</strong> There are real and practical uses for the survey findings, which is timely because we know that this field is not immune to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/afterschool-programs-are-low-on-staff-leaving-students-unsupervised-and-underserved/2022/03">shifts in the labor market</a>. Our partners tell us they will use the survey data to make the case to expand access to programs for youth, prioritize professional development supports, and develop career pathways for adults. But we need the information first, and we need your help! If you are part of the youth fields workforce, share your story by taking the survey. If you support the youth fields workforce, help us spread the word by sharing the survey with your networks. The more people who complete the survey, the more we will know about the adults in the youth fields workforce, and the more we can all do to support them as they support all youth to thrive<br></p> | Jenna Doleh | 91 | | 2022-12-08T05:00:00Z | 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. | | 12/12/2022 3:55:00 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Study Seeks to Understand Adults Working with Young People Outside of School Millions of professionals and volunteers work | 1243 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Lessons from Six Communities Building Students’ SEL Skills | 42485 | GP0|#890cbc1f-f78a-45e7-9bf2-a5986c564667;L0|#0890cbc1f-f78a-45e7-9bf2-a5986c564667|Social and Emotional Learning;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>What can be learned when six communities bring together schools and out-of-school time (OST) partners to support students’ social and emotional learning (SEL)? A lot, apparently.<br></p><p><a href="/knowledge-center/pages/strengthening-students-social-and-emotional-skills-vol2-pt1.aspx">A new report from RAND</a> presents lessons culled from the six school districts that participated in Wallace’s social and emotional learning initiative. The multiyear effort, which concluded in 2021, explored whether and how children can benefit from partnerships between schools and out-of-school-time (OST) programs that were focused on building social and emotional skills.</p><p>The report synthesizes nine cross-cutting factors that facilitated these efforts, such as committed school and OST program leaders, building adults’ social and emotional skills, and establishing trusting relationships.</p><p>Along with the overarching report, RAND produced <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/district-partner-problem-solving-in-social-emotional-learning-efforts-series-vol2.aspx">six case studies</a>, each focused on one of the districts that participated in the initiative. Highlights from the case studies include:</p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">In <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/expanding-social-and-emotional-learning-boston-vol2-pt2.aspx?_ga=2.236588289.1269491334.1664803907-363535270.1663784266">Boston</a>, the partnership worked to expand students’ access to enrichment and linked the enrichment activities to the school-day curriculum through a shared focus on SEL.<br>
</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">The <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/building-an-effective-social-and-emotional-learning-committe-dallas-vol2-pt3.aspx">Dallas</a> team focused on sustainable SEL practices and formed a steering committee to drive the work forward.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">Through joint planning, collaboration and professional development, the partnership in <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/jointly-prioritizing-time-for-social-and-emotional-learning-in-denver-vol2-pt4.aspx?_ga=2.236588289.1269491334.1664803907-363535270.1663784266">Denver</a> prioritized SEL across in school and after school by making it a part of the daily routine.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">In <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/engaging-teachers-staff-parents-social-and-emotional-learning-palm-beach-county-vol2-pt5.aspx">Palm Beach County, Fla.</a>, the team provided SEL training to non instructional school staff and families to help students have positive interactions not only in the classroom but in the cafeteria, on the bus and at home.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">In <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/learning-to-focus-on-adult-sel-first-tulsa-vol2-pt7.aspx?_ga=2.236588289.1269491334.1664803907-363535270.1663784266">Tulsa</a>, the team recognized the need to help the adults working with students to develop their own social-emotional skills so they could support social and emotional learning for their students and model SEL competencies.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="wf-Element-BlueBullet">And <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/prioritizing-racial-equity-within-social-and-emotional-learning-tacoma-vol2-pt6.aspx?_ga=2.236588289.1269491334.1664803907-363535270.1663784266">Tacoma</a> focused on integrating racial equity and restorative practices into its SEL approach.</div><p></p><p>You can read more about the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/early-lessons-from-schools-and-out-of-school-time-programs-implementing-social-and-emotional-learning.aspx">here</a>. And listen to the stories of several practitioners from the initiative on our <a href="/knowledge-center/pages/podcast-the-partnerships-for-social-and-emotional-learning.aspx">Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Podcast</a>.</p> | Andrea Ruggirello | 114 | | 2022-10-05T04:00:00Z | Studies explore how schools and community partners collaborated to build children’s social-emotional skills | | 10/5/2022 5:05:52 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Lessons from Six Communities Building Students’ SEL Skills Studies explore how schools and community partners collaborated | 796 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Resources to Help Guide Your Summer Learning Program | 42540 | GP0|#ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13;L0|#0ff9563e3-b973-45a7-8ac3-c9f4122f9a13|Summer Learning;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>The school bell may have stopped ringing, but summer is a great time for all kinds of learning opportunities for kids. In honor of this year’s National Summer Learning Week, here are some helpful reports, tools and articles to guide your summer program. And don’t forget to check out the
<a href="https://www.summerlearning.org/summer-learning-week/" target="_blank">National Summer Learning Association</a> to discover summer programs, additional resources and more during this week-long celebration.<br><br> </p><p>
<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/supporting-quality-in-summer-learning-how-districts-plan-develop-and-implement-programs.aspx?_ga=2.130479439.1378018415.1657643438-504352793.1654185536">
<strong>
<img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/resources-to-help-guide-your-summer-learning-program/supporting-quality-in-summer-learning-full-report-a.jpg" alt="supporting-quality-in-summer-learning-full-report-a.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:146px;height:188px;" />Supporting Quality in Summer Learning: How Districts Plan, Develop, and Implement Programs</strong></a><strong> </strong>School district-led summer programs play a critical role in supporting students academically and providing them with enriching experiences. Drawing on existing research and the perspectives of policymakers and field professionals, this recently released report looks at the policies, practices and resources that go into the planning, development and operation of these programs.<br><br></p><p>
<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/summer-for-all-building-coordinated-networks-promote-access-to-quality-summer-learning-enrichment.aspx?_ga=2.130479439.1378018415.1657643438-504352793.1654185536"><strong><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/resources-to-help-guide-your-summer-learning-program/summer-for-all-building-coordinated-networks-promote-summer-learning-a.jpg" alt="summer-for-all-building-coordinated-networks-promote-summer-learning-a.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:145px;height:207px;" />Summer for All: Building Coordinated Networks to Promote Access to Quality Summer Learning and Enrichment Opportunities Across a Community</strong></a><strong> </strong>This report looks at how schools, community-based organizations and other civic organizations in four cities formed coordinated networks to increase access to high-quality summer programming for young people.<br><br></p><p>
<br>
</p><p>
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/two-summer-programs-inch-towards-normal-as-covid-subsides.aspx"><strong><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/blog-pandemic-summer-post-lg-feature.jpg" alt="blog-pandemic-summer-post-lg-feature.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:274px;height:117px;" />Two Summer Programs Inch Towards Normal as Covid Subsides</strong></a> Summer programs could be a key to addressing lost instructional and extracurricular time from COVID-19, and summer program leaders can learn a lot from the past two summers. Read about how two programs in New York and New Jersey have adapted to help young people through the pandemic, and how they’ve been preparing for this unpredictable summer.<br><br></p><p>
<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/getting-to-work-on-summer-learning-2nd-ed.aspx"><strong><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/resources-to-help-guide-your-summer-learning-program/Getting-to-Work-on-Summer-Learning-2nd-ed-a.jpg" alt="Getting-to-Work-on-Summer-Learning-2nd-ed-a.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:144px;height:206px;" />Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success, 2nd ed.</strong></a> This report addresses questions about how to implement a high-quality summer learning program and offers evidence-based recommendations on such topics as timing, hiring and training, and how to recruit students. It also discusses the costs associated with offering a voluntary summer program and provides suggestions for lowering them, such as working with community-based organizations and consolidating program sites into as few buildings as possible.<br><br></p><p>
<a href="/knowledge-center/summer-learning/toolkit/pages/default.aspx"><strong><img src="/News-and-Media/Blog/PublishingImages/Pages/resources-to-help-guide-your-summer-learning-program/blog-summer-learning-toolkit.jpg" alt="blog-summer-learning-toolkit.jpg" class="wf-Image-Left" style="margin:5px;width:180px;height:110px;" />Summer Learning Toolkit</strong></a><strong> </strong>One of our most popular resources, the Summer Learning Toolkit consists of more than 50, evidence-based tools and resources drawn from the work of five urban school districts and their partners, and aligned with research from RAND. It might be a bit late to start planning this year, but it’s never too early to start the pre-planning for next summer!</p><br> | Jenna Doleh | 91 | | 2022-07-13T04:00:00Z | From research reports and our popular hands-on toolkit to interviews with program staff and parents, these materials can help you plan a high-quality summer program. | | 7/13/2022 1:00:21 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Resources to Help Guide Your Summer Learning Program From research reports and case studies to our popular hands-on toolkit | 854 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |
| Afterschool Arts Provide Digital Lifeline in Covid Times | 23653 | GP0|#d2020f9f-c87c-4828-b93b-572786ae94a8;L0|#0d2020f9f-c87c-4828-b93b-572786ae94a8|Arts Education;GTSet|#a1e8653d-64cb-48e0-8015-b5826f8c5b61 | <p>Recent studies have shown that
<a href="/News-and-Media/Blog/pages/why-young-people-need-access-to-high-quality-arts-education.aspx">creating art can help young people</a> make sense of the world around them, process their feelings and deepen empathy. After the pandemic hit and programs scrambled to go online, making art also became a source of<a href="https://www.aep-arts.org/power-of-the-arts-a-covid-19-silver-lining/" target="_blank"> healing</a>, connection and, ultimately, resilience, as well as increasing broader access to arts programs for more youth across the country. </p><p>The Wallace blog caught up with researchers involved with two arts learning programs to get a sense of the specific lessons they learned in the pivot to virtual learning and what we all might carry forward.
<a href="https://www.researchforaction.org/about-rfa/meet-the-team/tracey-a-hartmann/" target="_blank">Tracey Hartmann</a>, Ph.D., is the director of qualitative research at Research for Action in Philadelphia and has been working with Wallace for a decade on our Youth Arts Initiative with the Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA). All five BGCA clubs from different parts of the country stayed open during the pandemic, offering some form of virtual,  in-person and hybrid programming. <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/ckbuCv2DQvHR4DGhzLOmI?domain=linkedin.com/" target="_blank">Monica Clark</a>, Ph.D, is the Teach YR project director at YR Media–a national media, technology and music training center and platform for emerging BIPOC content creators headquartered in Oakland, California. She leads the organization’s research team and conducted this research project collaboratively with colleagues Lissa Soep, Ph.D., and Nimah Gobir, ME.d. The pandemic gave birth to YR’s <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/nEiACrkX2oTW65pFzkfBw?domain=yr.media/" target="_blank">Type Beat Challenge</a>, managed by Oliver "Kuya" Rodriguez and Maya Drexler, which allowed young people to create and submit music from anywhere, collaborating with one another and with professional music producers around different themes.</p><p></p><p>Hartmann and Clark were meeting each other personally (on Zoom!) for the first time and had a lot to say about young people and the arts. The conversation has been edited for space and clarity. </p><p>
<strong>Wallace Foundation: In your work with the BGCA clubs, Tracey, you found that in moving to virtual there needed to be a higher level of what you called “intentionality” in programming. Can you give an example of what you mean? And then, Monica, does this resonate with your findings too? </strong></p><p>
<strong>Tracey Hartmann: </strong>Our data comes from focus groups we did with 31 youth participants across the five clubs, and what we heard from youth was that what engaged them in the virtual programming was very similar to what engaged them in person. But from the teaching artists’ perspectives, they found that they had to be more intentional about the things they did, and there were three elements that came up. The first was for young people to have input into programming. The program was designed for middle school youth–and sometimes older–an age group that is really hard in any setting. So the artists had to make an effort to learn what the young people were interested in, sometimes on an individual level, and be more intentional about following these interests, even outside of the Zoom class. </p><p>
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</p><p>Artists also had to be more intentional about connecting with youth, checking in at the beginning of class. For example, one artist said he had to make an extra effort to know who was shy and didn’t want to be on camera or what was going on for them that day. We also heard from youth that they wanted more verbal guidance, especially if they were learning new skills, to help them feel like they were getting the kind of hands-on support they might get in person. </p><p>Finally, the artists had to be intentional in thinking through how to do the hands-on art, making sure young people had the supplies or equipment they needed. Sometimes they delivered art supplies or sent home packets to young people. They also found that youth really appreciated watching them do the art. </p><p>
<strong>Monica Clark: </strong>So much of what Tracey just shared mirrors findings from our focus groups with about 40 people. We also held a convening where we brought together leaders from five different arts organizations to talk about the pivot to virtual. One of our instructors from that convening said something to the effect of “I’m shouting out into the void,” talking about the black screens, and the vulnerability involved in trying to engage  students virtually and get them to turn their cameras on. How do you build community around that? </p><p>
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</p><p>One of the things that made our Type Beat project so successful for virtual was that it was co-designed with and by youth. We took advantage of remote platforms by opening up the program to young people outside of the Bay Area or to those who might not have been able to access the program in person. Doing this also highlighted the glaring inequalities that young people could face going online: access to computer hardware and software, because with music production it’s not just your laptop but the software that’s going to help you bring the beats together; unreliable broadband and wifi access; equal resources and training for teachers; and a lack of basic social and economic support for our most marginalized students in their communities. </p><p>We knew we needed to meet people virtually where they were already hanging out online, and we did this by using eight different platforms. We also collaboratively created community norms for how we were going to operate as a community in the virtual space. These were specifically outlined and always pinned up in the chat. We were always thinking about how to create a positive community space focused on mental well-being. One of the Type Beat challenges was something like “chill beats for wellness,” so the young people could build that into the art they were making.  </p><p>
<strong>WF: How did the teaching artists specifically need to change their practice in the virtual world? And what kind of support or tools did they need to be able to teach their art in this way? </strong></p><p>
<strong>MC: </strong>In some ways they were doing the things that were already done but learning how to do them in the virtual space. Of course, we always want to support our young people when they're showcasing their art. We want them to feel confident in what they're producing. But how do you do that when they're in their bedroom and you're in your apartment or wherever you are? For the Type Beat challenge, we asked our instructors to support young people in developing the design aesthetic of the background space of their room, knowing that we were asking them to be very vulnerable in showing their space. </p><p>
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</p><p>Then there are the kinds of interpersonal and community building activities that are needed in any space, but you need to be even more innovative in the ways that you do it in the virtual space. For instance, you could support students on screen by doing a hype up dance that each person would perform in their own space, so the whole group would be together dancing and getting each other excited. It helps break the discomfort and model that it’s safe to be vulnerable in this space.  </p><div>
<strong>TH: </strong>Monica was referencing physical and emotional well being before, which is one of the
<a href="/knowledge-center/pages/something-to-say-success-principles-for-afterschool-arts-programs.aspx">10 principles</a> [for developing high-quality afterschool arts], and which was definitely coming up around people feeling shy about having their camera on. The artists worked to help young people create virtual backgrounds. They were aware that family members were also in the room, and some artists used that as an opportunity to invite them into the conversation or the activity. In fact some of the young people in focus groups suggested that it would have been okay for the artists to ask them to turn on the camera more often to show their work.</div><p>
<br>The instructors also needed basic tools. In addition to having the wifi capacity, maybe good cameras, microphones, lighting. There was a certain software that dance artists needed that helped them sync music with their video. Some of the TAs were digital artists, so they already had a lot of tech skills, and they ended up being kind of advisors to other staff in the club. But others did not have those skills, and it was a steeper learning curve for them. They needed more training and professional development to develop the skills to be able to offer programming virtually.
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<strong>WF: What did you learn about how young people used art during the pandemic to support their mental health, process their feelings, support civic engagement or anything else? </strong></p><p>
<strong>MC: </strong>We found that young people turned to art as an escape from what is happening in the world and also in trying to make sense of and reshape what they're experiencing under these extreme and uncertain conditions. They are using art as a social intervention to formulate and share their points of view, connect with others and mobilize for equity and justice. One of our young people said, “I think my view on art has definitely changed, and now I see it, less of something, just like doodling or whatever, and more as a tool that I can use in my life moving forward.” Another one of our national correspondents from Minneapolis was talking about a
<a href="https://yr.media/news/a-minnesotan-weighs-in-is-there-hope-after-the-hashtags/" target="_blank">journalism piece she published </a>with YR  during the George Floyd protests, after his killing, and how it was one of the most difficult things that she ever wrote, but it was also the most powerful and it made her feel so good afterwards–particularly due to the fact that she was able to work with a Black editor that she looked up to in making final edits to her piece.<br></p><p>The  prevailing assumption was that the pandemic lockdown meant that young people could not go anywhere, that everyone was stuck in their house and trapped. But from a number of our focus group participants we found that the same conditions also enabled young people to explore more widely than before, forming new communities through digital access to faraway places and professional artists.<br></p><p>
<strong>TH: </strong>We saw that youth created artwork about Covid, about racial injustice, about grief and loss. It was a coping mechanism and a way to calm their nerves. Some young people needed opportunities to process some of the things that were going on in the world. But the program also served youth as young as nine, and maybe even younger, and for them it just took their mind off of what was going on, helped them feel “normal” or represent their private experiences. An instructor at one club described a song that his class created called quarantine crazy where youth were rapping and singing about their experiences during Covid. </p><p>The teaching artists were always responsive to where young people were at any given day and created the space, if needed, for them to talk about what was on their minds. Again this was particularly so for the older youth, who often wanted that space to talk about things. One artist said, “I feel as if I'm a counselor and an art teacher when they're sharing with me, and if I affirm how they feel, hopefully that makes some type of positive impact.”</p><p>
<strong>WF: What unique role do you see art making continuing to offer young people, and how can we best support both the practitioners and the organizations that are dealing with them as they do this?</strong></p><p>
<strong>MC: </strong>We are focusing now on the idea that STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics] implementation can be built on solid foundations and serve genuine opportunities for deep learning at the intersection of creative and technical disciplines. Our young people are creating art but they're also learning the technical side of packaging, developing and creating music, which is a tech skill.</p><p>It’s also important to remember that we are freed from many of the constraints of schools, including short class periods, mandated use of grades, academic tracking limits on admissible subject matter.  Out-of-school-time afterschool arts educators, who are often working artists themselves, can help support young people in the creation of creatively and socially challenging products that are guided by the young people and the issues that they want to be addressing.</p><p>
<strong>TH: </strong>The artists described how they themselves needed support in these roles. They needed to know who to go to for referrals if issues came up that were beyond their ability to respond to. They needed more training in areas related to social and emotional well-being. For example, they received training in how to manage their own emotions to support young people. They received some training around supporting youth experiencing trauma, but they would have liked even more of that training. They received training around setting appropriate boundaries, because in the virtual space, the boundaries are a little different. How to de-escalate intense situations–this was for artists that were back in person–and then again just responding to grief and loss, because that was coming up a lot. </p><p>
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<strong>WF: Any final words of advice for other organizations who are thinking about expanding their virtual arts learning or other models that include some people being online while others are in person? </strong></p><p>
<strong>TH: </strong>One of our takeaways was that the synchronous model, which is live programming on Zoom or a similar platform, works best for youth who are really passionate about the art form. We heard from the artists as well that you have to be really motivated to do virtual synchronous programming. The hybrid model that the clubs used with the artist Zooming into the in-person classroom seemed to work well, especially if the artist was able to be in the club occasionally. It works better for exposure programming, meaning programming that allows youth to try out an unfamiliar art form to see if they like it. The hybrid model also has promise for bringing in artists from all over the country, which can expand youth access to all kinds of resources.</p><p>
<strong>MC: </strong>The design of hybrid programs must be carefully considered in order for programs to, as one of our participants said, “bring the activity, energy and vibe that instructors bring to class to the virtual format.” As Tracey says, you have to carefully consider the work that's being done and determine which activities could be suited for the virtual space. Also remember that you can’t just be in one social space or one app. You have to meet students where they are and that’s always going to be shifting.
<strong></strong></p><p>Most importantly, anytime you're doing programming that supports young people, young artists, they need to be brought into the design. I am really hyped about how our Type Beat challenge did that. It meant a lot to our young people, particularly in the moment in time that we were in, for them to have that agency, to feel that power and feel like they would produce not only the music but they would produce this program that is now living on.<br></p><p>
<em>All photos courtesy of the Boys & Girls Club of America and YR Media.</em></p><p><em>Lead photo courtesy of YR Media, featuring </em><em>Oliver "Kuya"  Rodriguez, music and audio production program manager, who ran the <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/nEiACrkX2oTW65pFzkfBw?domain=yr.media/" target="_blank">Type Beat Challenge</a>.</em></p> | Wallace editorial team | 79 | | 2022-06-21T04:00:00Z | Two arts education researchers share what they learned when programs went online–and the strategies that might endure | | 7/12/2022 7:15:11 PM | The Wallace Foundation / News and Media / Wallace Blog / Afterschool Arts Provide Digital Lifeline in Covid Times Two arts education researchers share what they learned when | 1883 | https://www.wallacefoundation.org/News-and-Media/Blog/Pages/Forms/AllItems.aspx | html | False | aspx | |