SchoolGrants Links After School

Links - After School Programs

After school programs are popular ways to help working parents as well as to provide safe havens for children - especially low-income and often under-served children. The resources provided on this page help proposal writers and program planners as they develop meaningful after-school programs for the children they serve.

Using Technology to Improve Academic Achievement in OST Programs	This publication focuses specifically on using technology in after-school programs to help raise student achievement. The report describes the implementation of a 21CCLC program in Washington, DC during the summer of 2001 and is based on direct observations of activities, document reviews, interviews with program coordinators and facilitators, and focus groups with student participants.

Contemporary Issues in Mentoring	This 100-page book was published in 1999 and is available for free download. This publication includes chapters that will be useful when developing mentoring programs such as: The Practice, Quality and Cost of Mentoring, Assessing the Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs, and The Cost of Mentoring.

Harvard Family Research Project	The Harvard Family Research Project’s Out-of-School Time program Evaluation Database now contains 16 new profiles of out-of-school evaluations. Several of the new evaluations used quasi-experimental and experimental research designs to determine program effectiveness. In addition to the new profiles, several others have been updated.

Presidential Service Awards	There is no money involved with this award, but it may provide a nice way to recognize your generous teachers, students and/or parents. The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation will recognize the dedication of America's volunteers, and encourage more Americans to engage in volunteer service. The President’s Volunteer Service Award is given annually to: Youth ages five to 14 who have completed 50 or more hours of volunteer service within a twelve-month period. Individuals ages 15 or older who have completed 100 or more hours of volunteer service within a twelve-month period. Families or groups (e.g. a block association) who have completed 200 or more hours of volunteer service within a twelve-month period. Lifetime achievement will be recognized with awards to individuals completing more than 4,000 hours of volunteer service. Service activities should meet national or community needs and may include mentoring a child, feeding the hungry, cleaning parks, and keeping neighborhoods safe. Activities should be unpaid and may not include court-ordered community service. Individuals must submit their records to certifying organizations that will review and verify their records and distribute awards. Nonprofit and community and faith-based organizations, schools, membership and trade associations, and federal, state or local government agencies can all serve as certifying organizations. Award winners will receive a personalized certificate of achievement, a signed letter of congratulations by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, and an official President’s Award pin. Award winners will also be listed on the President’s Volunteer Service Award Website.

After-School Programs – Are they Working? The William T. Grant Foundation has released two papers that synthesize information from four major evaluations of after-school programs around the country. One of the findings is not surprising: after school programs serve a variety of purposes such as supervision of youth, crime deterrents, child-care, youth development, and more recently, as vehicles to improve student academic performance. The Grant Foundation, after reviewing recent evaluation results makes four recommendations for policymakers, evaluators and operators of after-school programs: Programs must increase attendance or they will not achieve their goals. More realism needs to be used in determining what it takes to create discernible effects on achievement test scores. Programs need to reach vulnerable kids who would otherwise be on their own after school. Programs that have been proven successful need to be replicated. The National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools has a wealth of information and links to resources related to after-school programs. One helpful publication, available in PDF format at no cost and revised in 2004, is Planning and Operating After-School Programs. The 138-page guide provides a description of resources available to support after-school programs. The resources given all meet three basic criteria: timely, readily available, and relatively inexpensive (many are available online at no cost). Six inter-related topics are covered: Management, Communication, Programming, Integrating K-12 and After-School Programs, Community Building/Collaboration, and Evaluation. The Finance Project’s Finding Funding: A Guide to Federal Sources for Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives may be of interest to some grantseekers. The 178-page guide was published in 2003.











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