LIAS and Recent Trends in Education and OST (Part 2)

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

There are several new trends or movements as stakeholders look to improve the quality of formal education and learning outside of the classroom. They include the topics of school reform, Common Core Standards, extended learning opportunities, program quality measurement, STEM, 21st century learning skills, and social-emotional learning (SEL). We will dedicate this second blog post to briefly name and describe four more important trends and on the relevance of the LIAS learning principles according to leaders in each of these movements: 



OST PROGRAM QUALITY MEASUREMENT: Given the large federal and state investments in afterschool and summer programs, there has been a call to promote the quality of these programs. To this end, many organizations have developed tools and instruments to gauge the level of quality. The LIAS project conducted a crosswalk between leading quality measurement tools and the LIAS learning principles. This work revealed a high correlation between what the LIAS project calls for and what these instruments measured in the name of quality.   The one LIAS principle that was underrepresented in the program quality tools we examined was: expanding the horizons of program participants. 

Bill Fennessy

“The LIAS principles speak directly to the components required to create a quality instructional delivery framework.  When implemented, programs can truly engage the youth of today.  While many successful afterschool and summer programs already embody and demonstrate the LIAS principles, these principles now being clearly identified, defined, and articulated, will provide for an understandable and intentional approach to attain successful quality programming across the field.  In addition, the LIAS principles provide a common language for the field of afterschool that has been up until now missing and desperately needed.  I have personally seen the LIAS principles easily taught to line staff, which might not have been intuitive to them previously. I have witnessed the empowering affect it has had on them, resulting in improved program quality.  The LIAS principles have also given them the ability to understand for themselves, and communicate with others, their vital role and the value of afterschool and summer programming.”  - Bill Fennessy, THINK Together



STEM: There is a growing movement to increase young people’s interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).  However, STEM activities are meant to be more than just content – they need to be designed to motivate and excite young people so that they will be tempted to pursue STEM activities and eventual careers beyond the life of any one activity or program.

“At the Coalition for Science After School, we find that there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding as to what high-quality STEM programming afterschool means. But once we apply LIAS principles to examine science afterschool, we can quickly identify what quality should look like and which promising practices we should support that may lead to increased youth interest and engagement in STEM. 

Carol Tang

LIAS principles outline the program characteristics most likely to foster scientific inquiry and sense-making in youth and help them recognize the relevance of science and technology to their future. LIAS principles help clarify what high-quality science in out-of-school settings should look like and makes STEM accessible to youth development and afterschool staff.  What I like best about LIAS is that it allows OST professionals to view STEM as a way to achieve their youth outcomes using existing best practices in youth development--science afterschool is seen as part of good youth development, rather than an added burden on afterschool program staff.”    - Carol Tang, Coalition for Science After School


21st CENTURY LEARNING SKILLS: In order for young people to be competitive in a knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, they need to learn to collaborate with others and connect through technology. The 21st century skills are broken into several categories:

• Ways of thinking - Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning
• Ways of working - Communication and collaboration
• Tools for working - Information and communications technology (ICT) and information literacy
• Skills for living in the world - Citizenship, life and career, and personal and social responsibility

Bernie Trilling

According to Bernie Trilling, Global Director at Oracle Education Foundation and co-author of 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, “The five Learning in Afterschool & Summer principles are perfectly aligned with a 21st century learning approach – active, meaningful, collaborative learning projects that provide opportunities to expand one’s horizons and master important knowledge and skills – this is the heart of 21st century learning.” 


SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL): SEL helps young people develop the skills to handle themselves and their relationships. These are also important skills for the workplace. They include recognizing and managing emotions, developing caring and concern for others, establishing positive relationships, making responsible decisions, and handling challenging situations constructively and ethically. “They are the skills that allow children to calm themselves when angry, make friends, resolve conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices.”  According to research, having these skills are related to more positive youth outcomes including academic outcomes.   

Joseph Durlak

“The LIAS principles of collaboration, meaningfulness, and expanded horizons are each consistent with the types of skills that compose SEL such as skills relating to managing one’s emotions, developing and maintaining satisfactory relationships with others, and enhancing self-awareness.  In general, the LIAS principles and the five SEL domains allows flexibility and adaptations to occur for work with different types of youth at different developmental stages, and with different needs and interests.” - Joseph Durlak, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, Loyola University, Chicago

Making the Case for "Deeper Learning"

(For an earlier piece on "Deeper Learning" dated 10/5/10 in Education Week, click here.) 

By Guest Blogger Jen Rinehart, Vice President, Research & Policy, The Afterschool Alliance

Jen Rinehart

Last week the National Research Council released a report highlighting the importance of “deeper learning.”  The report, Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21^st Century, was funded by a number of foundations, including the William and Flora Hewlett, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur and Nellie Mae Education foundations. 

The report validates an educational approach called “deeper learning,” which occurs as students acquire the ability to take the knowledge and skills they learn in one situation and apply it to a new situation.  This process of transferring knowledge from one situation to another develops students’ “21^st century competencies,” or transferable knowledge and skills.  The report highlights three domains of knowledge and skills—cognitive, intrapersonal and interpersonal—and discusses their influence on positive outcomes in the areas of education, work and health. 

The three domains of knowledge and skills are:

• The cognitive domain, which includes critical thinking, problem solving, reasoning and innovation.
• The intrapersonal domain, which includes skills such as metacognition (the ability to reflect on one’s own learning and make adjustments accordingly), flexibility, self-direction and conscientiousness.
• The interpersonal domain, which includes such skills as communication and collaboration.

It was exciting to see that the report also affirms that afterschool programs are environments conducive to deeper learning.  Many leaders in the afterschool community have long argued that afterschool settings, free from the constraints of the No Child Left Behind law, are ideal for this kind of deeper learning. 

Finally, the report urges states and the federal government to establish policies and programs in support of deeper learning and encourages policy makers to focus their attention on the key areas of assessment, accountability, curriculum and materials, and teacher education. According to the report—and what the education community has observed over the years—assessments will be key given that so much of current education policy and practice is driven by assessment. 

Afterschool has much to offer in providing opportunities for deeper learning—hopefully policy makers will recognize the importance of deeper learning and the integral role afterschool plays in implementing this approach.

_________________

Jen Rinehart joined the Afterschool Alliance in September 2002 and established the Afterschool Alliance's WashingtonD.C. office.  Jen takes a primary role in the Afterschool Alliance's coalition building, policy and research efforts, and serves as a spokesperson for the organization.  Recent projects include America After 3 PM: A Household Survey on Afterschool in America and Kids Deserve Better, a campaign to get voters and candidates thinking and talking about children's issues, particularly afterschool. Jen also served as Interim Executive Director of the Afterschool Alliance from December 2004 through June 2005.  

Real Afterschool Programs that Reflect the LIAS Principles

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We were recently contacted by an afterschool leader who exclaimed "I love the LIAS learning principles, but can you give me some real life program examples that would make them more real?" We responded by asking program leaders to submit examples of program components that they felt nicely represented the LIAS principles. We have now assembled them in a published paper entitled, Afterschool Programs That Reflect the Learning in Afterschool & Summer Learning Principles. We are also planning, in partnership with Change Agent Productions, to develop a video of program practices that are well-aligned with these same learning principles.

Teen CERT (Community Emergency Response Team),
a component of Club Timberwolf at Julian Jr. High School

We welcome your comments on this paper. We are currently looking for examples that come from summer programs. If you wish to submit a component from your summer youth program, you can do so using a Survey Monkey form. 

ALSO: We want to call your attention to some important new resources - 

• A new report from the National Summer Learning Association entitled Best Practices in Summer Learning Programs for Middle and High School Youth.

• A webinar entitled Expanding Science Learning Opportunities During Out-of-School Time, which is being presented on June 20, 2012 from 10:30am - 12:00pm PST. Click here for more information.

• Two great blog posts on Edutopia regarding students and engagement. The posts are entitled, Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement and How Project-Based Learning Builds 21st-Century Skills. 

• A new website entitled A Time to Succeed, which serves as a source of information for those interested in expanded learning efforts.

• A recent article on The Washington Post, written by Jodi Grant, Afterschool Alliance, entitled What New Research on Extended School Day Says.

Measuring Soft Skills in OST Programs: An Interview with Nicole Yohalem, Part 2

By Sam Piha

The Learning in Afterschool project is promoting five learning principles that are well rooted in education and youth development research. Teachers and youth workers alike know that these principles are important to engaging young people in learning. Although these principles are vital to developing important skills, sometimes referred to as 21^st century skills, many refer to them as “soft”. Further, the lack of accessible tools that measure these skills has been a problem for the OST field. 

Recently the Forum for Youth Investment published From Soft Skills to Hard Data: Measuring Youth Program Outcomes, which offers a survey of measurement instruments that measure many of these skills. They include:

Nicole Yohalem

•      Communication
•      Relationships & Collaboration
•      Critical Thinking & Decision-making
•      Initiative & Self-direction

Below, we interview Nicole Yohalem (Forum for Youth Investment) one of the co-authors of this report.

Q: What criteria did you use in selecting instruments?

A: We considered several factors. First we looked for measures where a majority of the contents mapped directly onto one of our four areas of interest. We looked for measures that were appropriate for use in a range of settings, including OST programs, and focused on tools that can be used with upper elementary through high school age youth, since a lot of useful work has already been done by CASEL to review measures for use with younger children. We also prioritized measures that are accessible to practitioners and relatively easy to use. Because we are committed to ensuring practitioners have access to tools that yield reliable (consistent) and valid information, we also looked for instruments that at a minimum, had been investigated for scale reliability, factor structure and sensitivity to OST program impact. 

Q: How might the guide be helpful for OST programs?

A: In selecting measures there are some important things for program leaders to consider. First and foremost, outcome measures should reflect the goals and activities of the program. Programs should measure outcomes that they value and that they are actively trying to influence. Second, it is important to select measures that will yield reliable and valid information. Finally, there are all the practical issues to consider – cost, ease of administration and accessibility. 

The guide includes information about all of these considerations. For each instrument we summarize the origins and focus on the tool, include sample items, and discuss user and technical considerations. Where possible we also include information about length, cost, format, supplemental tools, and training. Our technical reviews focus on the extent to which reliability and validity have been established. 

Q: Finally, do you see this new resource helping to address any important risks or opportunities facing the OST/afterschool movement at this time? 

A: Unfortunately we haven’t done a good job of coming to consensus on what to call important skills like critical thinking and decision-making, relationships and collaboration, communication and initiative and self-direction. I hear these referred to as social-emotional skills, soft skills, 21^st century skills, new basic skills, higher-order thinking, non-academic outcomes…the list goes on. 

If we could get more consistent about naming these and measuring them, programs will be more likely to identify them as target outcomes and demonstrate their ability to move the dial on these skills. At the policy level, we have historically under-invested in programs that are good at developing these skills. With the education and business sectors increasingly recognizing their value to school and workplace success, we have a unique window of opportunity to demonstrate the important role that afterschool programs play in supporting learning and development. 

________________________________________________________________

Nicole Yohalem

Director of Special Projects, The Forum for Youth Investment

Nicole oversees Forum projects on out-of-school time, postsecondary success and bridging research, policy and practice; speaks on behalf of the Forum at national conferences and events; and serves as an advisor to several foundations, organizations and initiatives connected to the Forum. She has authored numerous reports, articles and commentaries, and oversees several regular Forum publications, such as the Ready by 21, Credentialed by 26 issue brief series.

Measuring Soft Skills in OST Programs: An Interview with Nicole Yohalem, Part 1

By Sam Piha

The Learning in Afterschool project is promoting five learning principles that are well rooted in education and youth development research. Teachers and youth workers alike know that these principles are important to engaging young people in learning. Although these principles are vital to developing important skills, sometimes referred to as 21^st century skills, many refer to them as “soft”. Further, the lack of accessible tools that measure these skills has been a problem for the OST field. 

Recently the Forum for Youth Investment published From Soft Skills to Hard Data: Measuring Youth Program Outcomes, which offers a survey of measurement instruments that measure many of these skills. They include:

Nicole Yohalem

•      Communication
•      Relationships & Collaboration
•      Critical Thinking & Decision-making
•      Initiative & Self-direction

Below, we interview Nicole Yohalem (Forum for Youth Investment) one of the co-authors of this report.

Q: Of the many important skills, why did you focus on the four skill areas presented in your paper?

A: We didn’t want to create a new framework because there is so much good 

existing work out there.  So in identifying these four areas to focus on, we reviewed commonly used and cited frameworks from the Collaboration for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL); the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills; and the U.S. Department of Labor. We identified the common constructs across those frameworks, focusing specifically on skill-oriented outcomes and those that are amenable to intervention by afterschool programs. We also focused on skills that are cross-cutting, which means we left some things out that relate to specific content knowledge (e.g., technology, global awareness). That’s how we came to communication, relationships & collaboration, critical thinking & decision-making and initiative & self-direction. We aren’t suggesting this is a comprehensive list of important skills, or that these are the only skills afterschool programs should focus on. We may tackle additional areas in an updated report next year.

Q: Why are these “soft skills” deemed important?

A: There is growing evidence and recognition that these skills and dispositions are critical – to academic success, workplace success, and to overall wellbeing.  Teachers, students, parents and Fortune 500 companies all think these kinds of skills are critical. In a 2006 national survey of employers, collaboration, work ethic and communication were among the most important skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. On the academic side, focusing on social skills is linked with developing a positive connection to school, improved behavior, and increased achievement.

Q: What do you see as the role of OST programs to build these skills? In other words, why are OST programs well positioned to build these skills?

A: We feel these kinds of outcome areas could really be a strategic niche – in economic terms – a “comparative advantage” for many youth programs. Afterschool programs operate with limited resources yet have significant flexibility compared to schools. These are skills that youth programs are good at building and supporting, and they matter for learning and development.

Q: Why did you think it was important to identify instruments to measure these skills?

A: We know that high quality afterschool programs can help young people develop these and other skills, but to live up to this potential, activities need to align with outcomes and programs need tools that are accessible and that do a good job of measuring them. When you are tracking things like attendance, grades or standardized test scores, which many afterschool programs do, data are typically obtained from school records, which means program leaders and evaluators rarely face decisions about what instrument to use.

To be continued in Part 2

________________________________________________________________

Nicole Yohalem

Director of Special Projects, The Forum for Youth Investment

Nicole oversees Forum projects on out-of-school time, postsecondary success and bridging research, policy and practice; speaks on behalf of the Forum at national conferences and events; and serves as an advisor to several foundations, organizations and initiatives connected to the Forum. She has authored numerous reports, articles and commentaries, and oversees several regular Forum publications, such as the Ready by 21, Credentialed by 26 issue brief series.