Afterschool Leaders Look to 2016

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We asked a number of afterschool leaders two questions:

• In looking ahead to 2016, what do you see as the important emerging trends in expanded learning programs?

• Looking ahead to 2016, what do you see as the most significant challenge facing the field of expanded learning?  

Below are their responses to our questions. 

EMERGING TRENDS IN EXPANDED LEARNING PROGRAMS

Lucy Friedman,
President of ExpandED Schools

Lucy Friedman: We see two important trends emerging in expanded learning time programs. One is striving for increased collaboration between teachers and after-school educators so that expanded learning time builds on lessons learned in core subjects and students can approach subjects from multiple learning modalities. The other trend is an increased focus on social-emotional learning. Community organizations and after-school educators have long been focused on these youth development principles. We are pleased that school leaders and education change-makers are also now giving greater attention to it. 

Alison Overseth,
Executive Director,
Partnership for After School
Education

Alison Overseth: 
Quality, quality, quality.  We cannot take our eye off the investment it takes to do this work well...and if we are not doing the work at a high quality level we will not achieve desired outcomes and will not be providing the opportunities all children deserve.

Increasingly sophisticated content areas (STEM, Global Learning, e.g.) require inquiry-based learning...more focus on how to prepare the adults in children's lives to do this well.

It's past time to break down the unnatural silos of cognitive and noncognitive learning.  Schools need to learn from youth developers and youth developers from schools -- optimally we will see increasing investment in joint professional development and professional exchanges.

Jodi Grant,
Executive Director
Afterschool Alliance

Jodi Grant: I think STEM and Physical Activity will continue to be important. I am also hopeful that there will be a growing focus on social and emotional learning/skills and professional development. I think giving the valuable youth and child development principles more importance in valuing and evaluating programs.

Jane Quinn,
Vice President,
Children's Aid Society

Jane Quinn: Important emerging trends:  More receptivity on the part of schools to social and emotional learning as a valid (and desired) goal of Expanded Learning Program; continued emphasis on, and funding for, STEM programs; increased emphasis on college prep and retention.

Bill Fennessy,
Director of Community
Engagement,
THINK Together

Bill Fennessy:  Career and Work Based Learning programs. It is important that we have different versions for Elementary School, Middle School, and High School.










MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE FACING THE FIELD OF EXPANDED LEARNING 

Lucy Friedman: One challenge facing the field of expanded learning is ensuring that people outside the field understand what is meant by the term. ‘After school’ was easily defined (though, often misperceived as simply child care.) But ‘expanded learning’ is not as ubiquitously understood. Practitioners of expanded learning time may have variations in their definition based on differences in models.

The challenge facing both the after-school and expanded learning movement is that too many educators, funders and policy makers seek a quick fix and judge the quality of a model by standardized test scores alone. But the reality is that success can come in many forms. In the desire to close the achievement gap, there's too much emphasis on test prep and not enough focus on the life-enriching activities that foster curiosity, instill confidence, and ultimately lead to a passion for learning. Research, and anyone who’s ever watched a kid grow up, tells us that these characteristics are critically important for a successful adulthood.

Alison Overseth: There is currently often a disconnect between broad policy initiatives and implementation into good practice. Practice needs to better inform policy, and policy must include the investment required to change, strengthen and sustain new or expanded programs. The best ideas in the world will work or fail based on an adult's (or community's) interaction with a child.

Jodi Grant: Funding is a constant issue. At best it is stagnant in most places, but budget cuts are rampant and costs continue to rise for programs – especially labor costs. We also need to keep educating.

Jane Quinn: Serious funding concerns, especially at the Federal level— how will the ESEA reauthorization impact the intent of the afterschool movement and the 21st Century CLC funding? 

Bill Fennessy: The rising cost of everything with 10 year old funding levels. More specifically, how will we address the rising cost of labor, given the changes in the minimum wage? 

Looking into the Future: Words of Important Afterschool and Education Leaders

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

To welcome in the new year, we posted a blog asking a number of afterschool leaders, "Looking into the future, what do you believe are the most important challenges and opportunities facing the afterschool movement?". Below is part 2, where we share responses of other afterschool leaders. 

Lucy Friedman,
President
The After School Corporation

"The challenge facing the after-school movement is that too many educators, funders and policy makers want to judge its quality by standardized test scores alone. And in the desire to close the achievement gap, there's too much emphasis on test prep and not enough focus on the life-enriching activities that foster curiosity, instill confidence, and ultimately lead to a passion for learning. Research, and anyone who’s ever watched a kid grow up, tells us that these characteristics are critically important for a successful adulthood." 

Pedro Noguera
Professor of Education
New York University

"The biggest challenge facing the afterschool movement involve equity; equity in access, equity in the quality of what is provided to children, equity in the skills and training of those who provide services to children.  Lack of equity is ultimately the critical factor driving disparities in learning outcomes (i.e. the so-called achievement gap), and it is manifest in the afterschool sector as well.  Access to high quality afterschool programs could also play a decisive role in reducing educational disparities but this will only occur if we remain vigilant in advocating for equity in the sector.  Clearly, it's not good enough for afterschool educators to do good work.  We must be sure that access to good, stimulating learning experiences are available to all children, regardless of where they live, what language they speak, who their parents are, or how much money they earn. This is really the civil rights issue of the 21st century.  The question we must ask ourselves is: how can each of us play a role in advancing equity in the communities where we work and live?"

Jane Quinn,
Vice President and Director of
National Center for Community Schools
Children's Aid Society

“Opportunities: Build on the emerging positive results from a variety of approaches, models and programs; capitalize on young people’s interests in high quality, active learning experiences; and help principals, teachers and other educators understand that after-school staff can be allies in helping young people rise to the occasion presented by the Common Core State Standards.

Challenges: Competition for funding; over-emphasis on standardized testing as the only measure of success; policy-makers searching for the quick fix rather than the real deal; and growing inequality as represented in nearly every phase of American life.”

Chris Smith
President & ED
Boston After School
and Beyond

"The greatest opportunity seems to be the broader recognition of the developmental and environmental factors that contribute to learning.  This should create a big opening for those in the after-school movement that are ready to put their approaches to the test in measurable ways.  In Boston, we are measuring critical aspects of the learning environment (aka, program quality) and transferable skills such as self-management, critical thinking, collaboration, and perseverance, which we call “power skills.”  When we begin to use the same vocabulary, we will see that the skills we focus on after school and during the summer are the very same ones that that young people need to succeed in college and the ones that employers value.

The major challenge we face is the field’s fragmented nature.  However, this challenge can become an opportunity when you look see fragmentation as diversity of approach and consider the vastly different learning needs of young people.  For this to happen, we need to unify ourselves in ways that allow policy-makers, school leaders, and funders to pursue a coherent and scalable solution.  In Boston, we do this through common standards and measurement.  In a sense, we are creating the equivalent of a box score for baseball or an exchange for the stock market.  This shared measurement platform allows programs to shine.  More than 50 organizations, serving thousands of young people, have stepped up to meet this challenge by collecting and sharing data so that we can identify programs’ strengths and address challenges, both as individual programs and as a unified network of providers."

Save the Date for How Kids Learn II: A One-Day Conference in the Bay Area on January 9, 2013

By Sam Piha

Temescal Associates and the Learning in Afterschool & Summer Project is proud to join with others in sponsoring How Kids Learn II on January 9, 2013 in San Francisco. The purpose of this TED-like, one-day conference is to inform and energize youth program leaders, educators and afterschool stakeholders regarding our current knowledge on how kids learn and to share innovative approaches to promote learning outside of the classroom. In addition to hearing from cutting edge thinkers on how kids learn, participants will have the opportunity to meet innovative practitioners and California colleagues. To date, confirmed speakers include Pedro Noguera, Jane Quinn, Robert Granger, Renate Caine, Nicole Yohalem, and other national leaders. We will also hear from innovative leaders from exemplar programs that operate in California. They include those from Techbridge, Pogo Park, Mindful Impact, and The Los Angeles Service Academy (LASA).

WHY FOCUS ON THE “HOWs” OF LEARNING

Much is discussed and written on what children need to learn.  Less attention is paid to how they learn.  What have we learned in recent brain research that contributes to this question? How can we apply this knowledge to improve our work with young people to increase their motivation and interest in learning? What are effective learning approaches that are currently being used successfully by practitioners, especially those working in out-of-school programs and in informal learning settings, and what makes them successful?

For more details and how to register, visit the conference website: www.howkidslearn.org. Registration will begin on August 20, 2012. Last year was a sold out event so early registration is suggested.