Supporting the Whole Child in Afterschool

By Sam Piha

Katie Brackenridge

(Note: The COVID-19 pandemic has been very disruptive to afterschool providers and we will cover this topic ongoing. However, as afterschool leaders plan for Summer and next Fall, we will also offer posts that advances thinking for the afterschool movement.)

Katie Brackenridge is a long- time pioneer and advocate for afterschool learning opportunities which promote positive youth development. She recently joined Turnaround for Children, and we interviewed her regarding their Developing the Whole Child project. Below are some of her responses.

Q: Can you say something about Turnaround for Children. 

A: Turnaround for Children was founded immediately after the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Our founder, Dr. Pamela Cantor, was commissioned by the NYC Board of Education to assess the impact of the attacks on the city’s public school students. She found that 68% of the children observed were experiencing trauma that impaired their school functioning. But, the trauma was not related to the attacks, rather it was from their on-going experience of adversity and stress from growing up in poverty.

This realization led Dr. Cantor to initiate a set of supports in New York City that involved intensive mental health services for students in schools in high poverty communities. Turnaround for Children has since expanded beyond New York City to schools and school districts in Washington DC, Chicago, Tulsa and the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a member of the Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) Alliance, which includes the Learning Policy Institute, the Forum for Youth Investment, the American Institutes for Research, Education Counsel and Populace.

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Katie Brackenridge will be joined by Dr. Deborah Moroney (AIR) to host a webinar on COVID-19 Era- Afterschool's Whole Child Approach.

To learn more and to register, click here.

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Q: Regarding your work on the Developing the Whole Child project, can you cite the main takeaways of the brain science that undergirds the work?

A: I’ve been working in the youth development field for a very long time. As a young after school educator, I figured out quickly that having good relationships with students made my job easier and more enjoyable for everyone. In my thirties, I was involved in all the great San Francisco work that you, Sam, were leading with the Community Network for Youth Development where I learned the research backing for positive relationships and supportive environments.

From the science, I’ve now learned that relationships and environments are important because that’s how our brains are wired. You can find a full description in this article and in this video on the SoLD Alliance website. The key takeaways are:

• The brain develops in response to our context - the experiences, relationships and environments that surround us.
• This process happens over our lifetime, not just in early childhood as previously thought.
• The fact that context matters so much is both an opportunity and a vulnerability.
• Negative contexts - with ongoing and unbuffered adversity, trauma and stress - can be seriously damaging to children’s brains and bodies. This is the biological consequence of too much cortisol and adrenaline over extended periods of time.
• On the upside, oxytocin (the “love” hormone) is a powerful counterbalance to cortisol and adrenaline. Oxytocin is released as a result of positive relationships and experiences. This is why you feel good when someone smiles at, compliments, or hugs you.
• Children experiencing toxic stress are primed to respond quickly to perceived threats and danger. This instinctual response often shows up in classrooms and youth programs as misbehavior, inability to focus and difficulty learning.

This science provides the biological rationale for the positive relationships and safe, supportive environments that researchers and practitioners have found to be so important and effective.

Q: Can you cite the primary essentials for the Developing the Whole Child framework that supports all aspects of child development?

A: Youth developers will see the immediate parallels to expanded learning quality standards and the principles of Learning in Afterschool and Summer from Temescal Associates.

Turnaround’s Vision for Student Success takes the Blue Wheel into practice for schools (and possibly youth development organizations) by defining resources and tools at the educator, classroom and school level, all supported by strong leadership and shared ownership. The Turnaround wheel looks like this:

For each of the components of the Vision for Student Success (VSSS), Turnaround has professional development resources and practice toolkits. The “Whole Child Inventory” allows staff to self- assess their current strategies, structures and practices against criteria in each component of the VSSS.

Q: The concepts represented in your blue wheel are very similar to earlier research on youth development, the features of quality afterschool programs, the YPQA, etc. What do you think are the added benefits of the Whole Child wheel? 

A: What’s exciting to me is that this framework and the science of learning are a strong and concrete affirmation of the youth program quality standards, in place across the country. They provide further call to action for school systems and youth development organizations to work together to provide more consistency and coherence in young people’s experiences.

YD Guide 2.0

The frameworks and related tools provide some new and more specific approaches for some of youth development’s tried and true practices. Turnaround, for example, has taken the concept of relationships and further defined - based on research - the exact characteristics that need to be in place for a relationship to be developmental and therefore impactful. These characteristics include emotional attachment, reciprocity, joint activity and balance of power. The message is not different from youth development principles, but provides a level of detail based in science that can help practitioners be more intentional.

Turnaround also names the specific skills and mindsets (the Building Blocks for Learning) that young people need to succeed. Executive Functions, for example, are the skills that everyone needs to get things done and include remembering what you’re supposed to do, keeping yourself on task and being flexible when things change or don’t work out. These Executive Functions are particularly challenging for young people who experience adversity because they require high functioning of our pre-frontal cortex (regulation) and hippocampus (learning and memory) and not as much from the amygdala (reactions and emotion). Teachers and youth developers can help students build Executive Functions by teaching them to use tools (ie: calendars, check lists, breathing) and structures (ie: visual reminders, quiet spaces) that help them succeed academically and in all kinds of tasks. This additional information and the way it is translated into practices can help educators, including youth developers, be more intentional and individualized in their support for students.

Q: Does your organization offer any tools or resources that will help afterschool program leaders implement practices that support the development of the whole child?

A: Turnaround is primarily focused on K-12 education, but, clearly the science of learning and development is relevant to the youth development field. Many of the tools and resources could be easily adapted for youth development leaders and practitioners. The Forum for Youth Investment is a member of the SoLD Alliance and is intentionally working to ensure that the perspectives and strengths of the youth development field are understood and leveraged as the momentum around the science of learning and development builds. The science of learning and development is a significant asset to after school and summer programs, particularly those that are hoping to align more closely with the school day. The science clearly validates youth development practice and supports the building of authentic partnerships for student skills and success.

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Katie Brackenridge joined Turnaround for Children in 2019 as a Partnership Director. Katie has worked in and with schools, school districts and community organizations for her entire career. Most recently, she was an independent consultant focused on improving learning conditions and social-emotional supports for young people through public school systems. Before becoming a consultant, Katie was the Vice President of Programs at the Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY), a nonprofit intermediary organization focused on improving practice and policy for after-school and summer programs in public schools and affordable housing. Katie’s work is grounded in her nine-year experience as Co-Executive Director for the Jamestown Community Center, a grassroots youth organization in the Mission District of San Francisco. 

The Science of Learning and Development Part 2

By Sam Piha

In Part 1 of The Science of Learning and Development, we discussed the importance of this new science. Below we continue our interview with Dr. Deborah Moroney. Dr. Moroney is the Managing Director at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and she recently authored a briefing paper entitled, “The Science of Learning and Development in Afterschool Systems and Settings.”

On December 5th, 2019, Dr. Moroney will serve as our featured speaker at an upcoming Speaker’s Forum. She will be joined by Jeff Davis (California Afterschool Network), Dr. Femi Vance (AIR), and a youth worker and an afterschool participant from the All Stars Project of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Deborah Moroney

Below is the continuation of our interview with Dr. Deborah Moroney.

Q: Your brief emphasizes the importance of relational settings. Can you describe what you mean by this? 

A: I do think there is a lot to unpack in that term. First, we all can agree relationships are important – even primary to learning and development. No one disagrees with that, but we need to first make them explicit and define actionable strategies to bolster relationships to be meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually respectful. Many of us have had that one teacher or youth worker that changed our lives in some really big way. I certainly did – he was a counselor at a camp where I had a made-up apprenticeship after I aged out of the program. Not only did this counselor create an age appropriate way for me to engage in the camp, but he provided opportunities for me to be a leader in a scaffolded way, try new things, and build skills in areas I was interested in. We spent time daily reflecting on these experiences.

The first idea here is that relationships are intentional – and not the result of happy accidents. Secondly, relationships are more than a set of interactions. They take place in settings that offer the conditions for those relationships to thrive. Key characteristics of relational settings are those that offer both physical and emotional safety, where people’s cultures and identities are defining elements (as opposed to being acknowledged, at best), and that celebrate people’s strengths. High-quality afterschool settings are set up in their design to be relational settings.  My friend David Osher and colleagues in the SoLD Alliance wrote a great paper on this – everyone should read it.

Source: earlylearningnetwork.unl.edu

Q: One of your findings is “context is the defining influence on development.” Can you say more about what you mean by “context”?

A: The SoLD Alliance describes context as the world around us – our experiences, environments, and cultures (SoLD Alliance, 2019). I am not sure I can do any better than that in a paraphrase. In our brief, we pay special attention to cultural competence and responsiveness as a part of context – not because other parts are less important but because a) through our quality efforts we check a lot of the context boxes, and b) because this is an area where I think we all (not just afterschool but people who work with youth) can improve as culturally responsive settings are key to establishing and maintaining contexts that are equitable for all young people.

Q: What do you believe are the greatest opportunities for afterschool programs and systems implementing these important qualities you discuss in your brief? 

A: First, I think we have an opportunity to capitalize on the afterschool systems we have already invested in. These systems were designed to support afterschool programs in implementing the design elements articulated in SoLD. Some of these gold star systems include the intermediaries involved in the Every Hour Counts partners and cities (including California’s Partnership for Children and Youth), the National Afterschool Association Affiliates (which includes CalSac) and the 50 Statewide Afterschool Network (such as the California Afterschool Network). The federally funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers to have the potential to adopt and implement components of SoLD as they have other innovations in afterschool. Again, I think California has a shining example of a statewide system that partners successfully with other intermediaries to provide valued services to local programs to promote quality implementation.  So we need to learn from these systems and ensure that all afterschool programs are high quality, which is foundational to the other components of SoLD.

Second, we need to use these systems to promote the other aspects of SoLD where we need to grow (e.g., partnering with other service systems, developmental fit, cultural responsiveness) through professional development for staff.

Third, we need to support staff by providing them with stable career pathways and incentives for professional learning. We cannot continue to innovate as a field if we cannot support the adults who are so critical to fostering youth learning and development. We have an opportunity to up our game here on behalf of young people, but we have to start with staff.

Source: Temescal Associates

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Dr. Deborah Moroney is the Managing Director, American Institutes of Research (AIR). She specializes in bridging research and practice, having worked as a staff member for out-of-school programs early in her career. She's written practitioner and organizational guides; co-authored the fourth edition of “Beyond the Bell®, A Toolkit for Creating High-Quality Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs,” a seminal afterschool resource; and co-edited Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Students and Social and Emotional Learning in Out-of-School Time Foundations and Futures.  Presently, Dr. Moroney serves as the principal investigator on national studies of afterschool initiatives.

The Science of Learning and Development Part 1

By Sam Piha

There has been a great deal of effort in research, policy, and practice to promote systems and settings that support whole-child efforts, including the Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) Alliance. While many of these efforts are geared toward K–12 education, the youth development field is translating the learnings for afterschool systems and settings.

Dr. Deborah Moroney is the Managing Director at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and she recently authored a briefing paper entitled, “The Science of Learning and Development in Afterschool Systems and Settings.”

This brief includes:
• Select findings from the SoLD Alliance’s efforts;
• Relevant, actionable key takeaways for the youth development field in afterschool;
• Suggestions for practical ways to support high-quality afterschool systems and settings; and
• Outlines the elements of developmentally rich contexts that foster learning and healthy development.

Many of the practical applications of SoLD findings for afterschool systems and settings will be familiar to students of youth development frameworks (see the YD Guide 2.0). The emphasis on the need for systems to invest in professional development (PD) opportunities and tools is particularly important as funds for PD are drying up.

Dr. Moroney will serve as our featured speaker at an upcoming Speaker’s Forum. She will be joined by Jeff Davis (California Afterschool Network), Dr. Femi Vance (AIR), and a youth worker and an afterschool participant from the All Stars Project of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Deborah Moroney

Below Dr. Moroney responded to some of our interview questions. In Part 2, our next blog post, we will share the rest of Dr. Moroney's responses to our questions.

Q: What can you tell us about SoLD?

A: The SoLD Alliance is a partnership of leading education research, practice, and policy organizations dedicated to using the lessons learned from SoLD to drive equity and excellence in the education system. The SoLD Alliance does this by identifying and translating key lessons from SoLD. The governing partner organizations of the SoLD Alliance include AIR (this is where I work), EducationCounsel, Forum for Youth Investment, Learning Policy Institute, Populace, and Turnaround for Children. The SoLD Alliance began working together in 2016 based on the hypothesis that the emerging lessons from SoLD could provide important insights on the best ways to educate and support young people. Since then the SoLD Alliance has convened leading scientists and education experts across fields to triangulate and translate those insights for education practice and policy.

It is a significant and important contribution to our field(s) and one that I am humble to have a peripheral role in my position in the youth development practice area where that work “lives” at AIR.  At AIR, we work together to ensure we are supporting the positive development of young people both in and out-of-school. As the SoLD work evolved, I was eager to ensure that the valuable contributions from the SoLD Alliance would be applied to the fields where young people live, play, and learn that are outside of the traditional school day- community based and summer programs, afterschool, juvenile justice, and child welfare to name a few.

Q: Why did you think it was important to focus on afterschool settings and systems?

A: The SoLD findings and related initiatives have the potential to meaningfully inform – and perhaps even change – the ways educators create conditions for teaching and learning. Children and youth spend more than 80% of their time outside of school (Afterschool Alliance, 2019)  – and we know that afterschool settings provide key developmental opportunities for young people. It only made sense to apply the SoLD learnings to afterschool. Plus, my afterschool friends were asking for it. They saw themselves in the work.

To be continued in Part 2.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO LEARN MORE:
• The Science of Learning and Development Alliance
• The Science of Learning and Development: Initial Findings 
• The Science of Learning and Development (video)
• Meet the Expert: Deborah Moroney
• Afterschool and Expanded Learning at AIR

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Dr. Deborah Moroney is the Managing Director, American Institutes of Research (AIR). She specializes in bridging research and practice, having worked as a staff member for out-of-school programs early in her career. She's written practitioner and organizational guides; co-authored the fourth edition of “Beyond the Bell®, A Toolkit for Creating High-Quality Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs,” a seminal afterschool resource; and co-edited Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Students and Social and Emotional Learning in Out-of-School Time Foundations and Futures.  Presently, Dr. Moroney serves as the principal investigator on national studies of afterschool initiatives.