Why Collaborative Learning?

 By Sam Piha

The Learning in Afterschool Project promotes collaborative learning as one of its five learning principles of quality afterschool programs.

Why do we emphasize collaboration? YouthLearn offers some important reasons why collaborative learning is important:

“The New Economy is distinguished by interlocking partnerships and networks of people and organizations. In the past a loner may have been at a disadvantage, but today, he or she may not be able to survive. Businesses work in teams; they outsource, form alliances and hire without ever running an advertisement. Put simply, the opportunities available to your kids will be as much dependent on their mastery of communication and collaboration skills as on writing or math skills.

People care about things they feel a part of and about which they feel at least some degree of ownership. If your kids are involved in planning and decision making, they'll show a level of enthusiasm and curiosity that schools can only dream of.

More knowledge, creativity and ideas can be found in two minds than in one, and even more can be found in four or in 10. When kids see what their friends have done with a project, they add to it and create something even more original. In out-of-school programs, you have the freedom to let kids work in groups almost all the time and to shift the groups around so that kids learn from lots of different people.

Face it, there's no way you can know about everything, especially once new technologies like the Internet, computers, software, scanners, cameras and all the other devices are added into the mix. Then again, why should you have to? Don't be afraid to let kids teach each other when one of them becomes an expert in PhotoShop and another an online audio wizard—that's the real power of collaboration. Rather than being mired in the details of ever-changing software programs, you can focus on the important jobs of coach, guide and educator.”

The Global Development Research Center offers a number of useful tools for those interested in exploring collaborative learning, with specific techniques and methods. We recommend that you visit this site and other sites that will appear when you do an internet search for "collaborative learning".

CBASS Helps Influence 21st CCLC Legislative Changes

Jessica Donner

By Guest Bloggers, Jessica Donner, Director, Collaborative for Building After-School Systems, and Jennifer Peck, Executive Director, Partnership for Children and Youth.

With the draft ESEA bill introduced last week by the Senate HELP committee, federal activity has been heating up. On October 20th, thanks to a critical push by Senator Whitehouse (RI), The Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) helped influence a few big wins in the legislation.

Jennifer Peck

Thanks to Hillary Salmons of Providence After School Alliance (PASA), CBASS worked closely with Senator Whitehouse’s office to introduce an amendment that reflects his priorities and builds off the bipartisan base bill to ensure the program supports high quality programs that include community partners and local choice. Policies we support in 21st Century ESEA reauthorization are included in our letter to Chairman Tom Harkin and Ranking Member Mike Enzi, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The legislative changes instituted today are an important first step forward to maintaining support for after-school and summer learning as anchor approaches in the program and ensuring community partners play a lead role in delivering programs, in collaboration with schools.

Here are the wins:
1. No federal preference or priority on which approach (after-school, summer, expanded learning for some kids, expanded learning for all kids) will be used.

2. Support for community partners. Amendment strengthens community partner requirement, with only a narrow exception for particular rural communities for whom the requirement would be a significant hardship.

3. Clarity on who can be fiscal agent. Whitehouse amendment ensures that either the district or nonprofit partner can be the lead fiscal agent.

4. Support for quality programs as well as innovation. New language ensures that effective and innovative approaches to programs can be utilized by grantees.

There are other big pieces we would like to see moving forward, including clarifying the definition of ELT to make sure it’s inclusive of enrichment activities, community partners and is focused on ELT design, not whole school redesign. We look forward to working with you to help improve the legislation even further.

Please join us in thanking Senator Whitehouse for his leadership and commitment to an improved 21st CCLC program!

To follow future developments effecting education and afterschool at the federal and state level, go to: http://www.learninginafterschool.org/developmentsinas.htm

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Jennifer Peck was a founding staff member of the Partnership For Children and Youth in 2001 and became its Executive Director in 2003. Jennifer leads a coalition of California organizations advocating for new federal policies to improve the effectiveness of after-school and summer-learning programs. She will also be one of our speakers at the upcoming How Kids Learn Conference in January 2012.

Jessica Donner serves as the Director of the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS), a partnership of after-school intermediary organizations in eight cities dedicated to increasing the availability of quality afterschool programming.

Honest Conversations about Youth Development and Education

Eric Gurna

By Sam Piha

Eric Gurna and his organization, Development Without Limits, is now offering Please Speak Freely, podcasts of interviews with afterschool and educational thought leaders. To date, podcast interviews have included Karen Pittman, Pedro Noguera, Alexis Menten, and Earl Martin Phalen. To learn more about Please Speak Freely podcast, click here.

Pedro Noguera

Just a note, Pedro Noguera and Alexis Menten are just two of an all-star group of speakers who will present at the Learning in Afterschool’s one-day conference entitled How Kids Learn. For more details, click here.

Race to Nowhere

By Sam Piha

How best to educate our kids continues to be a topic of discussion, which has recently been spurred on by the release of feature length documentaries. Race to Nowhere is the latest release on the subject.

From the film's website: “Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired.

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

In a grassroots sensation already feeding a groundswell for change, hundreds of theaters, schools and organizations nationwide are hosting community screenings during a six month campaign to screen the film nationwide. Tens of thousands of people are coming together, using the film as the centerpiece for raising awareness, radically changing the national dialogue on education and galvanizing change.”

We do not have an opinion on this film as we have not had a chance to view it. But that chance is coming soon. To learn more about this film and learn where it is being screened, click here. To view the trailer, click here. For those who have a chance to view this documentary, we welcome your comments.

Save the Date for How Kids Learn: A One-Day Conference in the Bay Area on January 27, 2012

The Learning in Afterschool Project is proud to join with others in sponsoring How Kids Learn on January 27, 2012. The purpose of this TED-like, one-day conference is to inform and energize OST 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.

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?


SPACE IS LIMITED!  For more details and how to register, visit the conference website: www.howkidslearn.org.

Will 21st CCLC Programs Be Eliminated?

By Sam Piha

Jennifer Peck

Lucy Friedman

Federal 21st CCLC funding provides the only support for the high school ASSETs afterschool program in California and also funds many K-8 programs in our state. In many other states, this federal funding stream provides the major support for afterschool programs.

Those interested in following discussions in Washington, D.C. that will have a bearing on the future of federally funded afterschool should read a recent Huffington Post article co-authored by Jennifer Peck, Executive Director of the Partnership for Children and Youth (based in the Bay Area) and Lucy Friedman, President of The After-School Corporation (TASC – based in New York). To read this article, click here.

More Time in School, or Quality Learning Experiences?

By Sam Piha

In our previous blogs, we’ve followed the dialogue regarding extended learning opportunities and a longer school day. A debate on this issue, featuring Geoffrey Canada and others, was featured in the New York Times series, Room For Debate.

We believe that introducing the Learning in Afterschool Principles should be the focus of any efforts to expand the school day.

Preserving Arts Education

By Guest Blogger Jessica Mele, Executive Director at Performing Arts Workshop

 It's election season and two issues impacting arts education in the Bay Area need your attention. Please read on, and take action today!

Tell the Governor to Support SB 547 - A Better Way to Evaluate Our Schools

What is SB 547? This bill would replace the current statewide accountability system that relies completely on standardized test scores to assess school success, with a new index called the Education Quality Index. The EQI would take into account broader measurements, including a Graduation Rate Index, a College Preparedness Index, and a Career Readiness Index. In addition the bill lists a Creativity and Innovation Index as one of its future priorities.

Why Support SB 547? Cultivating creativity and innovation is a vital component of a complete education and it is imperative to our state's economic recovery and future growth. According to a coalition of researchers, 81% of American corporate leaders say that "creativity is an essential skill for the 21st century work force." Yet schools have narrowed their expectations in recent years, "teaching to the test" because standardized tests are the only public measures of school success.

Take Action Today! The Governor may take action on this bill as soon as this week.

San Francisco Mayoral Candidates On the Arts

On August 23rd, Performing Arts Workshop co-sponsored the SF Mayoral Arts Forum. Over 500 San Francisco voters and arts supporters gathered to hear KQED Forum host Michael Krasny lead an informative discussion on arts issues in San Francisco with top candidates for Mayor. Reporter Jesse Hamlin described the evening in his piece for San Francisco Classical Voice.

Candidates participating on the panel were: Public Defender Jeff Adachi; Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier; Supervisor John Avalos; Board of Supervisors President David Chiu; former Supervisor Bevan Dufty; former Supervisor Tony Hall; City Attorney Dennis Herrera; Mayor Ed Lee; Green Party candidate Terry Baum; and venture capitalist Joanna Rees.

All of the candidates were invited to respond to the Mayoral Arts Forum questionnaire regarding their positions on arts-related issues and their responses have been posted at www.SFArtsForum.org. In preparation for election day on November 8, 2011, we invite all San Francisco voters to familiarize themselves with the candidate responses. Thank you!
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Jessica Mele is the Executive Director of Performing Arts Workshop, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. Jessica serves as the Advocacy Co-Chair for the Arts Provider’s Alliance of San Francisco and as a member of the steering committees of Teaching Artists Organized and the Alameda County Office of Education’s Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and French Studies from Smith College and an Ed. M.in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Recreation as a Developmental Experience

By Sam Piha

 The increased emphasis on academic achievement has eclipsed our appreciation of the value of recreation, even in afterschool programs. To change this, we need research and language to promote the value of recreation and experiential education.

Afterschool leaders have an excellent opportunity to participate in a Webinar action dialogue, on October 5, 2011, that explores:

• Scope, boundaries and definitions of recreation and experiential education;
• Evidence for the usefulness of recreation programs for prevention and asset building;
• Differences between traditional recreation and the intentional youth development approach to these activities;
• Best practices in staff and professional development;
• Leverage points for changes in policy and funding, including possible alignment with obesity prevention programs.

This Webinar is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development and PEAR – the Program in Education, Afterschool, and Resiliency at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

According to the organizers, “this webinar assembles leading experts — practitioners, researchers, and policy influencers—to discuss meaningful recreation and leisure experiences in the lives of young people… and builds upon the newest issue of New Directions for Youth Development, entitled ‘Recreation as a Developmental Experience’.”

You can sign up for this important webinar by clicking here.

What Afterschool Stakeholders Can Learn From Steve Jobs

By Sam Piha

After Steve Jobs announced his resignation from Apple, a number of people sent around the text of his 2005 Commencement Speech to graduates of Stanford University. We found his words inspiring. You can read a copy of the text of his speech and view a video of his presentation.

Jobs explained that after dropping out of college, what inspired him was a calligraphy class. “It [calligraphy] was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.”

In response to Jobs’ speech, Patrick Ledesma posted these questions on his “Leading from the Classroom” blog. We believe that these questions are valuable to anyone promoting young people’s learning.

“So when you plan for what your students will learn this year, ask:

1. What opportunities will my students have to be exposed to the arts and music?
2. What opportunities will my students have to explore areas of interests that may someday inspire and give them purpose?
3. What opportunities will my students have to apply their skills and interests to create something that demonstrates ‘what they love to do?’

If your students will have these opportunities this year, your students are on the track to finding what may someday be their ‘great work.’ If your students do not have these opportunities, it's time to start analyzing when these opportunities can be made available, if not during class, then perhaps through other venues such as clubs or after school programs.”

Comments from Carla Sanger on Expanded Learning Opportunities

By Sam Piha

The idea of extending the school day, which is known as expanded learning opportunities, is making its way into federal education and afterschool policy. Last Sunday, the New York Times published an op-ed on this topic. Our prior LIA blog posts also featured a two-part interview with Jennifer Davis, President and CEO of the National Center on Time & Learning, on the same topic.

California already has a significant commitment to learning in the afterschool hours through the passage of Proposition 49. So, what does the idea of extending the school day mean to afterschool leaders in California? Below is a response from Carla Sanger, CEO of LA’s BEST, one of California’s largest and most effective afterschool program providers.

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“We know budget cuts and shortened school years hurt students, especially those students whose families don't have the resources to invest in tutoring and enrichment classes. But those who advocate solely for more time on task in a classroom setting are as shortsighted as the kids are shortchanged: Students need time to learn differently, through engaging activities that reinforce rather than repeat lessons learned in school, and inspire them to discover individual talents and interests. 

When community-based organizations such as LA's BEST partner with schools to provide these opportunities, the result is not only high-quality programs that improve student performance, but a delivery system at a fraction of the cost of an extended day model. 

Of the long-term evaluation results of the LA's BEST program, Eva Baker, President of the World Educational Research Association, asked, "Can we name any other reform with this empirical track record and low cost?" We can run seven afterschool sites for the price of extending the school day on one campus. That's not chump change, to us or the kids.”

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Carla Sanger has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of LA's BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) After School Enrichment Program for 17 years. She is a long-time specialist in children's education policy and advocacy, working in both the public and private sectors in many different capacities. She serves on numerous afterschool quality and evaluation advisory committees and task forces and has been honored with a number of local, state, and national awards. Ms. Sanger has also been a featured speaker and conference presenter for numerous school districts throughout California.