Online Resources | After-School

Afterschool Alliance (www.afterschoolalliance.org): A coalition of public, private, and nonprofit organizations, the alliance was founded in 1999 to advocate for quality, affordable after-school programs for all children. Web site provides links to alliance activities, including researching, collecting, and disseminating key data and lessons learned; educating the public through ongoing awareness efforts; engaging local practitioners and community residents in outreach and advocacy; and promoting investment in after-school initiatives at the national, state, and local levels.

Afterschool.gov (www.afterschool.gov): This clearinghouse provides links to federal resources that support programs for children and youth during out-of-school hours. Parents as well as program staff will find information to help with launching and sustaining quality programs.

Center For 4-H Youth Development (www.fourh.umn.edu/educators/publications.html): Part of the University of Minnesota Extension Service, the center provides resources and research relating to youth development. Online publications include The Center, a journal for professionals working in the field of youth development, and Keys to Quality Youth Development, a planning guide that helps programs plan to include eight critical elements essential to the healthy development of young people.

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (www.mott.org/21/): The Mott Foundation partners with the U.S. Department of Education to support the 21st Century Community Learning Centers through research and evaluation, identification and dissemination of best practices, policy development, and public awareness and advocacy.

Connect For Kids (www.connectforkids.org): A project of the Benton Foundation, Connect for Kids provides resources and links on out-of-school time to better inform parents, grandparents, educators, policymakers, and others.

Finance Project (www.financeproject.org): A nonprofit policy research, technical assistance, and information organization, the Finance Project aims to improve outcomes for children, families, and communities. Out-of-school time is a current project focus. Web site includes resources on financing and sustaining out-of-school programs. Online publications include Financing After-School Programs (May 2000) by Robert Halpern, professor at the Erickson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development at the University of Chicago, and Sharon Deich and Carol Cohen of the Finance Project.

Harvard Family Research Project (www.gse.harvard.edu/~hfrp/): After School @ HFRP is an initiative that works to identify areas of challenge and opportunity in the emerging after-school field. The project, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focuses especially on issues related to after-school evaluation, research, and accountability, and maintains a database of information about previous evaluations of out-of-school programs.

National Center For Community Education (www.ncce.org): Now 40 years old, NCCE provides leadership training and technical assistance to those developing community education programs, including 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Web site includes calendar of upcoming training sessions.

National Institute On Out-Of-School Time (www.niost.org): Based at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College, NIOST has been working for 20 years to bring national attention to the importance of children's out-of-school time. Current initiatives involve research, evaluation, and consultation; policy development and public awareness; and training and curriculum development. Web site includes links to publications such as Working Together for Children and Families: A Community's Guide to Making the Most of Out-of-School Time, a report on the MOST Initiative in Seattle, Boston, and Chicago.

National PTA (www.pta.org/aboutpta/store/ocfree/): The National PTA supports federal and state incentives for high-quality child care and preschool programs that are affordable and accessible, and works to bring parents into the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs. Online resources on out-of-school time include questions parents should ask to help them find good programs for their children.

National School-Age Child Care Alliance (www.nsaca.org): A membership organization, NSACA represents public, private, and community-based providers of after-school programs and promotes national standards of quality care for school-aged children. Web site includes ordering information for publications, including NSACA Standards for Quality School-Age Care.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (www.nwrel.org/request/): The By Request series includes two booklets that relate to after-school time. Increasing Student Engagement and Motivation: From Time-on-Task to Homework (October 2000, http://www.nwrel.org/request/oct00/index.html) and After-School Programs: Good for Kids, Good for Communities (January 1999, http://www.nwrel.org/request/jan99/index.html) are available to download.

School Of The 21st Century (www.yale.edu/21C/): Based at the Yale University Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, the School of the 21st Century network includes more than 1,000 schools providing school-linked family resource centers to support children's healthy development beginning at birth. Participating schools receive technical assistance, and ties to research and evaluation.

21st Century Community Learning Centers (www.ed.gov/21stcclc/): The federal 21st Century CLC initiative, reauthorized under the No Child Left Behind Act, is the fastest-growing provider of after-school programs in the country. Web site includes database of existing grantees, program updates, and links to research and publications on out-of-school time.

Online Sources