Opportunities for Ohio Educators,
Communities and Leaders to Leverage
the Third Space to Expand Learning
Terry K. Peterson, PhD, Senior Fellow, Riley Institute and College of
Charleston; Consultant to the CS Mott Foundation (tkpalexva@aol.com)
Favorite websites: expandinglearning.org; afterschoolalliance.org; summerlearning.org
New and Continuing Challenges Facing Ohio
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The need to educate well all 1.8 million public school
students has never been greater
Almost 660,000 students come from low-income
homes/neighborhoods, and there is increasing
evidence that they will need not only a better school
day, but more and better afterschool and summer
opportunities---they are out of school 75-80% of time
Better education increasingly is the only pathway to be
self-sufficient or achieve a middle-income
The number of working families is increasing; “home
alone” for their children is not a “funny move.”
There are three trends in this slowly recovering
economy that we should tune into:
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There are projected to be significantly more jobs
by the Year 2020 for Ohio; 700,000 more jobs in
2020 vs. 2010
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Of all job openings (from new openings and from
regular turnover), most jobs (61%) will require
some career training beyond high school or a 2 or
4 college degree or more.
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High school dropouts will have a very, very tough
time to make it in these conditions. Less than 6%
of job openings will require less than a high
school diploma
(http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/Arkansas2020.pdf)
Lack of skills is one reason for keeping
workers from jobs in Ohio
• “That’s a big concern right now,” said
Senator Portman. “We’ve got a lot of
people who are out of work, and yet
we have a lot of jobs open. And the
reason we have this gap between the
jobs that are open and the people out
of work is largely because of the lack
of skills.”
( http://www.toledoblade.com/Economy/2013/09/21/Lack-of-skillskeeps-workers-from-positions.html#soh7H7su3tVHpf05.99)
International Author, Milton Chen, observes:
The rise of the afterschool and summer learning movement continues to be a
bright spot in the new landscape of American education.
(This “third space of learning”), often delivered through school-community
partnerships, engages and broadens students’ experiences from their
lives in school or at home.
This is a distinctly American invention, fueled by the commitment and
perseverance of thousands of local educators and a broad spectrum of
nonprofit, public, and private partners.
But let’s keep this a secret from policymakers in Finland and Singapore,
because if they understand the types of creative learning going on in this
third learning space,” they will create these places and programs…
(Expanding Minds, pp. 107-109)
Opportune areas for you to expand learning thru schoolcommunity partnerships afterschool and summers
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Address factors for better student success and
high school graduation—better math, reading,
grades, attendance, behavior, engagement, etc.
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Bring in new allies for learning and working with
schools while reducing costs and increasing
community and family engagement.
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Provide leading edge opportunities for today’s
jobs and college access—STEM, global and
competency-based, and creative-arts learning.
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Provide safety & supervision from 3 -5 or 5:30
PM and in summers while learning new skills
Your programs in afterschool and summers
should compliment NOT do the same thing
longer from the school day
• Students
are in school only 20% of their
“waking hours.”
• Learning
can be expanded through
project and competency based learning.
• Classroom
and community teachers
can deliver powerful learning together.
• Students
can have chances to find their
own areas of interest to explore and
create.
As our world becomes increasing complex,
you can provide passports for success
• Schools alone cannot support all of the
learning needs for children to be prepared
for careers, college and life.
• Young people will require a greater set of
skills and dispositions to succeed.
• Today’s learners need more opportunities
to explore, test, be inspired and create.
• Innovative school-community partnerships
in afterschool and summers are well suited
to provide these opportunities. (Former US
Secretary of Education Dick Riley, 2013)
The Lack of Quality Afterschool and Summer Learning
and Enrichment May Be a New, Critical Inequality
A recent dramatic study clearly demonstrates that high
income families understand the critical importance of
this “third space” for learning and development.
This study found that on average top-income families
are now spending almost $9,000 a year on enrichment
outside the regular school day and year for their
children plus a lot of their personal time (“The American
Dream, Then and Now” )
Community and youth serving organizations along with
schools and municipalities and counties can collaborate to
provide “this third space,” especially in middle and lowincome areas.
New landmark compendium: New tools,
evidence and strategies to expand learning
Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power
of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success
Contains contributions from almost 100
authors, researchers and practitioners about
what works including in 21st Century
Community Learning Centers
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Review and download for free the articles from
the Expanding Learning and Afterschool Project:
www.expandinglearning.org
Buy a copy from Amazon.com and visibly use its 3
pounds of evidence to expand programming,
improve results and build better school-familycommunity partnerships.
Research shows, including many studies
and articles in the compendium, that. . .
1. Quality programs do make a
positive difference in the education
and development of young people.
2. Certain program characteristics are
linked to continuous quality
improvement and sustainability.
3. School-family-community
partnerships add resources
and make a positive impact.
Ten-year study of 1,000 students
• 95% of students 18 years and
older have graduated or are on
track to graduate high school
• 50% of these students are
enrolled in a four-year college or
have already graduated
Lawrence Hall of Science, Center for Research, Evaluation
and Assessment
EduCare Afterschool in Los Angeles
Educational Resource Consultants, 2011
Positive impact in Ohio and in the 11,000 sites across America
funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Teacher Reported Outcomes1
All Grades
American Institutes of Research for U.S. Department of Education
You are setting the stage for quality afterschool and
summer learning
Dr. Heather Weiss at Harvard observes:
“… the 21st Century Community Learning Centers
initiative…has built afterschool into a maturing field with
demonstrated public value on an array of commonly
valued youth outcomes.” (See p. 187, Expanding Minds)
So you have not only an important role to play in
constantly improving your programs, but also to help
build this field in Ohio, working with other providers both
in schools (e.g., Title I) and outside schools with
community and youth serving groups.
Quality Design, Staffing
and Delivery of
Programming…
Matters a Whole Lot
High quality afterschool programs are proven to
accelerate student achievement and development
Durlak & Weissberg, Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning;
Expanding Minds, p. 196
Quality afterschool and summer programs can
counteract factors linked to dropping out of school:
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better grades in core subjects
improved attendance
more engagement in school
less misbehavior
tailored help to address low test scores
motivation to stay connected to
learning
(Balfanz, National Dropout Prevention Center and see
Expanding
Minds, pp. 62-69)
We Now Also Have Research to Improve Quality:
Evidenced-Based Elements
• Recruit quality staff and reduce turnover
• Establish a strong bond and positive relationship
between students and staff for success
• Build bridges between school and afterschool
(and summer) staff and programs
• While increasing the collaboration between the
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school day and afterschool, do not remove the
hands- on learning and student engagement in
afterschool (and summers) that are critical
Establish networks of support with community
and families
( Denise Huang in Expanding Minds, pp. 390 to 397)
Many More Students
Need and Would
Benefit from
Participating in
Quality Programs!
Prominent Researchers: It Is Time to Expand
Afterschool and Summers Opportunities
With the knowledge that we now have:
we should spend time and energy
developing strategies, supports, policies
and funding for . . . afterschool and
summer learning programs through the
21st Century Community Learning
Centers…and other similar (state and
local) programs.
…rather than continue to argue whether
they make a positive difference.
(Durlak and Weissberg in Expanding Minds, p. 197)
21st Century Community Learning Centers Federal Funding
Grew Initially, But Now Needs A Greater Investment of $$
Fiscal Year
1998
2002
2007
2010
2011
2012
Funding History – 21st CCLC
Amount Appropriated
$40 million
$1 billion
$981 million
$1.166 billion
$1.154 billion
$1.152 billion
Amount Authorized in
No Child Left Behind Act
n/a
$1.25 billion
$2.5 billion
$2.5 billion
$2.5 billion
$2.5 billion
$1,400,000,000
$1,200,000,000
$1,000,000,000
$800,000,000
$600,000,000
$400,000,000
$200,000,000
$0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Quality afterschool and summer
learning interest in Ohio
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In recent years in Ohio, there have been 5 times more
applications for the 21st Century Community Learning
Centers than money available. In each of the last
three years, almost $42 MILLION DOLLARS worth of
applications were not funded in Ohio.
More than 500,000 children in Ohio not in afterschool
or in summer programs would likely participate in them
if they were available in the community, according to
their parents.
Parents believe that their children would benefit most
from receiving academic enrichment, improving their
social skills having fun, staying safe and out of trouble
and improving their workforce skills.
(http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/AA3_Full_Report.pdf)
Additional Resources Are Needed to
Fill this Significant Gap and Improve Quality
To serve more children and youth with expanded learning in afterschool and
summers investments need to be made and are being made:
By State governments:
• Several states (e.g., CA , MA and CT) have piggybacked on the
21st Century Community Learning Centers and offer their own
state funded afterschool and summer programs .
• Tennessee is using unclaimed lottery monies (almost $12
million per year ) for afterschool programs.
• Arkansas has legislation and is working on funding.
• Could Ohio find a creative way to provide the $42 million
requested each year for afterschool and summer learning and
is currently not funded?
Additional Resources Are Needed to
Fill this Significant Gap and Improve Quality
By school districts, municipalities and county governments :
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A county government and school district in Virginia collaborate to fund all
middle schools to have quality afterschool programs. In Ohio, there some
good examples, like Strive, aligning and leveraging $, but more are needed.
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A number of municipalities across America are leading the development of
coordinated expanded learning or afterschool systems .
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Local United Ways and Community Foundations are often a positive organizing
and startup funding source for quality afterschool and summer programming.
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Some school districts or individual schools are using their own resources
and/or Title I monies to expand afterschool and/or summer learning programs
and build partnerships with local youth serving and community groups to
capture the expertise of classroom teachers and community resources.
Additional Resources Are Needed to Improve
Quality, too
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For connecting and networking the varied programs :
– Use more fully your Ohio Afterschool Network for a greater
collective impact on learning goals and positive youth
development and strengthen your 21st Century
Community Learning Centers’ collaboration.
– More fully capitalize on partnerships with schools, Boys
and Girls Clubs, 4-H, Y’s, local youth, arts and science
organizations, faith based efforts, libraries, museums,
school extracurricular activities, and employers to become
more cost-effective, offer course credit, share ideas and
services. (In Expanding Minds, explore pp. 259 to 309)
– Remember: “We do better together.”
NEW LONG-TERM STUDIES TO BE AWARE OF:
Five year study of Massachusetts mandatory Extended
Learning Time (ELT) program
“…found little evidence of effects on students’ academic
achievement, and the results from the fifth year indicate
that students’academic achievement outcomes, on
average, have largely remained unaffected.”
Significantly more teachers in ELT schools reported that teacher
and staff fatigue, as well as student fatigue, were problem
areas…
Significantly fewer students in ELT schools reported that: they
look forward to going to school; like being in school; that all
of their classes are important to them; and that they like the
length of their school day…”
(http://abtassociates.com/reports/2012/-elt-year-5-final-report.aspx)
CONCLUSION: To take more students to the next level will
necessitate not only reform of the regular school day, but
also more quality expanded learning opportunities
powered by strong school-community-family
partnerships.
For your community and across Ohio, is a possible solution building
off of successful afterschool and summer learning programs by
expanding them and more fully leveraging youth and community
groups, libraries, museums, colleges, employers, hospitals and
school extracurricular activities to create a more varied and
coherent “third learning space” working with educators?
This approach would offer more complementary learning time and
choices, but with many more organizations supporting similar key
learning, education and development objectives.
EXPANDING MINDS AND OPPORTUNITIES PROVIDES MANY
EXAMPLES OF VERY SUCCESSFUL 21st CENTURY COMMUNITY
LEARNING CENTERS AND THE IMPORTANT ROLE YOU ARE PLAYING;
So Providers:
1.
Engage in continuous improvement, using data and the Ohio
Afterschool Network (OAN) Self Assessment Tool or others.
2.
Stay on top of and use new research and resources (and the
OAN and Afterschool Alliance can help you).
3.
Don’t be shy: use your positive experiences, the compendium
and what you learned at this Summit to tell the story to
community leaders, families, elected officials, and the media.
4.
Align and complement the school day, but doing more of the
same longer from the school day is uninspiring and expensive.
So decision makers, please:
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Use this third space to improve and expand
student learning, success and results.
Work with the Ohio Afterschool Network
and its partners to develop strategies,
policies, supports and funds to expand
quality, affordable afterschool
opportunities across this great state, where
they are needed and wanted.
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“Does this mean that afterschool and summer learning
are the silver bullet for what ails our educational system?
Of course not, but I am increasingly convinced that they
may, in fact, be a silver lining…an opportunity…a piece of
the education reform puzzle.”
(William S. White, President, CS Mott Foundation, at the release
of Engaging Minds and Opportunities at the Press Club, 2013)