Appendix F
21st Century Community Learning Centers
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF A HIGH-QUALITY AFTER-SCHOOL
PROGRAM?
According to the U.S. Department of Education publication Working for Children and Families: Safe and
Smart After-school Programs, there are eight components that are generally present in high-quality
after-school programs. Applicants are encouraged to address as many of these components as possible
in their application narrative. These include:
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Goal Setting, Strong Management, and Sustainability.
Quality After-school Staffing.
Attention to Safety, Health, and Nutrition Issues.
Effective Partnerships with Community-Based Organizations, Juvenile Justice Agencies, Law
Enforcement, and Youth Groups.
Strong Involvement of Families.
Enriching Learning Opportunities.
Linkages Between School Day and After-school Personnel.
Evaluation of Program Progress and Effectiveness.
Excerpts from Working for Children and Families is available on-line at
www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/SafeSmart/.
We have learned from experience, and research that constructive learning activities during out-of-school
time have led to increased academic achievement. Academic enrichment might include tutoring in core
academic subjects that provide extra learning opportunities for students with ways to practice their
academic skills through engaging, hands-on activities. Such activities might include: chess clubs, to
foster critical thinking skills, persistence, and other positive work habits; theatre programs, to encourage
reading, writing, and speaking as well as teamwork, goal-setting, and decision-making; book clubs, to
encourage reading and writing for pleasure; cooking programs, to foster application of reading, writing,
math, and science skills; poetry contests and slams, to encourage reading, writing, and speaking;
woodworking programs, to encourage planning, measurement, estimation, and other calculation skills;
and computer clubs, including newspaper publishing, to promote writing, editing, and knowledge of and
comfort with technology.
These kinds of enrichment programs are consistent with evidence of the importance of constructive
learning activities during the non-school hours. For example, researcher Reginald Clark found that
economically disadvantaged youth who participated in constructive learning activities for 20–35 hours
per week performed better in school than their more passive peers.
Other Resources to Look At:
The publication Beyond the Bell: A Toolkit for Creating Effective Afterschool Programs is available online at www.ncrel.org/after/bellkit.htm. Beyond the Bell is a timely and helpful publication to assist afterschool program staff to plan and make good decisions in six critical areas: management, collaboration,
programming, and integration with the traditional school day, evaluation, and communication. While the
primary utility of the toolkit is for after-school programs already in existence, it is believed that it can be
extremely valuable for those in the planning stages as well.
OSPI/21st Century Community Learning Centers
Grant Application
June 12, 2007
Page 1 of 2
Appendix F
After-School Programs and the K–8 Principal at www.naesp.org/afterschool/report.pdf
NSACA Standards for Quality School-Age Care at www.nsaca.org
Continuous Improvement Management Guide for 21st CCLC at
www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/21cent/cim226.pdf
Harvard Family Research Project’s Out-of-school-Time Evaluation Database at
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~hfrp/projects/afterschool/evaldatabase.html
OSPI/21st Century Community Learning Centers
Grant Application
June 12, 2007
Page 2 of 2