Middle school is a critical period of vulnerability—and opportunity. Here's a look at how one New York-based Beacons out-of-school time program is successfully engaging young people from age 9 through 21 in a deliberate pathway from participant to "professional" and preparing them for success in high school and beyond.

The Forum for Youth Investment (our publisher) says Nashville, Tennessee has launched a quality-based citywide coordination of after-school services for middle school students.

After-school programs have grown rapidly in recent years, spurred by rising employment
rates of mothers, pressure to increase academic achievement, and concerns about risks to
children who are unsupervised during after-school hours. The percentage of public schools
offering “extended day” programs (which include before- and after-school programs) more than
tripled from 1987 to 1999, from about 13 percent to 47 percent.

The federal government’s investment in after-school programs has grown rapidly as well.
Funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, created in 1994, rose from
$40 million in 1998 to $1 billion in 2002. The program now provides funding to 2,250 school
districts to support school-based programs in 7,000 public schools.
Some studies of after-school programs have found that these programs increase academic
achievement and student safety, as well as reduce negative behaviors such as drug and alcohol
use. However, other studies have found that after-school programs have no effect on—and even
worsen—certain outcomes, leading to debate over whether the evidence supports increased
investment in after-school programs.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Education contracted with Mathematica Policy Research,
Inc., and Decision Information Resources, Inc., to evaluate the 21st Century Community
Learning Centers program. The evaluation team collected student outcome data in five areas:
after-school supervision, location, and activities; academic performance and achievement;
behavior; personal and social development; and safety. Because the purpose of the 21st Century
Community Learning Centers program by law is safe and drug-free learning environments for
students that support academic achievement, this evaluation focused on student and school
outcomes. It did not explore the full range of parental needs and satisfaction that might be
affected by the availability of after-school programs. It did collect parent outcome data on
involvement in school activities and employment status.

Report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids that outlines the necessity for after-school programs and effectiveness in positive youth development.

Hosted by the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, the Summer Changes Everything (April 16-17, 2009 in Chicago) covers how to build and strengthen summer programs. Preconference cost: $175

Kids’ Carpentry is a year-round after school program designed especially for boys and girls, kindergarten through the sixth grade. Since 1982 we have been teaching kids the safe use of woodworking hand tools. Children work together and independently on boats, trucks, bird feeders, clocks, doll furniture, airplanes, games and many other projects. In addition to the fun these kids have, they also gain quality experiences in measuring, applied mathematics such as fractions, and hands-on experience with a variety of carpentry tools. By visualizing, planning and building projects, children develop valuable abstract reasoning capabilities and fine motor skills. Children can select from a wide range of project choices supplied by the teacher and are also encouraged to design and build based on their own needs and imaginations. Our Socratic style of teaching empowers the children to become good problem-solvers and independent thinkers!

Engaging young teens in quality out-of-school time programs is no easy feat. Cypress Hills-East New York, a Beacon Center located in Brooklyn, has developed a strategy for recruiting and enrolling youth ages 9 to 14 for its school-year program. What works best? The Youth Development Institute shares some of the secrets of success.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the federal 21st Century Community Learning
Centers, the Afterschool Alliance is creating a storybook featuring people whose lives
have been improved through out-of-school time programs. Share your stories and program
nominations and check out sample stories online.

A simplified version of the USDA Summer Food Service Program has just gone national. It lessens the paperwork involved for groups or out-of-school time programs that want to incorporate summer meals.

MindOH! offers free advice on ways to encourage students to get involved in their communities suring the summer.