Starting a Program
Congratulations! You’re considering or planning to start an after-school program for the students in your district. It can be a bit overwhelming, but the great news in starting an after-school program is that so many others have gone before you. From this section you can glean the latest research on how to plan for different types of programs—from fee-for-service programs to 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
Resources
- A Guide to Sucessful Public-Private Partnerships for Out-of-School Time
[PDF 1,335,627kb]
This guide from the Finance Project provides practical information on creating and maintaining public-private partnerships to increase and improve after-school initiatives.
- A Resource Guide for Planning and Operating After-School Programs [PDF 1,410,176kb]
This guide provides a description of resources to support after-school programs. These resources meet three base criteria: they are timely, readily available, and relatively inexpensive.
- Afterschool Action Kit [PDF 275,207kb]
A toolkit from the Afterschool Alliance that defines after-school programs and offers strategies on starting a program.
- Implementing the Web of Support [PDF 385,032kb]
A program and evaluation plan by Save the Children that will help you implement a program plan, evaluation, and includes examples of evaluation forms.
- Inside the Black Box: What is the "Content" of After-School? [PDF 61,924kb]
Interviews with Bob Stonehill, director of the State and Local Services Division at the U.S. Department of Education, and Karen Walker, vice president of Public/Private Ventures, help us uncover what's inside the "black box" of after-school programs.
- Moving Towards Success: Framework for After-School Programs [PDF 2,957,153kb]
The following document contain examples of how a program can move from identifying goals to implementing program elements to measuring short - and long-term outcomes. The four sections include Academic and Other Learning Goals, Social and Emotional Goals, Health and Safety Goals, and Community Engagement Goals.
- People, Places and Possibilities: Integrating Mentoring and After-School [PDF 139,144kb]
This commentary explores the relationship between mentoring and after-school, two fields that have garnered significant policy attention and momentum over the past several years.
- The Growth in After-School Programs and Their Impact [PDF 98,754kb]
This paper from the Brookings Institution reviews the growth in after-school programs, the reasons for their growth and what the programs hope to accomplish. It also addresses what works, the costs of the programs and the implications for policy.