National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Resource Library

These program standards, self-assessment rubric, and resources are designed to help afterschool programs evaluate and improve the support they are providing for youth who are engaged in distance learning. The standards are organized into four categories: (1) Family-and-Caregiver-Centered Engagement; (2) Individual Learning Environment; (3) Distance Programming; and (4) Planning with Children, Families, Caregivers, and Schools. This toolkit includes a database of resources that will continue to be added to in order to offer insight and best practices for each standard. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.

The purpose of this playbook is to provide a long-term and sustainable framework for planning and executing evidence-based practices and partnerships for high-quality summer programs. It has a user-friendly design and includes sections on quality, safety, policies and funding, planning, and partnerships. It also has an extensive resources section and links to related reports such as The Wallace Foundation's Summer Learning Toolkit, America's Promise Youth Engagement Guide, and Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.

This report captures what was shared at an October 2019 Conference about the challenges of teaching social and emotional learning (SEL) in afterschool programs. It provides a brief history of the growing focus on SEL, along with a summary of remarks by national leaders. It has rich examples of city or national organization approaches around relationship building, SEL skill-building for youth, shifting school and afterschool program climates, and working with families about this important part of development.

This webinar included speakers from the Weikart Center, NIOST, and PEAR to share what they are learning about the ways quality differs between in-person programs and online learning when using established quality assessment tools. Their summer experiences are showing that their respective assessment tools are working in the virtual space, and they are finding that quality dimensions for in-person space seem to matter in virtual spaces, perhaps even more. Three key areas for quality are: (1) providing activities that are challenging and stimulating; (2) offering choice and decision-making opportunities; and (3) providing chances to collaborate with peers and be a leader. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.

This toolkit includes issue briefs created by the Utah Afterschool on topics such as how to run a safe program, how to find a new location, and how to recruit and retain staff. It also includes links to related resources and a spreadsheet with fall reopening plans for each school district. A related tool is the Align for Success Toolkit about afterschool-school partnerships. It includes sections on relationships, program and school team policy, shared resources, student needs, and academics. Includes an excellent self-assessment rubric. See: https://utahafterschool.org/program-resources/school-day-and-afterschool-alignment. This resource supports the COVID-19 response. 

This brief, based on a longer white paper, identifies and summarizes key findings in the existing literature on 12 protective and promotive factors relevant to afterschool. It then presents a conceptual model for how afterschool programs can use evidence-informed practices to impact protective and promotive factors to improve three important developmental outcomes: (1) substance misuse and abuse; (2) problem behaviors; and (3) academic performance. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.

This issue brief explores evidence-based strategies to prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Strategies include: (1) strengthening economic supports; (2) promoting social norms that protect against violence; (3) ensuring a strong start for children; (4) teaching skills to help parents and youth handle stress; (5) connecting youth to caring adults and activities; and (6) intervening to lesson effects of ACEs. Some strategies connect directly to out-of-school time while other strategies will require broader partnerships.

On August 6, 2020 the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE) hosted a listening session designed to help stakeholders in the field better understand the current state of school-age care in the country, specifically informed by lessons learned through efforts to deliver safe and meaningful summer programming in 2020. 

This interactive session included:

• Discoveries from the latest update to the national and state school-age data profiles, which provide data on Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) support for school-age children
• A panel of presenters from Afterschool Alliance, American Camp Association and National Summer Learning Association, who drew upon the most recent data on both historic and post-COVID-19 school-age care to consider how these data can guide future programming 
• A response from Shannon Christian, Director of the Office of Child Care, followed by opportunities for participants to ask questions about how school-age child care will continue through the fall and winter.

This brief helps to illustrate how the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) bridges the needs of low-income working families with promising practices for out-of-school time, relating the experiences of parents in their own voices.

This issue brief offers local, state and policy recommendations for meeting the current public health and economic crisis while rebuilding the system for the future. It provides recommendations for child care investments based on understanding the needs of families and providers to increase access and affordability, and health, mental health, and safety. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.