Building Systems to Improve After-School

Posted by on January 10, 2011

In context

High-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs positively affect youth development, but many cities find it hard to expand and improve programs offered to underserved and high-need students. A report from the RAND Corporation looks at a Wallace Foundation-sponsored initiative to help five cities increase collaboration, access, quality, information-sharing, and sustainability in their OST systems. The goals of the initiative were increased access, improved quality, development of information systems for decision-making, and financial stability. Each city received a planning grant, which focused on efforts tied to city context and area of need. The first report in this three-volume series describes the cities’ early work under the grant, and analyzes conditions and activities that contributed toward building a coordinated system of services to meet the initiative’s goals. Specifically, it addresses how city context affected the approaches implemented, the effectiveness of these approaches, and important enablers of progress, particularly in areas of collaboration and coordination. Of particular note was that city context and the involvement of the mayor had a significant influence on both decision-making and outcomes. In addition, cities depended on buy-in from the schools and other key stakeholders, as well as financial assistance through city budgets and grants, to ensure sustainability.

See the report: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1037.html