After-school and summer programs are huge assets to the school day. Kids need time to play, explore and have fun, and after-school and summer staff are well suited to provide those kinds of experiences. Expanded learning programs have the unique potential at school sites where structured, facilitated conversations are taking place about student…

Under enormous pressure to prepare students for a successful future--and fearful that standard school hours do not offer enough time to do so--educators, policymakers, and community activists are adding more learning time to children's lives. Twenty-five years ago, the still-resonant report "A Nation at Risk" urged schools to add more time--an…