The Summer and Afterschool Needs Assessment helps youth serving programs and organizations learn best practices and identify areas where they might benefit from guidance or support. The Needs Assessment draws from the best available evidence on what constitutes high-quality afterschool and summer learning programs and organizes these Success…

MENTOR's cornerstone publication, the "Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring[TM]", details research-informed and practitioner-approved Standards for creating and sustaining quality youth mentoring programs and consequently, impactful mentoring relationships. This Fourth Edition, released in 2015, reflects the most up-to-date…

A quality improvement system (QIS) is an intentional effort to raise the quality of afterschool programming in an ongoing, organized fashion. There are a number of reasons the QIS is gaining popularity. The main reasons community leaders are drawn to improving quality is that they know that 1) higher quality programs will mean better experiences…

Cities around the country are building systems that seek to make the most of public and private resources to provide widespread, high-quality, out-of-school time opportunities. Local officials are leading these efforts because participation in OST programs not only benefits young people but also the cities in which they live, with the potential to…

As a strategy for helping young people succeed in school, work and life, mentoring works. It helps give young people the confidence, resources and support they need to achieve their potential. The fact is this: these positive outcomes are only possible when young people are engaged in high-quality mentoring relationships. The "Elements of…

Extended learning opportunities (ELOs) provide safe, structured learning environments for students outside the traditional school day. ELOs include afterschool and summer learning programs as well as before-school, evening, and weekend programs. ELOs come in many forms and can include tutoring, volunteering, academic support, community service,…

Out-of-school time programs can enhance academic achievement by helping students learn outside the classroom. The purpose of this practice guide is to provide recommendations for organizing and delivering school-based out-of-school time (OST) programs to improve the academic achievement of student participants. The five recommendations in this…

The head of a firm that specializes in developing, operating, and evaluating after-school programs for schools and districts provides a useful guide to their planning, staffing, and sustainability. (Author)

This skill packet presents training information on extended opportunities for student learning (before- and after-school programs, extended time, or extended school programs). The packet offers implementation suggestions, such as explaining what skills trainers need, how to prepare for delivering the packet, tips for working with adults, how to…

After-school programs are popular with parents and the community, but are a lot of extra work for headteachers and the staff involved. This book will provide headteachers and administrators with the guidance they need to build a successful and sustainable after-school program. Based on a national study conducted by the author, this hands-on…

Written by elementary school principals and child care experts, this guide provides parents with practical information about finding an appropriate before- or after-school child care program for children ages 5 to 13. Using a question-answer format, the guide addresses ways for parents to find suitable programs, the questions parents should ask…

Noting an increase in demand for school-age child care offerings, with no corresponding establishment of guidelines for program development, this booklet addresses design and evaluation issues in school age child care (SACC) in Australia. The booklet is largely based on two surveys of SACC programs conducted in 1986. The issues discussed in the…

Chapter 1 of this document introduces AgeLink, a 5-year model intergenerational child care project for school-age children. The project implemented after-school services that linked children with volunteer older adults in 17 western North Carolina counties. Ten sites participated in the project between 1984 and 1989, and 11 sites currently have…

Through a comprehensive review of various afterschool programs across the United States, this resource provides a practical overview of the research and best practices that can be easily adapted and applied in the development of highly effective afterschool programs. chapters focus on: (1) "Why Afterschool Programs?" (benefits, challenges, and…

After-school programs provide an important educational setting for an increasing number of children and have been viewed as a way to help solve school problems, reduce drug use, and prevent violence and youth crime. This toolkit is designed to help school-based after-school program staff plan and make decisions in six critical areas: (1)…