Describes one midwest school principal's response to the problem of latchkey children. The Liberty Latchkey program provides safe and age-appropriate activities at a fee that can be met by single or low-income parents. The parent-generated and parent-operated program exemplifies solutions tailored to the school population's needs. (SLD)

This study applied individual growth trajectory analyses and person-oriented analysis to identify common profiles of out-of-school activity engagement trajectories among racially and ethnically diverse inner city teens (N = 1,430). On average, teens exhibited declining trajectories of participation in school-based and team sports activities and…

Afterschool programs, the heart of the supplemental service provision of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), take on increasing significance in the implementation of the historic federal law. As more and more schools fail to make their NCLB-mandated Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals, the demand for supplemental education services, such as tutoring,…

While researchers continue to debate teacher qualifications, explore how to get more qualified teachers into urban schools serving low-income students, or try to determine whether teachers who are successful with middle-class students would also be successful with pupils in low-income urban schools, one practicable idea can easily be overlooked.…

This double issue of "The Evaluation Exchange" focuses on one of the central components of complementary learning: family involvement. As outlined in the Theory & Practice article, investments in family involvement are important across ages and settings and through the co-constructed efforts and shared responsibilities of many…

The five chapters in this handbook, intended for parents of children entering kindergarten for the first time, offer suggestions about how parents can make starting kindergarten a successful and happy event for their child, and how parents can help their child get ready for school. The first chapter contains sections that describe when learning…

This report describes the administrative structure and program design for an after-school program for school age children (aged between 5 and 13 years) in the 1990-91 school year in the Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools (APS). The program took policy and regulations from the pertinent Board of Education policy and guidelines and was administered by…

Project BABS, in its final year of funding, provided career exploration and advisement, after-school summer job internships with business enterprises, and a computerized reading program to approximately 690 students of limited English proficiency of Asian, Greek, Russian, and Hispanic descent in four New York City high schools. Project staff,…

This package consists of a report describing a project in which child care students served as leaders in after-school recreational programs for latch key children, a series of newspaper articles describing the program, an article by Judy Weber entitled "Latch Key Programs Providing Experiential Opportunities for Child Care Students," and…

A model is proposed and tested which suggests that students who come to school with more positive attitudes toward the political system generalize these attitudes to the school as a substitute political system. In turn, they seek out involvement in extracurricular and governance activities in the high school. To test this model, two attitude…

The goal of this study was to answer the question: "When ethnically diverse fourth- and fifth-grade students participate in a ten-week musical program, are there any shifts in the following: academic performance, attitude towards school, social skills, self-esteem, public speaking ability, and/or school attendance?" This study was…

"Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development: Lessons and Voices from the Field," published by the Forum in partnership with the Urban Libraries Council, captures key challenges and lessons learned from an innovative, four-year initiative sponsored by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds that awarded six million dollars to nine…

Since the 1900s, US leaders have worked to address the needs of American children and youth. Social services, educational resources and health organizations have targeted the needs of youth. In every decade of the 20th century, the White House has brought together prominent scholars, social workers and community leaders to address the contemporary…

This tool is part of a series of technical assistance resources on financing and sustaining out-of-school time and community school initiative. These tools and resources are intended to assist policymakers, program developers and community leaders in developing financing and sustainability strategies to support effective initiatives. For nearly a…

This report presents a research-action agenda to enhance the role of afterschool education in increasing girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, majors, and careers. The research-action agenda was developed for three areas: access, recruitment, and persistence; program content, approaches, and…