The Indicators Project on Education Organizing was designed to examine the role of community organizing in school reform. For over 2 years, researchers documented the education organizing of five urban groups. This report presents an education organizing indicators framework that highlights strategies and accomplishments of education organizing.…

This report presents summaries of five case studies from the Indicators Project on Education Organizing, which was designed to examine the role of community organizing in school reform. For over 2 years, this action research project documented the education organizing of five urban groups. The research developed an Education Organizing Indicators…

This study described a program designed to increase student reading comprehension in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of third and eighth grade students in two schools located in Northern Illinois. Evidence for the existence of the problem included scores from the Stanford Test, low academic performance on…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Extended-Service Schools (ESS) Initiative, which supported the creation of 60 after school programs in 20 low-income communities nationwide. Each community adapted one of four nationally recognized models that had been successfully developed and implemented in other cities. The models all promoted…

This commentary examines the issue of youth participation in out-of-school time programs from two perspectives. It begins broadly with a youth-centered lens, by asking how children and youth spend their discretionary time and how time use patterns relate to outcomes. After painting a picture of the full out-of-school time landscape, this…

Afterschool programs can provide important benefits to all students, including those who have learning, developmental and physical disabilities. Students in afterschool programs have better grades and behavior, increased self-esteem and more positive attitudes about school. For students with special needs, afterschool programs also provide a level…

Studies show that afterschool programs improve academic achievement, reduce grade retention and increase student attendance and interest in school. Across the country, afterschool is a key element in strategies to turn around under-performing schools. The superintendent of Philadelphia and the governor of Virginia have used afterschool to turn…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

Providing an overview of some of the possibilities for enhancing education in afterschool programs, this manual provides ideas and strategies to help children and youth develop a love of learning and illustrates how much community youth development program experiences are vital to the educational growth and development of young people. Many of the…

With this handbook, crime prevention practitioners have a guideline by which they can structure viable crime prevention programs for their communities. Every aspect of developing, organizing, and implementing strategies for urban community participation in crime prevention is covered. The handbook makes a compelling case for using local resources…

Many children and adolescents, in Boston and elsewhere, experience drastic incongruities between their home, school, and community environments. Arguing that after-school programs can help to unify these disparate worlds, thereby fostering a sense of continuity for youth and aiding their development as learners, this report shows how best to…

This videotape explores the ways four diverse after-school programs bring about successful linkages between after-school programs at the elementary or middle school level and the regular school day. The 40-minute videotape, designed to be viewed in its entirety or in 15-minute segments, focuses on individual schools and their innovations. The…

Identifying the voluntary activities, programs, and services that children and families use during students' out-of-school time as primary supports, this self-study guide provides a framework for developing primary support programs that allow school-aged children and adolescents to develop physical, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. The…

To help communities meet the need for after-school programs, the U.S. Department of Education has instituted the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which supports after-school, summer, and weekend activities in neighborhood schools. This report provides an introduction to the role of the arts in those programs. Part 1 of the report…

The rapid growth of high school clubs, the important educational functions in which they engage, and the close relationship they bear to the work of the school have given them a place of first importance among the school organizations carrying on extracurricular activities. Such clubs are a means of closing up the educational gap resulting from…