Organizations seeking to build or improve after-school and out-of-school time programs can benefit from reviewing research-validated best practices that promote effective program management and academic support.

In 2005, the After-School Corporation commissioned an evaluation of the after-school programs it funds in New York City to determine which of them were most successful in improving student academic performance and to identify their common traits and features. The study, implemented by Policy Studies Associates, with funding in part from the U.S. Department of Education, found shared characteristics among these high-performing programs, including:

• a broad array of enrichment opportunities
• opportunities for skill building and mastery
• intentional relationship building
• a strong, experienced leader or manager supported by a trained and supervised staff
• sponsoring organizations that provided an effective balance of support and autonomy

Shared Features of High-Performing After-School Programs: A Follow-Up to the TASC Evaluation

From the Effective Practices Collection

• Identifying features of high-performing after-school programs.
• Training new after-school volunteers
• Starting an out-of-school program
• Planning activities for out-of-school programs

From the Resource Center Lending Library

• Human Side of Quality: Making the Most of Out-of-School Time
• Half a Childhood: Quality Programs for Out-of-School Hours, 3rd ed.
• Links to Learning: A Curriculum Guide for After-School Programs

From the Resource Center

• LEARNS: Out-of-School Time

Links to Useful Websites

• NOIST (National Institute on Out-of-School Time)
• Afterschool Alliance
• Out-of-School Time at Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)