21st CCLC: Now and Then

By Sam Piha

Sam piha

"President Trump has unveiled his budget priorities—and his plan singles out afterschool funding for elimination. Congress is getting ready to determine whether local afterschool and summer learning programs remain open, reduce their services or close their doors. If the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative is eliminated, many programs will not survive. More than a million children will be affected, leaving parents without reliable afterschool choices." - Afterschool Alliance 

To advocate for continued federal support for afterschool programs, it is important that afterschool stakeholders understand two things: 1) The historical context surrounding the federal 21st CCLC initiative; and 2) How best they can educate lawmakers on the value of afterschool programs. 

Photo by Gage Skidmore

HISTORY OF FEDERAL 21ST CCLC 
The federal 21st CCLC initiative was the first federal effort dedicated to promoting afterschool programs. This initiative was launched in 1994 by President Clinton in response to a "perfect storm" - growing concerns around crime and safety involving young people; changes in the composition of families and women entering the workforce resulting in "latch key kids"; and the need for more educational support. 

Photo Credit: Temescal Associates

This initiative garnered the support of law enforcement, educators, parent groups, and more.

Photo Credit: Fight Crime - Invest in Kids

Support for afterschool was partially driven by research that showed a spike in crime during the afterschool hours.

Photo Credit: Fight Crime - Invest in Kids

The 21st CCLC initiative was described by some as the fastest growing federal initiative in history.

Photo Credit: FIght Crime - Invest in Kids

The 21st CCLC initiative enjoyed the bipartisan support of the congress and three U.S. Presidents. Now, there are calls from the Trump Administration to eliminate all 21st CCLC funding. 

To read more about the history of the 21st CCLC initiative, click here. 

SAVING THE 21ST CCLC INITIATIVE 
Below, we offer the advice of the California Afterschool Network. 

President Trump’s proposed budget calls for the elimination of 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, saying the program lacks evidence of improving student success. It is now up to Congress to counter these drastic cuts or approve them. If approved, the budget would eliminate programs across the nation that keeps kids safe and engaged. Over a million children and families would be left with no quality afterschool and summer learning programs nationally.

Check out this blog from the Afterschool Alliance around evidence that afterschool and summer learning programs work. To see the impact these cuts could have on California programs, youth and families see the breakdown here. 

Visit the Afterschool Alliance for more information or read the statement from Jodi Grant, Executive Director of the Afterschool Alliance.  

You can make a difference by:

• Add your organization to the list of organizations supporting that 21st CCLC remain funded at current funding levels.  
• Email, and encourage (via family engagement, social media, etc.) emails to congress members and telling them to protect funding for afterschool and summer learning programs!   
• Locate your members of congress. Visit local district offices and invite your members of Congress to your site to continue to educate them about the value and impact of quality afterschool and summer learning programs.  

A Crosswalk Between the LIAS Learning Principles and the CA Quality Standards

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

In 2010, the Learning in Afterschool & Summer (LIAS) project was launched to offer five research based principles that serves as a guide for programs wishing to increase the engagement, motivation, and learning of their young participants. 

Four years later, the California Department of Education (CDE)/After School Division released the California Quality Standards for Expanded Learning Programs (CA Quality Standards). LIAS staff served on all three phases of the development of these standards to ensure that the LIAS principles were embedded. These standards focused on points of direct service with youth (#1-6) and standards that are intended to guide program managers (#7-12). 

Many afterschool and summer leaders asked how the LIAS learning principles correspond to the CA Quality Standards. To address this question, we issued a “crosswalk” paper, which correlated the LIAS learning principles with the CA Quality Standards for points of service with young people. This “crosswalk” paper can be found on the LIAS website here.

Below we offer a summary of this crosswalk. 

Learning that is Active: 
Learning and memory recall of new knowledge is strengthened through different exposures – seeing, hearing, touching, and doing. Afterschool and summer learning should be the result of activities that involve young people in “doing” – activities that allow them to be physically active, stimulate their innate curiosity, and that are hands-on and project-based. 

Learning that is Collaborative: 
Afterschool and summer programs should help young people build team skills that include listening to others, supporting group-learning goals, and resolving differences and conflicts. Collaborative learning happens when learners engage in a common task where each individual depends on and is accountable to each other.

Learning that is Meaningful: 
Learning is meaningful when youth have some ownership over the learning topic, the means to assess their own progress, and when the learning is relevant to their own interests, experiences, and the real world in which they live. Community and cultural relevance is important to all youth. 

Learning that Supports Mastery: 
If young people are to learn the importance and joy of mastery, they need the opportunity to learn and practice a full sequence of skills that will allow them to become “really good at something.” Afterschool and summer activities should be explicitly sequenced and designed to promote the layering of new skills. 

Learning that Expands Horizons: 
Afterschool and summer programs should provide learning opportunities that take youth beyond their current experience and expand their horizons. They should go beyond the walls of their facilities to increase young people’s knowledge of their surrounding neighborhood and the larger global community. 

•••

You can read other blogs by the LIAS project by going to: 

• Expanded Learning 360°/365 Project website 
• Learning in Afterschool & Summer blog

LIAS Effectiveness Study

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

The Learning in Afterschool & Summer (LIAS) project was launched in 2010. In the summer of 2015, the LIAS staff conducted a LIAS Effectiveness Study to gauge our impact on the field and how best to further the project goals. The objectives of this LIAS Effectiveness Study were to:

• Learn how effective the LIAS campaign was in reaching and impacting expanded learning stakeholders and program leaders;
• Learn how effective the individual LIAS strategies were;
• Improve the LIAS campaign going forward; and
• Share with the larger field any learnings that may be helpful to future efforts to improve expanded learning program quality.

We collected 91 surveys completed by Regional Leads, those who oversee or

work directly with youth, or provide technical assistance. We also conducted follow up interviews with 20 afterschool leaders across the state. In terms of geography, most of the respondents are located in Regions 3, 4, 9, and 11. These four regions contain 57% of the total California ASES and 21st CCLC programs. (Source: California Afterschool Network). 

Below is a summary of findings from our study. To view the study Executive Summary, click here. To view the full report, click here. 

LIAS effectiveness: 

• The LIAS project has successfully raised awareness of the LIAS principles across the state.
• On average, 74% of respondents reported their contact with LIAS materials. Of those, 67% on average, rated their experience as a 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale of effectiveness, with 1 being the lowest.
• On average, only 30% of respondents reported an involvement with LIAS support activities. Of those, on average, 79% rated their experience as a 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale of effectiveness, with 1 being the lowest.
• Of those surveyed, over 84% reported that the LIAS materials and supports impacted their programs. They reported that the LIAS project either changed the way they talk about their programs (49%) or effected their program design (35%).

LIAS Strengths: Respondents reported that the language of the LIAS learning principles are clear and understandable (nearly 84%) and the LIAS learning principles can easily be applied to program design and improvement (nearly 69%). 

LIAS Weaknesses: A fair number of respondents (22%) thought that the LIAS project can do more outreach to educate practitioners about the LIAS learning principles. Nearly 46% of respondents replied, “No comment”. 

Challenges and barriers to program improvement: Respondents named staff turnover (92%), insufficient funding (86%), and insufficient time (80%) as the largest barrier or challenge. 

Takeaways
Objective 1: Learn how effective the LIAS campaign was in reaching and impacting expanded learning stakeholders and program leaders

• LIAS outreach – The LIAS project has been very successful in spreading the word on the LIAS principles. The newly designed website and LIAS blog have been well received.  

• LIAS impact – The LIAS project reportedly has impacted many by changing the way they talk with others about their program activities and/or changing actual day-to-day practice. Program leaders want more guidance on how to apply LIAS and character building strategies into practice. 

Objective 2: Learn how effective the individual LIAS strategies were

• LIAS materials – The LIAS postcard has been widely distributed across the state and well received by program leaders. However, some of the LIAS materials such as the webinar, are not reaching a large audience. 

• LIAS training opportunities – The LIAS orientations and introductory trainings are an effective educational outreach strategy. However, they do not go far enough in changing practice at the program level. The LIAS learning communities have been well received and judged as effective ways to impact program quality. However, they are not widely available due to issues of cost, commitment, and geography. 

Objective 3: Improve the LIAS campaign going forward

• Diversify audience – It would be useful if the LIAS project could reach out to diverse audiences that impact young people’s learning. These additional audiences include youth program providers outside of the “afterschool circle”, principals and educational administrators, instructors in higher education, museums, libraries, and Parks & Recreation departments. 

• Access to online tools – Because of issues of cost and distance, and because young workers grew up in the digital age, we have been advised to ensure that materials and tools include short videos of actual program practice, are accessible via the Internet, be multimedia, and viewable on smartphones and tablets. 

• Integrate new concepts - materials should include the new state Quality Standards. They should also integrate 21st century learning skills, social emotional learning, building character skills, non-cognitive skills, growth mindsets, and foundations for young adult success. There is also the demand that programs respond to the new state Quality Standards for Expanded Learning Programs and the Common Core State Standards. While it is true that some of these are overlapping, they still present an overwhelming set of “lists”. The LIAS project has been advised to create an approach that integrate these “lists” and the Quality Standards.

Objective 4: Learnings that may be helpful to future efforts to improve expanded learning program quality

• Cost as a barrier - Due to rising labor costs and stagnant grant awards, programs have cut the amount of resources for professional development and program tools. For all of us that work to improve program quality, we have been advised to consider the issue of cost – program materials and training - and even offer stipends to training participants in exchange for a commitment to attendance and program improvement efforts. 

• Other barriers to program improvement – Any effort to improve program quality requires educational outreach that is ongoing due to staff turnover. In addition to continuing these efforts, we have been encouraged to target program leaders, who have longer tenures than frontline staff.  

Afterschool Learning and Digital Badges

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

If the growing afterschool movement is to prosper, these programs must be recognized as important places of learning. The use and awarding of digital badges to recognize the learning that takes place within these programs represents an excellent strategy to accomplish this. 

Digital badges can be used to recognize exemplar programs, staff trainers, program staff who have completed professional development sessions, or youth who have acquired new knowledge and skills through participation in afterschool activities.  

We believe there are many benefits to the awarding of digital badges for learning. Some of these are articulated below: 

• Because program leaders must think through and explicitly state what learning will go on in specific program activities or clubs that is being recognized by a digital badge, this specificity raises the bar for learning accountability. 
• The awarding of digital badges defines the learning that goes on in programs for outsiders, which is vital if afterschool programs are to be recognized as important places of learning. These badges are important, visible evidence that afterschool programs take learning seriously. 
• The adult program staff members often acquire important knowledge and skills through professional development and years of experience. Youth acquire valuable skills and knowledge through their participation in specific afterschool activities. Both deserve an artifact that documents their learning and—importantly—can be shared with peers, future employers, and those allowing admittance to higher education. 

To promote the use of digital badges, Temescal Associates and the Learning in Afterschool & Summer (LIAS) Project has launched the Center for Digital Badges (CDB). You can visit our website to access several informational articles and videos, see a gallery of badges we have designed for several afterschool partners, and review case studies. These case studies document how afterschool programs, training organizations, and regional work groups have used digital badges to recognize the learning of afterschool staff and youth participants, as well as exemplar afterschool programs. 

We believe that the digital badge revolution will serve the afterschool movement well. To ensure a growing understanding and valuing of digital badges, we have formed a statewide committee of afterschool organizations to develop an educational campaign.