Resources

Research and Resources on Before- and After-school Programs

Listed below are some before- and after-school resources that were provided in the federal guidance for the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program. There may be other valuable resources available as well, and this list is not meant to be exhaustive.

Grant proposals for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program must be developed according to guidelines established in the RFP.

After-school Alliance
A virtual organization whose mission is to provide “after-school for all by 2010.” The website includes activities, research, and policy information.

Benton Foundation Kids Campaign
An information, knowledge and action center for adults who want to make their communities work for kids. Explore the pathway with information and resources on after-school time.

C. S. Mott Foundation
http://www.mott.org
Website for the C.S. Mott Foundation, a leading partner in the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
A one-stop, any-stop access to high-quality Internet lesson plans, curriculum units and other education resources. Browse subject and keyword lists, or search The Gateway. Retrieved records will link directly to the Internet resources they describe.

The Finance Project
This website is part of a series of technical assistance resources on financing and sustaining out-of-school time and community school initiatives developed by The Finance Project with support from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
Resources for teaching and learning from 30 federal agencies with search tools and a bulletin board for teachers and federal agencies to communicate about potential collaboration on new teaching and learning resources.

General Services Administration
A one-stop shopping website for parents, teachers, after-school providers, and kids to learn about after-school resources from many different government and nonprofit agencies.

Harvard Family Research Project
Located at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) builds on its expertise in evaluation and knowledge development to improve evaluation work and promote greater conversation and knowledge-sharing about evaluation among practitioners, policymakers, funders, researchers, and evaluators in the after-school field. HFRP supports the development of high-quality information and capacity-building tools that will improve research and evaluation work and use of information in the field, especially at the local level.

Mid continent Regional Educational Laboratory
A useful compendium of Internet resources and examples of innovative after-school programs compiled by one of the U.S. Department of Education-funded regional education laboratories.

National Institute for Out-of-School Time
Information about school-age child care from the National Institute for Out-of-School Time at Wellesley College (formerly the School-Age Child Care Project).

National Governors Association
The National Governors Association has a Center for Best Practices with information on schools and after-school programs, among many other things. Extra Learning Opportunities is a quarterly web-based newsletter by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. Extra Learning Opportunities provides the governors' education advisors and other interested individuals about recent Extra Learning Opportunities activities.

National Network for Child Care
Extensive database of publications and a listserv supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service.

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
Many after-school resources are available here including “Beyond the Bell.” This guidebook is a step-by-step guide on how to start and implement an after-school program.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
LEARNS, a program of one of the U.S. Department of Education-funded regional education laboratories, features downloadable resources, innovative ideas for literacy practices and education-based national service projects.

Educational Partnerships and Family Involvement
Information about the partnership, including how to join, a list of members, examples of activities, a comprehensive listing of U.S. Department of Education publications on family and community involvement, including after-school programs, and other resources.

U.S. Department of Agriculture
The Child Nutrition Program of the Food and Nutrition Service provides information on the after-school snack and supper program, including eligibility and reimbursement.

U.S. Department of Education
The latest information about national education issues, publications, education statistics, and information about the different offices and programs at the U.S. Department of Education. Go to www.ed.gov/21stcclc/ to find out more about the Department of Education’s after-school program.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Find out about resources available through this federal agency on its website, including the Child Care Development Fund.

In addition to websites, listserv opportunities exist:

Edinfo
Subscribe to this news service listserv with the latest information about the U.S. Department of Education at http://www.ed.gov/news.html

ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
Subscribe to a joint ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education listserv where practitioners, policymakers, and parents share ideas, resources, problems, and solutions. Send a message (without your e-mail signature if you have one) to: listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu. Leave the subject line blank and just type subscribe SAC-L <Your Full Name Here>

After-school listserv
The after-school listserv, organized by the C.S. Mott Foundation, is hosted by Topica.com. The listserv was designed to provide a forum for the exchange of information, ideas, resources, and experiences. Join the after-school listserv by sending a blank e-mail message to after-school-subscribe@topica.com.