Public Private Ventures Publishes Report on Serving PreTeens in Quality Afterschool Programs

In April 2008, Public Private Ventures issued a report commissioned by the Packard Foundation on the best ways to promote quality while serving preteens in afterschool programs. The report, Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After School Programs Serving PreTeens provides a succinct look at five essential elements that will help preteen make the important transition from their elementary school through their middle school years.

Grounded in youth development research, the six elements as quoted from the report are having a:

1) Focused and intentional strategy - programs have a clear set of goals, target specific skills and deliberately plan all aspects of the program with a youth development framework in mind.

2) Exposure, duration and breadth - programs are designed to: a) provide preteens with a sufficient number of hours per week over anextended period of time to achieve program outcome goals; and b) allow preteens to attend a variety of activities.

3) Supportive relationships - programs emphasize positive adult - youth relationships regardless of the curriculum.

4) Family engagement - programs strive to include families through various strategies, such as clear communication and a
welcoming environment.

5) Cultural competence - programs have diverse staff whose backgrounds are reflective of participants and who create practices and policies that: a) make services available to (and inclusive of) a variety of populations; and b) help participants
understand and value a broad range of cultures.

6) Continuous program improvement - programs strengthen quality through an ongoing and integrated process of targeted staff training, coaching and monitoring, and data collection and analysis.

Public Private Ventures Releases Series of Reports on Impact of the CORAL Initiative

Public/Private Ventures has issued a series of reports on the impact of the CORAL Initiative this month. The CORAL Initiative (Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning) was a $58M investment by The James Irvine Foundation to improve education outcomes through afterschool programming. Among the reports issued this month available for free download are:

Advancing Achievement: Findings from an Independent Evaluation of a Major After-School Initiative

What Matters, What Works: Advancing Achievement After School

Supporting Success: Why and How to Improve Quality in After-School Programs

After-School Toolkit: Tips, Techniques and Templates for Improving Program Quality

Gaining Ground: Supporting English Learners Through After-School Literacy Programming

In May 2007, Midcourse Corrections to a Major Initiative: A Report on The James Irvine Foundation’s CORAL Initiative, was also issued. It is available for a free download from the their website as well.

The link in the first paragraph provides access and a more detailed description of each of the reports named above.