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Afterschool Clearinghouse

The After School Clearinghouse is designed to provide you with tools and resources to add a mentoring component to your after school program. It also provides resources you can use to implement, manage and strengthen your after-school program. Here you'll find information on how to implement a mentoring component in a new or existing after-school program as well as a clearinghouse of after-school program resources, including:

Program Design and Planning: Resources on how to start an after-school program, best practices and more;
Program Management: Resources on fundraising, staff/professional development, training, developing partnerships and more;
Program Operations: Resources on activities and curriculum guides, standards, research and more;
Program Evaluation: Resources on evaluation and research on after-school initiatives, outcomes, best practices and more;
Mentor Trainer's Manual: Originally developed by Baylor University to train college students to mentor young adolescents;

MENTOR's After-School Clearinghouse is made possible through the generosity of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Afterschool General Resources


	A Resource Guide For Planning and Operating After-School Programs This guide organizes multiple resources from a variety of organizations in the six areas identified by the NCCE as necessary for the successful operation of afterschool programs.
	After-School Toolkit: Tips, Techniques and Templates for Improving Program Quality This toolkit offers program managers a practical, hands-on guide for implementing quality programming in the after-school hours.
	Afterschool Program Models Provides case studies on programs run by school districts, public agencies, and individual schools, and offers a number of guides for afterschool program directors.
	AfterschoolPRO.net clearinghouse
	America After 3 PM (Afterschool Alliance) This report explores how America's children spend their afternoons and shows that our nation is failing to give its children safe, supervised activities during the often-dangerous afternoon hours.
	American Youth Policy Forum Publications Review of current research on OST
	Building Community Partnerships: Tips for Out-Of-School Time Programs Community involvement in out-of-school time programs can offer strong benefits to programs and students alike. This Child Trends brief gives programs tools to identify community resources and develop strategies to gain community support.
	Developing the Afterschool Professional & the Profession Addressing Quality & Scale by the Partnership for After School Education
	Impossible Choices: How States are Addressing the Federal Failure to Fully Fund Afterschool Programs This report details what happened in each state in Fiscal Year 2005 regarding how the federal government has forced states to make impossible choices between supporting the afterschool programs that parents have come to depend on, and making grants to new programs in communities that are currently unserved.
	Making an Impact on Out-of-School Time Developed for national service programs working in out of school time and has much to offer the out of school world. The tipsheets, which address balanced programming, service-learning, homework support and legal/liability issues are particularly useful.
	New Report On Quality Pre-Teen After-School Programs Recognizing the importance of connecting young people to supportive environments during their critical preteen years, Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) has identified the characteristics of quality preteen after-school programs that are linked to positive outcomes.
	Running an Afterchool Program Afterschool.gov resources on running a program.
	School-Age Notes A national resource organization on school-age care designed to develop and provide information, technical assistance and resources concerning children and youth in out-of-school settings before and after-school and during vacations.
	State Afterschool Profiles These state profiles provide key data and descriptions of the afterschool landscape, which includes a range of out-of-school time programming that can occur before and after school, on weekends, and during summer months. They are designed to serve as a resource for policymakers, administrators, and providers. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
	Strategies for Improving Out-of-School Programs in Rural Communities A Child Trends brief highlights the challenges faced by rural programs and suggests several strategies, such as coalition building, staff recruitment and resource development that can strengthen them.
	Strengthening Connections Between Schools and After-School Programs A review of the research on effective after-school programs and interviews with active program sites indicate that there are 16 characteristics that lead to comprehensive program planning for integration. This document lists each of these characteristics.
	Teen Trendsetter™ Reading Mentor Program Guided curriculum for teen mentors to provide reading support to under-performing third graders.
	The Afterschool Action Kit A free resource created by the Afterschool Alliance. The Action Kit includes: A checklist of qualities to look for in an after-school program; Information on what after-school programs should offer children from kindergarten through high school.
	The Starbucks Foundation Literacy Program Since the foundation's inception in 1997, they have maintained a focus on the improvement of youth lives through its support of literacy programs for children and families.
	Tips for Effective Service Learning Projects in Out-of-School Time Programs Out-of-School Time Programs can be the perfect setting for service learning.
	Tips for Increasing Community Involvement in Youth Programs This brief discusses ways in which community involvement can be important for out-of-school time programs. It also describes how programs can begin to identify valuable community resources and develop strategies for leveraging community support.
	Tips for Promoting Reading and Literacy in Out-of-School Programs for Children Ages 5-12 Simple ideas for promoting reading and literacy that can be implemented by any out-of-school time program.
	Tips on Homework Help and Academic Skill-Building Activities for After-School Programs Afterschool programs can not only help children get their homework done, they can help children enhance their attitudes toward homework and learning.
	Tips on Program Planning and Activities for Children Ages 5-11 in Out-of-School Time Programs Basic suggestions on developing and implementing successful programming for children ages 5-11 in out-of-school time programs.
	Tips on Summer Curriculum Planning and Activities for Children Ages 5-12 in Summer Programs Ideas for planning a balanced summer curriculum for children ages 5-12 in summer programs. Includes a list of resources for activity planning.
	Using NCLB to Improve Student Achievement An Action Guide for Community and Parent Leaders Prioritizes 10 major areas in No child Left Behind where the public should concentrate its action and is organized as an easy-to-use professional development tool for administrators and teachers.
	Working Together for Children and Families A Community's Guide to Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time: This substantial, informative guide delineates the theoretical basis, experiences and learnings of the first and second phases of the MOST Initiative, including the perspective of its founders

Afterschool Research Resources


	After School Programs in the 21st Century: Their Potential and What It Takes to Achieve It This research brief draws on seminal research and evaluation studies to address two primary questions: (a) Does participation in after school programs make a difference, and, if so (b) what conditions appear to be necessary to achieve positive results? The brief concludes with a set of questions to spur conversation about the evolving role of after school in efforts to expand time and opportunities for children and youth in the 21st century.
	After-School Programs and Academics: Implications for Policy, Practice, and Research No Child Left Behind (NCLB), with its emphasis on standards-based accountability, has put educators under considerable pressure to improve student academic outcomes. Much of the funding for after-school programs comes from education budgets and is administered by state and local education agencies. Consequently, after-school programs are often expected to incorporate academic achievement as an important goal.
	Afterschool Makes the Grade Afterschool research findings.
	Building and Sustaining Citywide Afterschool Initiatives: Experiences of the Cross-Cities Network Ci This paper highlights the experiences of several citywide afterschool initiatives with particular focus on the activities and strategies that contributed to building operational and sustainable citywide delivery of out-of-school time programs.
	Community Counts: How Youth Organizations Matter for Youth Development A report on 10 years of research looking into how community-based organizations contribute to the success of youths growing up in challenging situations.
	Critical Hours Afterschool Programs and Educational Success by Dr. Beth Miller focuses on the effects of afterschool programs on the academic achievement and overall development of middle school students.
	Current-Generation Youth Programs: What Works, What Doesn't and At What Cost? A new RAND report looks at the costs and benefits of youth programs offered during out-of-school time. The strongest evaluation results for at-risk youth come from programs that are costlier and provide more intensive services for youth.
	Expansion of Out-of-School Programs at Improving Student Achievement This 24-page report examines the new focus on out-of-school programs as a way to help California students improve their academic achievement. It also looks at creating quality programs and the emerging policy questions around expanded government funding.
	Gaining Ground: Supporting English Learners Through After-School Literacy Programming This brief presents findings that demonstrate a relationship between key approaches in CORAL, an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative of The James Irvine Foundation, and the academic progress of English learners.
	Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time Programs Benefits of OST Programs
	How Afterschool Programs Can Most Effectively Promote Positive Youth Development This report by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) in association with The Forum for Youth (FYI) investigates how after-school programs in Boston can most effectively promote positive youth development as a support to academic achievemen
	Learning Together A Look at 20 School-Community Initiatives Reports on a project that maps 20 nationally recognized school-community initiatives.
	Literacy: Exploring Strategies to Enhance Learning This paper explores different ways that after-school programs can support children's literacy development.
	Making the Case-A Fact Sheet on Children and Youth in Out-of-School Time This resource is packed with the latest research and information on how children and youth spend their non-school hours, how they benefit from afterschool activities.
	Midcourse Corrections to a Major Initiative: A Report on The CORAL Initiative This report draws lessons from the reorientation of the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative. The report reveals lessons that foundations and nonprofits can learn from the CORAL experience, including the importance of midcourse reviews for multiyear initiatives and the value of setting clear and measurable interim outcomes.
	Moving an Out-of-School Agenda Shares highlights and emergent patterns across the four cities. The report is accompanied by ten short Task Briefs that summarize the common challenges cities face as they attempt to saturate their neighborhoods with high-quality supports and opportunitie
	Moving Beyond the Barriers: Attracting and Sustaining Youth Participation in Out-of-School Time Prog Culls information from several implementation and impact evaluations to develop a set of promising strategies to attract and sustain youth participation in out-of-school time (OST) programs. (Harvard Family Research Project)
	Moving Towards Success: Framework for After-School Programs Describes a theory of change approach to help guide the thinking and implementation of program goals.
	NIOST 2008 Fact Sheet: Benefits from Aftershool Program Participation Data shows that children who have access to out-of-school time activities which are of high quality, designed and staffed by professionals, and are based on youth development research enjoy a wide variety of positive outcomes ranging from school success to better health.
	Outcomes and Research, and Out-of-School Time Program Design This document provides an overview of the national interest in out-of-school time (OST) programs, offers simple definitions and examples of related outcomes, research, and best practices; describes several respected models of effective OST programs.
	Review of Extended-day and After-school Programs and their Effectiveness Reviews the effectiveness of 34 after-school programs and lists components for effective programs. (Johns Hopkins University, Center for Research and Education on Students Placed at Risk
	School-Based Mentoring: A Closer Look The latest information on School Based Mentoring.
	Search Institute Insights & Evidence Web-based publication that presents the latest research from Search Institute on healthy children, youth, and communities in a format that is useful to community leaders and policy makers.
	The ABCs of School Based Mentoring Provides practical information for youth serving organizations that want to implement school-based mentoring programs or strengthen existing ones.
	The Future of Children: When School is Out Compendium of articles written by national experts, on key issues related to after-school care, including the unmet need and challenges of program quality.
	The Growth of After-School Programs and Their Impact This paper reviews the growth of after-school programs, the reasons for their growth and what they hope to accomplish.
	The Learning that Lies Between Play and Academics in After-School Programs What can quality Afterschool programs do to encourage learning, while not creating an overly academic climate? (2000) By David Alexander
	The William T. Grant Foundation Periodically identifies Action Topics when the topic is relevant and significant to policymakers and practitioners.
	Understanding and Measuring Attendance in Out-of-School Time Programs Reviews developmental research and out-of-school time program evaluations to examine three indicators of youth attendance in OST programs intensity, duration, and breadth and offers a few different models for how youth's attendance can influence outcomes

Afterschool Training Resources


	21st CCLC After School Course Free web-based training program by the National Center for Community Education and Enspire Learning designed to assist community organizations develop and sustain their programs through eight interactive multimedia modules.
	Disney Learning Partnership Workshop on After-school Programs Looks at the benefits that a quality after-school program can provide to students, their families, and their community, and discuss ways to create and sustain such programs. Entire site is a workshop with resources for planning after-school programs.
	From Vision to Reality Afterschool Workshop In this workshop we will look at the benefits that a quality afterschool program can provide to students, their families, and their community.

Afterschool Recruitment Resources


	Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family Centered Practices in After School Resource for after school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program.
	Online Volunteer Resources Virtual volunteering allows agencies to expand the benefits of their volunteer programs, by allowing for more volunteers to participate, and by utilizing volunteers in new areas.
	The Virtual Volunteering Guidebook Provides detailed information on the basics of setting up and managing a successful virtual volunteering program.

Afterschool Activities Resources


	After-school Lesson Plan Database This site from the U.S. Department of Education has plans and activities for six content areas, ranging from Art to Technology, that can be sorted by grade level.
	After-School Program Tool Kit Core elements for after-school programming
	Beyond the Bell: A Toolkit for Creating Effective After-School Programs The toolkit introduces you to practical strategies for planning and implementing before school, summer, and extended-day activities.
	Generating Excitement about Math and Science Afterschool programs, especially those at middle and high schools, can heighten students' interest in math and science and sharpen their skills in these subjects.
	goCyberCamp May be used by school-age care professionals to engage children in constructive learning online and offline.
	Hidden Heroes Lesson Plan Hidden Heroes Curriculum (Just Think) Encourages young people to look at media representations of heroes, especially after 9/11, and come up with their own criteria for heroism.
	Partnerships for After-School Success Toolkits Provided by the National Collaboration for Youth, these toolkits are designed for community-based organizations and for local and state education agencies.
	Promising Practices in After School Resources An extensive listing of links to afterschool activities resources.

Afterschool Funding Resources


	Ensuring the Success of After-School Programs P/PV President Gary Walker calls for funders to make strong strategic choices about after-school programs in this issue of Grantmakers for Education Notebook.
	Financing and Sustaining Out-of-School Time Programs in Rural Communities This strategy brief describes the funding landscape of rural programs and highlights the unique challenges confronting rural program leaders. It describes the different public and private resources that can support out-of-school time programming and identifies key strategies that can be used to finance and sustain these programs in rural communities.
	Finding Funding: A Guide to Federal Sources for Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives This guide to federal funding sources is designed to help policymakers, program leaders, system-building advocates and others take advantage of federal funding options
	Funding for Afterschool Finding money to run your afterschool program is easier than you may think. Check out these links to many different kinds of funding sources and helpful information on how to get funding for your program.
	How to Get Money This database has information about more than 100 Federal funding sources for after school and youth development.
	How to Get Money for Faith-based and Community Initiatives by the United States Department of Health Provides an overview of the HHS Grants process including a guide on HHS grant opportunities for faith-based (FBO) and community-based (CBO) organizations, how to apply for an HHS grant, contact information on HHS Principal Granting Agencies and more.
	Major Sources of Afterschool Funding Links to after-school funding streams at the federal, state and local levels. Includes worksheets, tips, publications and links.
	Sample Grant Proposals Sample grant proposals to views in PDF. Use the samples to learn what a good needs statement contains, to see what goals and objectives are and how the activities relate to those goals objectives, and to see how an evaluation plan is designed.
	The Finance Project, Out of School Time Project The Finance Project is a non-profit research, technical assistance and information organization designed to help improve outcomes for children, families and communities.
	Using NCLB Funds to Support Extended Learning Time: Opportunities for Afterschool Programs Information on accessing NCLB funds

Afterschool Evaluation Resources


	Advancing Achievement: Findings from an Independent Evaluation of a Major After-School Initiative This report represents outcomes from Public/Private Ventures research on CORAL, an eight-year $58 million after-school initiative of the James Irvine Foundation. The brief of this report underscores the potential of after-school programs in the ongoing drive to advance children's academic achievement.
	Afterschool Outcomes Afterschool Programs Proven to Improve Academic Achievement, Keep Kids Safe and Help Working Families (Afterschool Alliance)
	Detangling Data Collection: Methods for Gathering Data Description of commonly used data collection methods by current OST programs to evaluate their implementation and outcomes. (Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshots, series, Harvard Family Research Project)
	Out of School Time publications and tools OST publications and tools, including Issues and Opportunities in Out-of-School Time Evaluation series of briefs, information on creating logic models, evaluation terminology and more.
	Out-of-School Time Learning and Development Project/OST Evaluation Database Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) launched a pilot database of OST evaluations on its website in the Fall of 2001. This resource has been revised, expanded, and re-released on the site.
	Out-of-School Time Program Evaluation: Tools for Action NWREL's latest after school publication enables administrators to gain valuable information that not only influences program direction but also helps in fulfilling grant reporting requirements.
	Performance Measures in Out-of-School Time Evaluation Outlines the academic, youth development, and prevention performance measures currently being used by OST programs to assess their progress, and the corresponding data sources for these measures.
	Promoting Quality Through Professional Development: A Framework for Evaluation This brief examines OST professional development efforts and offer a framework for their evaluation.
	Should After-School Programs be Measured by How Well They Improve Academic Outcomes? In our climate of standards-based accountability, after-school programs -- many of which are funded through education budgets -- are increasingly evaluated on their ability to improve education outcomes. Does that crowd out other important goals or override other approaches that may appeal more to youth? This report by Robert C. Granger, executive director of the W.T. Grant Foundation, looks at research and statements by practitioners and advocates, and offers promising approaches to effective programming.
	Supporting Success: Why and How to Improve Quality in After-School Programs This report examines the program improvement strategies, step-by-step, that allowed The James Irvine Foundation's CORAL initiative to achieve the levels of quality needed to boost the academic success of participating students.
	The Evaluation Exchange Newsletter provides a range of evaluation information and research and offers a forum for dialogue among policymakers, program practitioners, educators, and evaluators so they may learn from one another.

Afterschool Startup Resources

Mentoring Program Development: a Start-up Toolkit

Resource from NWREL covering the basic steps in setting up a program from scratch. An excellent starting point for those who are just thinking about building a new program or grafting mentoring services onto an existing youth development effort.

The Building Blocks of a Good After-School Program

Provides a step-by-step guide to creating a new, or expanding an existing after-school program.

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