Out-of-School Time (OST) Webinar Series

The Wallace Foundation, along with the Forum for Youth Investment, the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems and the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families, is hosting a free, three-part webinar series on out-of-school time (OST) system building. OST describes the span of time during which children and adolescents are not in school and often have a need for other types of programming. Research has shown that programming during this time period is a way to reduce the achievement gap, particularly for low-performing, high-poverty schools. Implementing programming during this time period, may help to create a culture of high expectations and success for students and families in the community, as well as provide students with the opportunity to receive critical enrichment opportunities.  In 2010, the Obama Administration created funding opportunities for OST, among other programs to improve early childhood education.

The first webinar, All About Intermediaries, will take place on August 16 and will focus on the importance and effectiveness of intermediaries when building OST systems. Intermediaries are partners that work to connect local after-school programs, schools and neighborhood organizations with policymakers and funding sources. Because intermediaries maintain close relationships with all these after-school stakeholders, they are able to translate the varied interests of these organizations into effective practice for kids. Intermediaries have succeeded in increasing the quality and capacity of programs, bringing financial and human resources to the after-school field, evaluating the impact of after-school, and making programs more accountable.

On September 18th, the second webinar, Harnessing the Power of Data, will discuss a National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families report comparing major management information system vendors and offer guidance from The Wallace Foundation’s recently released data tip sheets. Data is a powerful way to evaluate the effectiveness of a program, as well as create information for funders. The last webinar, Improving Quality Systemwide, will be held on October 11th. This session will go over a how-to guide for OST system-builders to recognize key stages and steps in building effective, sustainable and systemic approaches to quality improvement systems (QIS) for afterschool time.

All webinars begin at 1pm EST and will last approximately one hour.

For more information and to register for the webinar(s), please click here.