When kids start school they are learning to read between Pre-K and 3rd grade. After this point, children must read to learn. According to the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, “Reading proficiency by third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success. Yet every year, more than 80 percent of […]
CONTINUE READINGLocal Connecticut Program Highlighted in National Magazine The other day I was meeting with the Connecticut After School Network Board Chair Vince LaFontan in his office about a recent article that was published in the Child Care Exchange about his program.
CONTINUE READINGThe Wallace Foundation has posted a very important study on the effects of voluntary district run summer learning programs on low-income urban youth. The study incorporated five school districts—Boston; Dallas; Duval County, Florida; Pittsburgh; and Rochester, New York—and assessed their effects on more than 3,000 students. This long term study has followed a group of students […]
CONTINUE READINGCollaboration has been the buzzword for the past eight to ten years and with good reason. Partnerships allow your program to expand offerings, get more voices at the table, and perhaps serve more kids in the process. There is potential in collaboration that if left untapped could leave your program as a sole island in […]
CONTINUE READINGLocal voice matters…I recently looked over the signatories of a letter that is going to Congress about after school. As I looked down the list, after Arkansas and California’s large showing, I got to Connecticut. Only two organizations had signed on. According to the Afterschool Alliance blog, this letter was signed by more than 100 national and 560 […]
CONTINUE READINGThe deadline to vote for the 2015 NAA Board of Directors is quickly approaching. Voting closes Friday June 12th! With nine candidates running, your vote matters Connecticut! Take a few minutes today and vote for Tracey Lay. Having worked in the field for over 25 years and serving on multiple statewide boards and committees, she […]
CONTINUE READINGThis month, a new slate of board members will be voted on for the National Afterschool Association. In the running this year is Connecticut’s own Tracey Lay. She is the Director of School Age Programs and Development Services at EDUCATION CONNECTION in Litchfield. Here is some information for you to get to know her better… […]
CONTINUE READINGEarlier this month, the National Afterschool Association held their Annual Convention just outside of Washington, DC. The focus of the convention was telling the story after school programs play in the lives of children and youth everyday. A group of students from Connecticut were selected to be on a workshop panel to share their thoughts, ideas, […]
CONTINUE READINGA cornerstone of after school programming has always been to support the social and emotional needs of children. After school provides the opportunity for teamwork, collaboration, empathetic expression, and other “soft skills” children need for the 21st century workforce. These experiences, according to Durlak and Weissberg (2013), are a contributing factor to student achievement as […]
CONTINUE READINGThere is a certain allure to being on the edge of something new, something innovative, something exciting. Think for a second about having to have the new iPhone, new Playstation, the new Fitbit. Education reform is similar with trends, fads, measures, and terminology. Some of these notions stick and become part of the vernacular, others […]
CONTINUE READING