Building State Capacity and Supporting Statewide Afterschool Networks

About this grant

This grant will enable the Council of Chief State School Officers to continue to provide technical assistance to the statewide afterschool networks as a partner of the Afterschool Technical Assistance Collaborative (a group of national organizations working to support the development of statewide networks through technical assistance); provide collaborative opportunities for the existing network of state agency staff that implement the 21st Century Community Learning Centers and Supplemental Educational Services programs; support the development of its Extended Learning Opportunities task force; and develop a tool kit to provide additional guidance to states focused on state-level policy development. The council will also co-implement a project with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the National Conference of State Legislatures to provide intensive technical assistance to further afterschool policies with state leadership teams comprised of state legislators, education chiefs, governors’ policy advisors and statewide afterschool network leaders.During the past eight years, the council has worked with its membership, the chief state school officers and the state education agencies to increase their understanding of the critical role that their agencies can play in expanding and sustaining high-quality afterschool opportunities that are widely available to those that need them.