Planning for Afterschool Academies

About this grant

As a result of increased visibility and demand from families, as well as increased federal funding, afterschool programs have become a priority at the national, state and local levels. A challenge facing afterschool programs is providing content-rich learning experiences linked with school-day learning that contribute to children’s academic achievement as well as social, emotional and physical development. Funding will enable the Educational Development Center to contribute to the development of three afterschool academies that will promote high-quality afterschool programs supporting student success. Objectives during the planning phase include developing ways to enhance the professional development offered in the areas of technology integration, information literacy or media production; demonstrating ways technology integration can further efforts to strengthen program assessment and evaluation and improve retention; and create a vision of using information technology as a vehicle for ongoing professional staff development.The center has been working to connect the worlds of research, policy and practice for more than 40 years. Its programs and products advance learning and healthy development for individuals and institutions.This is one of five Mott grants created to support the planning of afterschool academies.