TASC eNews: December 2009

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	Upcoming Events: January 24 – 27 Child Welfare League of America 2010 National Conference Child Welfare League of America Washington, DC February 17 Beyond School Hours XIII – Expanding Foundations for Learning Conference US Department of Education, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Foundations, Inc. Jacksonville, FL February 18 Curbing Childhood Obesity: Lessons from the Six-City Community Wellness Project National League of Cities Teleconference February 19 – 21 Annual Reaching At-Promise Students National Conference Reaching At-Promise Students Association San Diego, CA February 22 2010 Beacons National Conference Youth Development Institute New York, NY March 4 – 6 Promising Practices – Proven Strategies: Afterschool Programs Working for Pennsylvania's Youth Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Center for Schools and Communities Harrisburg, PA March 11 – 13 Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting Society for Research on Adolescence Philadelphia, PA March 16 – 19 2010 Tri-State Camp Conference American Camp Association - NY Atlantic City, NJ March 18 – 21 2010 National Science Teachers Association Conference National Science Teachers Association Philadelphia, PA March 24 – 27 National Service-Learning Conference National Youth Leadership Council San Jose, CA March 25 Using Out-of-School Time Programs for Older Youth to Improve College Access and Workforce Development National League of Cities Teleconference April 7 – 29 Coalition for Community Schools National Forum Coalition for Community Schools Philadelphia, PA April 19 – 21 National AfterSchool Association (NAA) Convention and Afterschool for All Challenge National AfterSchool Association and Afterschool Alliance Washington, DC April 28 – May 1 BOOST (Best of Out-of-School Time) Conference BOOST Collaborative Palm Springs, CA April 30 – May 1 2010 AERA Annual Meeting American Educational Research Association Denver, CO JOBS Policy Coordinator The After-School Corporation New York, NY Part-Time Group Leader CAMBA Brooklyn, NY Part-Time Program Assistant CAMBA Brooklyn, NY After-School Counselor Flushing YMCA Queens, NY Adolescent Services Liaison Police Athletic League of New York Vacancies in Bronx, Brooklyn & Manhattan			FEATURE Tapping the After-School Workforce Potential More than a million people work in after-school programs, including many for whom it's their first job. TASC is proposing ways to establish clear systems of professional development and easily navigable career pathways that link training and education with job advancement. Good for after-school programs and good for staff, creating after-school career pathways is also a great job development strategy for related fields, including teaching. After-school educators are a highly diverse, motivated group of citizens who acquire valuable on the job-training and experience in working with kids. Their participation in formal and informal training should build toward attainment of college degrees. These and other recommendations are included in a newly published policy brief, "Room to Grow: Tapping the After-School Workforce Potential" from TASC. In it, we share promising approaches for helping after-school educators enhance their practice and further their career goals. LEGISLATIVE WATCH Federal The House and Senate passed an appropriations bill for the upcoming year that includes a $35 million increase to the major federal funding stream for after-school programs, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. As a result, 35,000 more students nationwide would have access to after-school programs in 2010. In addition, the Corporation for National and Community Service is slated to receive a $1.149 billion appropriation, the largest in the agency's history, to support national service programs such as AmeriCorps, which recruits volunteers to work in after-school programs. Both appropriations are awaiting presidential approval. New York State Earlier this month, the New York State legislature passed a Deficit Reduction Plan (DRP) which provided mid-year budget cuts to virtually all state agencies and disproportionately harmed after-school programs. In a troubling development, the legislature's DRP cuts to after-school and youth development funding exceeded the cuts proposed by the governor. The legislature cut Office of Children and Family Services youth development programming by $5.5 million. Other critical cuts to after-school include a 12.5% cut to the Extended Day/Violence Prevention program run by the State Education department. As a result of these mid-year reductions, we anticipate that after-school programs will be forced to reduce the number of kids they serve (about 8,000 kids) and the number of staff employed at these sites (about 800) when kids return to school after the holidays. Families will have the difficult task of finding alternatives at mid-year to daily after-school programs that keep kids safe while parents work. WHAT'S LUCY READING? TASC President Lucy N. Friedman catches you up on her list of must-reads: An article in the December newsletter of the Center for Social and Emotional Education contains a review of the research on how to cultivate connections between high school students and their schools. Research scientist Janet Whitlock concludes that "the most disconnected kids have the most to gain by opportunities to connect." We've seen the same results in our City Connection program, where we train high school students to work with younger kids in after-school programs. Ms. Whitlock finds, however, that the kids who have the most to gain are not the ones most likely to be offered chances to connect with adults in their schools. Those opportunities go most often to kids who have proven their academic or leadership capabilities. It's not a surprising finding, but one that sheds light on persistent achievement gaps. One of the points of City Connection is to steer those opportunities to kids at risk of dropping out. In a recent column, Bob Herbert at The New York Times kvelled over the promise of a tuition-free, three-year doctoral program in educational leadership that Harvard Graduate School of Education is offering. Students will spend year three in a "field placement." Every chance I get, I urge schools of education to place future teachers and educational leaders in out-of-school time settings, both to expose them to multiple ways of teaching and learning, but also to prepare them to form strong working relationships that deliver kids fully-rounded educations. A six-year study of community organizing as a strategy for public school reform is summarized in a new book by Kavitha Mediratta, a program officer at New York Community Trust, and her co-authors from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. In "Community Organizing for Stronger Schools: Strategies and Successes," they describe how community organizers worked with school leaders and districts in eight cities to create "effective inside-outside relationships" in support of common goals. Their research found that the most effective organizing campaigns increased the responsiveness of district leaders to the concerns of low-income parents; secured substantial new resources and assured their equitable distribution; and introduced new policy to improve curriculum, school organization, teacher recruitment and preparation, and parent engagement. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Watershed Forestry Bus Tour Program Deadline: January 15 Watershed Agricultural Council offers matching grants to groups that plan field trips to the New York City water supply watershed regions. Nonprofit organizations and schools can apply for up to $3,000 in funding for one- to three-day watershed and forestry tours in the Catskill Mountains and the East-of-Hudson regions. School Library Technology Makeover Contest Deadline: January 17 Acer and Intel are accepting online nominations for the Acer K-12 School Library Makeover Contest. Winning schools will receive 12 new computers for their libraries, valued at $12,000. Coming Up Taller Awards Deadline: January 29 These awards recognize after-school and out-of-school programs that focus on the arts and humanities. Finalists will receive a $10,000 award, an invitation to attend the Coming Up Taller Leadership Enhancement Conference in Washington, DC, and other prizes. Christopher Columbus Awards Deadline: February 8 This awards program challenges students to work in teams to identify a problem in their community and apply the scientific method to create an innovative solution. Prizes include all-expense-paid trips to Walt Disney World to attend the program's National Championship Week, savings bonds, and development grants. One team will win a $25,000 grant. For the most up-to-date funding opportunities, be sure to visit the Youth Funders Database.
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