Out-of-school-time learning isn't what it used to be.
What once was viewed as not much more
than after-school child care has evolved into a profession
that is challenged to engage kids in
innovative ways, both after school and during the
summertime.
"It has to be relevant or kids, particularly high
school kids, won't come," said Marty Cifrese,
Bridges Program manager for the Howard County (Md.) Public
Schools.
Cifrese is among 17 people from a variety of
backgrounds who were on the Homewood campus
Jan. 17 and 18 to kick-start the Johns Hopkins School of Education's
new graduate certificate
program in Out-of-School-Time Learning Management. Students
included managers who run frontline
programs, grant administrators and others involved in
out-of-school-time learning, from four states
and Washington, D.C.
The mostly online program aims to develop leaders to
run high-quality out-of-school programs at
a time when the field is gaining in prominence.
"This is an exciting time for both after-school and
summer learning," said Ron Fairchild,
executive director of the Center for Summer
Learning at the
School of Education, which created and
runs the program. Perceptions of after-school learning have
changed, Fairchild said, from simply
providing safe child care to delivering programs that are
more accountable for producing results in
terms of developmental and academic outcomes for young
people.
"With the growing awareness about the challenges that
young people face in the global economy,
there is a critical need for leaders in the
out-of-school-time field to develop new strategies and
techniques to help young people succeed," Fairchild
said.
During an intensive, two-day, on-campus program, the
participants got their first classroom
immersion into the field. They discussed how to overcome
challenges and became familiar with the
latest research related to after-school and summer
learning, including the finding that two-thirds of
the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth
can be explained by unequal access to
summer learning opportunities. They also learned about
recent research that examined successful
programs and found that those with the most impact didn't
always rely on traditional teaching
techniques.
"We often think that after-school and summer programs
need to look like punitive tutoring and
intensive academic remediation in order for those programs
to be effective and produce results,"
Fairchild said. "It's important to understand that [that]
isn't what most parents and children want
from our programs. In order to close income-based
achievement gaps, we need to support programs
for young people in high-poverty communities that provide
access to the arts, music, sports and other
types of enrichment that more affluent young people
participate in routinely."
As examples, students cited programs that involve
project-based learning that is deeply rooted
in what interests young people. Schools in Baltimore City,
for example, offer video game design,
Microsoft certification and music production. And a school
in Kentucky had an enthusiastic response to
a class called Making Your Own Guitar, which involved
reading, history, math, measuring and problem
solving.
"There's been a remarkable change in
out-of-school-time learning, which in many ways is
beginning to push the boundaries of the traditional school
calendar that has constrained our thinking
about what constitutes teaching and learning for too long,"
Fairchild said. "The people in this room will
continue to drive that change over the next 20 years and
will help reshape what types of teaching and
learning experiences all young people should have access to
throughout the day and year."
The class is mostly online but requires three
face-to-face meetings and attendance at the
center's Summer Changes Everything conference April 17 and
18 in Albuquerque, N.M.
The certificate can be combined with another School of
Education graduate certificate to earn
a master's degree in education.