After school programs should be more than custodial care; they should be enriching learning environments that support the school’s curriculum and nurtures children’s cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development.
Emerging research on the quality of after school programs finds that high-quality programs share certain characteristics. In this article, we’ll walk you through each of the nine characteristics of quality after school programs, and show you how AlphaBEST embodies each one. To get your own copy of the research, contact us here.
NINE Characteristics of Quality After School Programs
AlphaBEST has a clear mission for its after school programs: to partner with schools and families to engage children’s minds, expand their horizons, and provide parents with a sense of security. AlphaBEST puts children first by arming them with social skills they’ll use their entire lives.
All AlphaBEST programs meet state licensing requirements. The staff is well-prepared with comprehensive in-person and virtual training in curriculum, child development, student safety, and behavior management.
AlphaBEST uses the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) evidence-based approach to establish the social, cultural, and behavioral supports needed to be an effective learning environment for all students. It is a team-based process for systemic problem solving and planning. As a high-quality afterschool program, AlphaBEST makes intentional, positive connections with the schools of the children they serve. Careful supervision and staff training ensure that AlphaBEST provides a safe and healthy environment in accordance with state requirements.
While AlphaBEST will dedicate time for students to complete their homework assignments with staff assistance provided, they don’t stop there to improve academic success. AlphaBEST’s wide variety of enrichment experiences—spanning STEM, world languages and culture, the arts and entertainment, and fitness and wellness—give students many opportunities to explore their interests, engage in collaborative problem solving with their peers, and develop real-world skills.
The AlphaBEST program is designed to include opportunities for student voice, choice, and autonomy. Students engage in clubs of their choosing at the end of each day. Club themes are rotated throughout the year and informed by student interests and staff talents.
In the Broadcast News unit, students design a local news program. Students decide the format, engage in investigative reporting, design the TV studio set, assign roles among the team members, and produce a news segment.
AlphaBEST offers the “broad array” of activities that Shernoff and Vandell (2007) found in their research on effective after school programs. The variety of activities provide daily enrichment experiences that build on and extend beyond learning during the school day—in an environment that is exploratory, collaborative, adjustable to the needs and interest of the students, and pressure-free. Many of the AlphaBEST learning projects feature hands-on, experiential learning. For example, in the engineering unit, AlphaBEST students are challenged to engage in the design thinking process and create solutions to real world problems. In another unit, students build, design, and then race an alternative fuel race car.
AlphaBEST builds a strong partnership among the school, the afterschool program, and the families it serves. They work closely with districts to form a seamless partnership. School staff is invited to work in the program; the site director communicates regularly with the school principal or designee; and AlphaBEST’s behavior guidelines are in careful alignment with school policies around behavior expectations.
AlphaBEST partners with content experts to develop an engaging, after school enrichment curriculum that bridges learning and fun through highly engaging activities like coding, robotics, dramatic arts, visual arts, stop motion animation, video production, world languages, and fitness and wellness.
AlphaBEST creates an environment of mutually caring, trustful, and respectful relationships between youth and adults. Their local staff facilitate learning, through hands-on fun and interactive lesson plans, placing the facilitator in the middle of the learning, building trusting relationships with students.
AlphaBEST’s Enrichment Activities
After school programs such as AlphaBEST help children develop the skills they will use for success throughout their lives by creating a safe and welcoming environment that makes learning fun. For the full version of this research paper, please fill out the form here.