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After-School Programs to Promote Positive Youth Development pp 1–12Cite as

Why After-School Matters for Positive Youth Development

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Abstract

The developmental importance of informal and experiential learning in child and adolescent development has been well documented. The terms non-academic and non-cognitive are increasingly being used to describe abilities that are important for educational success, reflecting tenets of positive youth development. Indeed, educators, policy makers and end-users are now calling for more and better learning opportunities and better and broader learning outcomes. After-school leaders and positive youth development researchers and champions have a unique opportunity to inform and even shape these new discussions. Doing so, however, will require greater discipline and closer collaboration between researchers and practitioners than has been needed in the past. This chapter reflects on the history and importance of the relationship between the after-school and positive youth development fields and presents next steps for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers who want to help move positive youth development principles more firmly into after-school policy and practice. Doing so would not only position after-school programs as critical contexts for positive youth development, but demonstrate the transferability and relevance of the assessment, training and improvement tools created for after-school programs for other systems and settings charged with supporting youths’ learning.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For review, see Mahoney, Vandell, Simpkins, & Zarrett (2009). See also Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins (2004), Eccles & Gootman (2002), Halpern (2003).

  2. 2.

    21st CCLC Program Goal: To establish community learning centers that help students in high-poverty, low-performing schools meet academic achievement standards; to offer a broad array of additional services designed to complement the regular program; and to offer families of students opportunities for educational development (DOE 2005, Web site; Chappell, 2006).

  3. 3.

    Specific examples associated with these trends are numerous but include: (a) the Noyce Foundation’s investments in programming and advocacy for STEM in afterschool, Mayoral commitments tracked through the National League of Cities, including cities as varied as New York City and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Superintendent and mayoral leadership in the cities associated with the Every Hour Counts network, the Wallace Foundation’s support of both the Afterschool Alliance (on disparities in availability) and the Chicago Consortium on School Reform (on noncognitive skills), the Nellie Mae Foundation’s support for student videos focused on reimagining learning, and the Youth Transition Funders Group’s commitment to developing a well-being framework for child welfare and juvenile justice programs.

  4. 4.

    NAS Report, 2010. Committee on Advancing Social Science Theory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Forum for Youth Investment, Washington, DC, USA

    Karen Pittman

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  1. Karen Pittman
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Correspondence to Karen Pittman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Virginia , Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

    Nancy L. Deutsch

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Pittman, K. (2017). Why After-School Matters for Positive Youth Development. In: Deutsch, N. (eds) After-School Programs to Promote Positive Youth Development. SpringerBriefs in Psychology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59132-2_1

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