Beyond the Bell: Turning Research into Action in Afterschool and Expanded Learning
How can we better support young people as they develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, work, and life? What knowledge, attitudes, and skills do young people need to be ready for work? How do afterschool programs contribute to the development of social and emotional competencies in young people and how can we prove it?
To address these and other key questions, AIR released a series of briefs and tools focused on how afterschool programs can support the social and emotional development of young people. Beyond the Bell: Research to Action in the Afterschool and Expanded Learning Field was designed to make research on the afterschool and expanded learning field accessible, easy to read, and ultimately useful in practice.
Defining and Assessing Social and Emotional Learning
Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Quality Afterschool Programs is an overview of work done both in afterschool and school-based settings to define social and emotional learning. It includes recent research on how afterschool programs support the development of social and emotional competencies, and offers some next step recommendations to both practitioners and researchers.
Social and Emotional Learning Practices: A Self-Reflection Tool for Afterschool Staff is designed to help afterschool program staff reflect upon their own social and emotional competencies and their ability to support young people's social and emotional learning through program practices.
How Social and Emotional Learning Affects Employability
Over the past decade, afterschool programs have focused on preparing young people for the workforce by developing good work habits and a strong work ethic. Ready for Work? How Afterschool Programs Can Support Employability Through Social and Emotional Learning addresses the importance of those programs also supporting the development of social and emotional learning competencies.
The related planning tool is designed to help afterschool staff identify priority areas for employability skills building based on youth and employer input, and plan next steps based on that input.
Connecting Schools and Afterschool Through Social and Emotional Learning
School-day and afterschool programs must work together to support young people as they develop. Linking Schools and Afterschool Through Social and Emotional Learning covers the policy context reflecting a growing interest in social and emotional learning and discusses how afterschool and in-school educators can work together.
The In-School and Afterschool Social and Emotional Learning Connection planning tool is designed for afterschool and in-school staff to reflect independently on their goals for social and emotional learning and discuss how best to work collaboratively toward a common goal.
A core mission of the Afterschool and Expanded Learning team at AIR is to be both consumers and producers of rigorous research and to share with the field what we learn. Practitioners help young people grow and learn every day. Researchers study this work to understand how it helps youth, families, and communities. Our work is designed to connect the dots so that we can learn from one another. Read more about our services in Afterschool and Expanded Learning.
