Table Of ContentLeadership of
Afterschool and
Supplemental Education
This book explores the design and implementation of effective supplementary
education programs that best prepare students for post-secondary life. Drawing
from research and best practice in the fields of supplementary and afterschool
education, youth development, and school–college–community partnerships,
this book outlines a balanced approach to viewing supplementary education
and community-based programs, which when designed alongside classroom
learning, can meet the needs of underserved youth. This book challenges
aspiring educational leaders to confront the traditional approach to curriculum
as the sole purview of the classroom and instead positions supplementary
education as a tool to improve schools and student success.
Chapters discuss designing, implementing, and sustaining supplementary
education programs that positively impact the social, emotional, and academic
development of secondary school students, as well as effective strategies for
developing stronger connections with the community. This text is designed for
use in graduate preparation programs in educational leadership and includes
pedagogical features such as learning objectives, reflective exercises, portfolio-
building activities, and alignment to educational leadership standards.
Hazel M. Carter is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the City
College of New York, USA.
Leadership of
Afterschool and
Supplemental Education
Creating Seamless Pathways to
Post-Secondary Life
CARTER
HAZEL M.
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Hazel M. Carter
The right of Hazel M. Carter to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-63981-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-64093-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-12213-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003122135
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This book is dedicated to two very special people. First, to my son Jerome
Carter, who as a child inspired me to seek out quality out-of-school
experiences which allowed him to thrive and to become whole. And to my
sister, Alsuna Millington, who steadfastly continues to be my rock of support.
CONTENTS
Foreword viii
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xix
ChapTEr 1 Gaps in Services, Infrastructure, and Opportunities 1
ChapTEr 2 Using Youth Development to Reframe
Supplemental Education: Developing a
Conceptional Framework for Student Success 19
ChapTEr 3 Enlisting Community Support for Supplemental
Education 40
ChapTEr 4 Reconfiguring the Role of School Support Staff:
Lessons from the Community 58
ChapTEr 5 Impact of Afterschool Education on College
Persistence 79
ChapTEr 6 Partners in Lifelong Learning: Engaging Parents
and Families in the Success of Children 111
ChapTEr 7 Students Taking the Lead: The Importance of
Peer Mentoring 124
ChapTEr 8 Expanding STEM Education Opportunities
through Supplemental Education 140
ChapTEr 9 Funding Afterschool and Supplemental
Education Programs 158
ChapTEr 10 Some Concluding Thoughts 170
Appendix A: LaGuardia Community College/Queens Urban
Partnership GEAR UP Activities 175
Appendix B: Middle Grades Report 178
Appendix C: GEAR UP Afterschool, Saturday, and Summer
Student Programs 193
Index 196
vii
FOrEWOrD
Afterschool programs, in spite of whether they are theme-focused or compre-
hensive in their approaches, offer the kinds of supportive environments neces-
sary and invaluable for adolescents to have access to adults, opportunities to
become learners, and options to improve their life trajectories.
The newly published book, Leadership of Afterschool and Supplemental
Education, comes at a most opportune time for everyone with an interest
in identifying creative and informed ways to keep youth engaged in learn-
ing, especially youth who do not necessarily have positive reference groups in
their immediate environments and therefore may be motivated neither to even
enter nor graduate from high school. The author acknowledges that while
schools are essential for promoting and preparing youth for adulthood and
life, schools are rarely equipped to provide the essential social, emotional,
and even academic tools needed today by young people in middle and high
schools. Many youth, especially youth of color, have little or no access to
the special skillset required for successful participation in today’s society.
However, if and when they participate in high-quality afterschool programs,
their academic and social-emotional needs will be met by a range of caring
adults who may be counselors, teachers, mentors, or even peers.
Many essays, articles, the media, and other voices have pondered about
the loss of learning for children and youth nationwide because the COVID
pandemic has lasted so long. Prior to COVID, the focus was usually on “sum-
mer loss”, especially as observed in children and youth from communities that
were struggling economically and socially. Aware of the remarkable work being
accomplished and the positive results being achieved by numerous afterschool
programs, the answer, to me, was obvious: fund and expand afterschool pro-
grams to improve student learning across the grades. I was therefore heartened
to read Dr. Carter’s statement that “the interruption in learning brought about
by the Covid pandemic has shown us that supplemental education is even more
critical in helping students meet their academic needs”.
We are presented with evidence from the research and her own observa-
tions about how adolescents learn best and how they may be engaged in learn-
ing; the need for their teachers to be knowledgeable about adolescent growth
and development; and the importance of their own continued professional
development. Every element critical to the learning, planning, and implemen-
tation of afterschool programs, also known as supplementary education, has
been identified and its results/impact amplified through vignettes from exist-
ing programs. The inclusion of lessons learned at the end of each chapter will
be invaluable to the field of afterschool education and especially to organiza-
tions like PASE whose founding goal in 1993 was to meet the training needs
of multiple level employees in the afterschool and nonprofit world.
viii
F oreword ix
The idea for an organization addressing the training needs of after-
school and other nonprofit staff grew from compelling research in the late
1980s revealing that youth in poor urban neighborhoods were at risk for
many negative outcomes due to factors such as changing family and work
patterns, welfare reform, negative educational experiences, and lack of car-
ing adults with whom youth could form positive relationships. Many after-
school programs for children and youth existed in the city; however, there
was little or no coordination among them and no shared results from exem-
plary models to be replicated. To change this situation, practitioners and
funders came together and after thoughtful discussions, and acknowledg-
ing the emerging research on adolescent development, resiliency, and youth
as community assets, founded the Partnership for Afterschool Education
(PASE), also mentioned in the book. Another goal in those early discussions
was to professionalize the afterschool field by requiring that the core of
afterschool programming had to be based on youth development principles
alongside academic support activities and that youth development would
be the conceptual framework for successfully serving youth. During that
period, there were conferences, articles in abundance extolling the value
of afterschool experiences, and scholarly research as well as new funding
streams for programs. More recently, there seems to have been a dearth of
articles and research, until now.
Since that period, the numbers of afterschool programs have increased to
meet both comprehensive educational or theme-specific needs, and the new
leaders need and will find much guidance in this book, from assessing com-
munity and school needs to involving school support teams, e.g., social work-
ers, to writing proposals for funding. Dr. Carter advocates for afterschool
and schools to work together to improve student outcomes and recognizes
that because the design of afterschool programs varies widely, from multi-
purpose, academically oriented/college prep to specialty interest, e.g., sports
and theater, there is no one perfect model. However, there is evidence that
students attending high-quality afterschool programs show marked improve-
ment in their school attendance and school work.
Practitioners and educators will discover effective strategies to engage
students, parents, and caregivers in their children’s education. The current
challenge is using those strategies successfully in a virtual environment, espe-
cially when students turn off their cameras. In general, some strategies include
smaller student groupings, flexible scheduling, curriculum integration, advi-
sories, peer and adult mentoring, providing stem education, and even the
range of funding available and how to obtain them. Attention should also be
paid to the many transitions in the lives of adolescents, especially the transi-
tion to large high schools and later, to college. All these transitions could be
eased through thoughtful planning for visits and tours to the high schools
and/or college prior to attending. Peer mentoring where older students mentor
younger ones has proven to not only benefit the younger children but also help
the older mentors. In addition, using college students as mentors could pro-
vide a mix of benefits. Besides college students becoming a natural resource
