A recent article from the Wallace Foundation highlights an important truth for everyone working with young people: adolescence is not simply a phase to “get through,” but a critical developmental period filled with enormous potential. Drawing on insights from neuroscientist Dr. Adriana Galván, the piece explores how brain science can help educators, youth-serving organizations, and communities better understand and support adolescents during this transformative stage of life.

According to the article, adolescence begins around puberty and can extend into the early twenties. During this time, the brain undergoes rapid growth and reorganization, especially in areas connected to learning, emotional development, decision-making, and social relationships. Researchers emphasize that these years are marked by heightened curiosity, exploration, and sensitivity to social connection — all of which create powerful opportunities for positive youth development.

One of the most important takeaways from the research is that risk-taking and experimentation are not simply problematic behaviors to manage; they are also natural parts of adolescent development. Young people are biologically wired to seek new experiences, test boundaries, and explore their identities. When supported by caring adults and safe environments, those same traits can fuel creativity, leadership, resilience, and learning.

The article also reinforces the critical role that out-of-school-time (OST) programs play in adolescent development. Programs that provide supportive relationships, engaging activities, mentorship, and opportunities for skill-building can help young people channel their energy and curiosity in positive ways. Whether through afterschool programs, summer learning opportunities, arts enrichment, sports, or leadership development, these experiences contribute to healthy brain development and long-term success.

For educators, youth advocates, and community leaders, this research offers an important reminder: relationships matter. Adolescents thrive when they feel seen, valued, challenged, and connected to trusted adults and peers. Creating environments where young people feel safe to explore, ask questions, and develop their identities is essential to helping them reach their full potential.

Click through to read more about why this insight matters and how it is central to the Wallace Foundation’s Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents (AOA) initiative, which is working with cross-sector partnerships to expand access to high-quality, interest-driven learning opportunities outside of school.

We are pleased to announce the release of the latest issue of the Journal of Youth Development, highlighting research and practice innovations that deepen our understanding of youth development across diverse settings, systems, and experiences. Together, these articles illuminate how intentional programs, relationships, and learning environments can strengthen youth outcomes and advance equity in the field.

JYD is supported by partners including the National AfterSchool Association. Check out the latest issue here!

What if communities could make faster progress toward long-term economic mobility for young people by more intentionally leveraging assets that already exist? A new initiative from the Wallace Foundation is exploring that very question, with a particular focus on adolescents and out-of-school time.

Launched this fall, the Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents (AOA) Initiative brings together cross-sector partnerships in seven communities nationwide to examine how youth development organizations can play a more central role in cradle-to-career strategies. Over multiple years, the initiative will generate research, tools, and lessons designed to strengthen coordination, expand access, and help young people, especially those facing the greatest barriers, explore future pathways earlier.

In a recent interview, Bronwyn Bevan, Wallace’s Vice President of Research, explains why adolescence is such a critical window for this work. “Adolescence is such an amazing moment of opportunity. Anybody who has had adolescents in their lives knows that it’s like this chrysalis moment when a young person suddenly is metamorphosing into their future selves,” she notes. Research increasingly shows that young people at this stage need supportive spaces where they can be challenged, seen, and encouraged to expand their horizons, something the youth development sector does especially well when adequately resourced and connected.

The AOA Initiative will look closely at how OST programs can be better coordinated, how adults can be supported in guiding youth, and whether fully leveraging the sector can accelerate workforce readiness and long-term mobility goals.

Read the full article and interview to learn what Wallace hopes to discover, how the research will unfold, and what this work could mean for communities across the country.

The Global Extended Learning and Youth Development Association (GELYDA) recently released the inaugural issue of Extensions, their bi-annual magazine. Check out Extensions: The Workforce Edition today!

Webinar: Thriving Evidence: How Expanding Credit for Learning Outside of Classrooms Helps Young People Thrive
September 17, 2024, 12 ET/9 PT

Join Andrew Frishman, CEO of Big Picture Learning, Peter McWalters, former State Superintendent of Rhode Island (the home of the first Big Picture School), and Alexis Steines Rao, Vice President of Innovation and Outreach at the Afterschool Alliance for a lively and candid discussion of the current landscape of state and local policies that allow students to get credit for anywhere, anytime learning. Together they’ll explore how and why these policies have come into being, and how they have supported or unintentionally thwarted the development of robust learning ecosystems that illuminate multiple pathways towards accruing credits that matter for young adult success.

Register today!

To gain insight into the expanding role of out-of-school time (OST) programs in delivering high-impact student supports, the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS) Support Hub at Johns Hopkins' Everyone Graduates Center (EGC), in collaboration with the Afterschool Alliance, conducted a comprehensive survey among OST providers.

The findings reveal that 62% of surveyed OST providers are actively offering student supports aligned with NPSS's key focus areas, which include high-intensity tutoring, mentoring, student success coaching, college and career advising, postsecondary transition coaching, and wraparound services that connect students and families to essential community resources. Notably, nearly half of the respondents provide mentoring. Additionally, 20% of providers are engaged in college and career advising, postsecondary transition coaching, student success coaching, and/or high-intensity tutoring.

The survey indicates a notable increase in the number of adults providing these critical supports within OST programs during the 2023-24 school year compared to the previous year. It also highlights a growing demand for these evidence-based supports, demonstrating their value in enriching the student experience during out-of-school time.

A key factor contributing to the availability of these supports appears to be government funding. Providers with access to COVID relief funds, 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, AmeriCorps funding, and state government resources were significantly more likely to offer NPSS supports than those without such financial backing.

For a deeper dive into the survey results, read the full report.

By Bridget Laird, CEO, Wings for Kids

Guiding students through the emotional challenges of the past three years has been no easy task. In today's world, children face increasing stressors and complexities, making it crucial for educators and youth workers to recognize and address their emotional needs in real time.

Emotional well-being is vital for a child's overall development. When children struggle emotionally, they may have difficulty managing multiple emotions, handling anger, or resolving conflicts peacefully. This is where social-emotional learning (SEL) plays a significant role in promoting mental health and wellness in young learners—and in the adults that work with them.

For kids dealing with anxiety, stress, or trauma, here are three techniques to foster mental wellness in out-of-school-time programs (and beyond):

1. Develop an Emotional Vocabulary

Promoting emotional wellness starts with helping children build an emotional vocabulary. Whenkids can identify and express their emotions, they are better equipped to manage them.

Educators can assist in this process by modeling emotional expression, using feeling words in conversations, and teaching children how to identify and label their emotions. Children often experience a wide range of emotions simultaneously, and they may not realize it. For instance, instead of just "happy, mad, or sad," they might be feeling lonely, disappointed, grateful, or elated. By identifying their emotions accurately, they can manage them more effectively.

2. Encourage Positive Self-Talk

Positive self-talk is a key factor in developing resilience and self-empowerment in children. Teaching kids to recognize the importance of self-encouragement is essential. By helping them monitor negative self-talk and replace critical comments with supportive ones, we equip them with valuable tools for emotional well-being.

Examples of negative to positive self-talk:

Negative: “I’ll never be able to learn this.”
Positive: “I am smart and capable of learning new things.”

Negative: “I’m not even going to try because I know I’ll fail.”
Positive: “If I try my best, I can do this.”

Negative: “If I make a mistake, everyone will laugh at me.”
Positive: “Mistakes are opportunities for me to learn and grow.”

Negative: “I’m so different, I’ll never fit in.”
Positive: “I am unique and special in my own way.”

Encourage children to choose positive self-talk statements that resonate with them personally and use them regularly, particularly when facing challenges or self-doubt. This practice promotes a sense of self-worth, optimism, and motivation, leading to improved mental health and overall well-being.

3. Help Kids Self-Regulate with R&R

Children often need assistance in regulating their emotions, especially during challenging moments. The "Reset & Relax" technique can be a valuable tool in helping children regain control of their emotions:

Reset: Determine what is truly bothering you.
Relax: Calm your mind and body.
When children find themselves on the brink of emotional turmoil, encourage them to reset. Acknowledge that it's normal to experience a range of emotions but equally important to think about how to stay calm in such moments.

During intense situations, children may struggle to employ self-regulation techniques. Therefore, it's essential to have strategies in place to help them navigate and regain control. By understanding what works best for them individually, they can discover techniques to maintain composure. Guiding children to Reset & Relax equips them with a valuable tool for managing their emotions and creating a positive and productive learning environment.

Create a Safe and Supportive Environment

Children need to feel safe and supported throughout their day, especially those who are struggling emotionally. This can be achieved through various methods:

Create a "Calm Down Corner" where children can go to regain control of their emotions. Allocate time for journaling, allowing kids to reflect on their stressors and ways to relieve them. Implement a "Reflection Pond" to discuss choices and encourage better decisions. Provide quiet time for reading, coloring, or engaging in peaceful activities. When children feel safe and supported, they are more likely to engage in learning and develop the resilience needed to overcome challenges.

National data on positive mental health indicators that describe mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being for children are limited. But based on the data we do have from the Centers for Disease Control, indicators of positive mental health are present in most children: affection, resilience, positivity, curiosity and self-control.

By incorporating SEL into your daily routine, you help children develop these critical traits and bolster the essential social and emotional skills necessary to mature and progress into well-rounded adults. Prioritizing social-emotional learning is crucial for our children's emotional well-being, both in and out of the classroom. Their growth and success depend on it.

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Wings for Kids (WINGS) is a nonprofit organization that equips students, educators, and youth-serving organizations with skills to thrive—in and out of school. WINGS does this through a common language (Words to Live By), a comprehensive curriculum rooted in student character development (like learning from effort, problem-solving, building healthy relationships, compassion and empathy) and more than 25 years of experience. Since its inception in 1996, WINGS has reached over 3.25M students.

Youth-Nex has recently released the Portrait of a Thriving Youth Report. Drawing on 40 years of interdisciplinary research about the science of adolescence, the Portrait of a Thriving Youth describes what optimal development looks like during this important period of development. As such it aims to build a collective and broadly understood vision of what a thriving youth might be and do, as individuals and as part of their communities. It depicts what optimal youth development looks like during the period of adolescence when the supports, structures and systems are in place to promote thriving.

Youth-Nex, a trans-disciplinary research and innovation center within the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia, aims to expand and apply the science of Positive Youth Development to enhance the strengths of youth and to prevent developmental risk such as violence; physical and mental health issues; substance abuse and school failure

The Portrait provides a common framework that can be used by both adults and youth themselves to advocate for what every young person has a right to access and experience.

• Adult practitioners, including educators and youth workers, can use the Portrait to reflect on how their organizational and developmental practices are supporting, or inhibiting, thriving.
•  Policymakers can use the Portrait to inform decisions they make that affect adolescents.
• Caregivers and youth can use the Portrait to advocate for the supports, services, and settings that research tells us supports thriving.

Click here to review the Portrait and other associated resources.

The Youth-Nex team is hosting several informational sessions this fall to learn more about the Portrait of a Thriving Youth. Click here to register for the final season on Tuesday 12/5 from 4-5 PM ET.

For the past two years, the National Urban League (NUL) has been working to change the conversation on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). They hosted a series of listening sessions with more than 50 parents, educators, community leaders, researchers, and others to gather feedback on SEL and other related approaches where people learn, grow, and develop in classrooms and across communities. With support from the Wallace Foundation, NUL worked with over 100 partners, including the Forum for Youth Investment, to co-create new tools that focus on the unique expertise and perspective of marginalized communities and those left out of the traditional education systems. These tools can be used to advance racial equity, justice, and empowerment.

One of the tools that came out of this work is the SEL Evaluation Rubric for Equity and Justice. By using this rubric, parents and youth can ask the key questions about approaches being considered for or already implemented in a child’s after-school program, summer camp, or classroom. Educators and youth development staff looking to choose or implement new, transformative SEL initiatives can also use these questions and examples to shape, evaluate, and modify their approaches.

The purpose of this rubric is to shed light on the sources of inequity that can infect SEL initiatives and to provide a tool that can be used to support efforts to create and sustain the thriving of youth.

Elements of the rubric include the sufficiency of resources, cultural orientation, and identity development. You can read more about the rubric and related resources here.

Research and practical experience suggest that readiness is critical when making a change. In out-of-school time (OST), change can take many forms—from making improvements to existing practices to implementing new activities, to revamping a program completely—but its success hinges on having strong operations, willing staff, and engaged stakeholders ready to make change happen with integrity and quality.

Join the American Institutes for Research (AIR) on February 23, 2023 at 1:00 PM EST to learn more about what readiness is and why it matters, and hear from OST leaders who are integrating readiness thinking and tools into their work. Participants also will have the opportunity to hear from researchers about AIR’s new, free resource, the Ready to Implement Toolkit. The Toolkit is a research-based resource for OST leaders, staff, and teams who want to make data-driven decisions as they prepare for change.

AIR’s development of the Ready to Implement Toolkit was supported by the Susan Crown Exchange and The Wallace Foundation. The Toolkit was developed with input and support from the field to create something useful for the field. We are indebted to our expert OST leaders and staff, and technical and field advisors for their guidance and support. Register now for this free webinar.

In my 25-year OST career, I’ve often heard that our field needs professionalizing. I view all who work in OST as professionals, so I’m curious about what people mean when they comment about professionalization. I have spent hours searching for answers.

What have I learned? I’ve learned that caregiving workforces–such as early childhood education, elementary teaching, and OST—are composed of women, including a high percentage of women of color. These workforces have always struggled for professional recognition. I’ve learned that many definitions of professionalization require higher levels of education but don’t include lived experience. Ultimately, I’ve learned that being identified as a “profession” is a social construct with vague definitions that reinforce racism, sexism, and classism.

So now, instead of asking what makes a profession, we are asking different questions. Do we reject the social construct that’s a moving target, define our identity and value, and advocate from that position? Or do we continue to expect our workforce to jump through hoops trying to put arrows in the elusive bullseye of a profession defined by others?

If we did the latter, would it even matter? To build on the metaphor, if we continue our current approach, will change come, or will we end up with empty quivers and broken arrows at the feet of the people who hold the most power?

Our answer? As the professional membership organization for our field, NAA’s role is to define the components of our identity as a knowledgeable and skilled workforce providing essential services and opportunities.

AND 

Promoting workforce advocacy. This approach is a shift, but not impossible if we work together. This issue of AfterSchool Today highlights current field efforts showing progress and promising practices in building a future that values OST and provides professionals with job quality commensurate with their contributions and impact.

Contributed by Heidi Ham and featured in the 2022 Fall edition of AfterSchool Today

As the professional membership organization for those who work with or for youth in OST, NAA is moving forward, defining the components of our profession’s identity as a knowledgeable and skilled workforce providing essential services and opportunities. In addition, we’re promoting workforce advocacy through our Thriving OST Workforce Initiative.

NAA and the OST profession have the following to define the identity of those who work and for young people in OST:

• The Code of Ethics outlines the core principles and beliefs that guide OST professionals’ conduct in daily work and when ethical dilemmas occur.
• The Core Knowledge Skills and Competencies (CKSCs) and Self-Reflection Tools outline what professionals who work with and for youth in OST need to know and show. The CKSCs describe the dispositions, knowledge, skills, and competencies individuals need to provide quality OST programs that support the development of young people and advance equity.
• The Proclamation on Profession is a promise to the OST profession and acknowledgment that the work of OST professionals matters.

These items that help define the identity of OST professions also set the foundation for creating a thriving OST workforce.

The Quality Connection

Data and experience show that quality OST programs staffed with knowledgeable and skilled professionals result in positive youth outcomes. Investments in OST continue to grow; however, access to programs remains an issue. Challenges with staff recruitment and retention create program waiting lists and leave young people without program access, a long-standing problem. Without workforce stability, programs can’t provide youth with the unique experiences and support they need–and deserve–outside the school day.

Fortunately, this is a solvable puzzle. Investments in job quality can stabilize the workforce.

What is Job Quality?

There is no single definition of job quality; overall, job quality depends on factors such as pay, benefits, schedule, working environment, agency, respect, and other components all humans value. Similar to OST programs, jobs can be at various levels of quality. Based on job quality indicators, afterschool positions generally fall lower on the quality spectrum. When addressing recruitment and retention challenges, the focus tends to be on pay. While higher wages will help solve the recruitment and retention issue (as OST workers need to make thriving wages and have good benefits), job quality is much more than that.

Designing Quality Jobs

Quality jobs need intentional design. In doing this work, we relied upon the Job Design Framework from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. This framework ensures that we design high-quality, equitable employment opportunities and provide the necessary tools to develop and sustain the workforce. Those in OST often discuss preparing youth as the workforce of tomorrow. We shouldn’t tout this as a benefit of OST without taking care of our own first. We should be just as concerned about building our afterschool workforce for today and beyond.

The Big Picture

Creating a thriving OST workforce prioritizes job quality, which makes our workforce stable and enables afterschool professionals to deliver high-quality programs that lead to positive youth outcomes. Our goal is to empower organizations–with the support of policymakers, funders, systems-builders, and others–to design OST jobs with equity and inclusion and inspire a culture where employees, and subsequently young people, thrive. Putting the pieces of a quality job together ensures that the workplace has a culture of strong relationships, respect, and belonging.

OST professionals make quality afterschool programs happen, and they deserve job quality commensurate with their contributions and impact. To ensure access to quality afterschool programs-–or afterschool programs at all—NAA, through its Thriving OST Workforce Initiative, asserts that job quality for OST professionals must be a focal point.

Call to action

It starts with you. Take the Pledge to the Profession and receive the Pledge Action Guide. Act now to show your support in taking the necessary steps to create quality jobs, ensuring that we build a strong, valued profession - a thriving workforce - that benefits kids, families, and communities.

Contributed by Angelica Portillo and featured in the Fall 2022 edition of AfterSchool Today.