The essential elements of citywide afterschool networks

The Wallace Foundation has published a must-read report for all policy makers and afterschool advocates. The new report, Growing Together, Learning Together updates a popular 2008 Report on citywide approaches to afterschool and summer learning. The update highlights four essential components of building a successful citywide system of afterschool support: strong leadership, coordination that fits the local context, effective use of data, and a comprehensive and inclusive approach to quality. While the report contends, “a well-built system is more than just the sum of its parts,” sustaining these collaborations has been challenging in the past. These systems require necessary conditions to ensure public support, dedicated funding and institutionalized policies and practices.

Fortunately, there are allies working to help citywide systems become more sustainable.  In particular, statewide afterschool networks and afterschool intermediaries were found to be “the most likely to play an important role in passing legislation to support better policies and more funding.” These exemplary policies will likely include some or all of the four components of afterschool system success that The Wallace Foundation highlights. A useful infographic on these elements of success can be found here.

Currently, 77 of the 275 largest U.S. cities have some type of system in place to coordinate afterschool programming. The Wallace Foundation focused specifically on nine cities to develop these findings. In its next round, the foundation plans to look at broader cross-sector partnerships with higher education, business and philanthropy as well as “collective impact” initiatives.