ASAP Partnership The After School for All Partnership (ASAP) is a significant private-public venture bringing after school programs to Boston's youth. Barr is playing a lead role in the following areas: Surveying Boston's youth to understand their after school priorities Building capacity of faith-based organizations in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan that provide after school programs Supporting the intersections between: Boston's cultural institutions and after school, the environment and teen programs, and the impact of sports programs on learning. Since its founding, the partnership has developed new research to enhance the quality of Boston's after school programs, identified barriers to growth, coordinated the efforts of key after school stakeholders, and achieved commitments for $28 million in incremental funding over five years with a focus on quality and expansion.

Students spend more time out of school than in it. At present, support of after school programs is the primary focus of our investment in out of school time.

After school programs play a critical role in helping all of Boston’s youth to realize their full potential. In addition to their demonstrated ability to increase academic achievement, after school programs offer other benefits: providing support for working families; creating safe space that decreases risks from crime, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy; as well as developing youth by building self-esteem, leadership, and interpersonal skills.

Primary Approaches

We are presently focusing our efforts on:

Enhancing access to experiential learning.

Traditional instructional models don’t work equally well for all children and youth. We believe that greater availability of after school experiential learning programs will encourage more children and youth to take a proactive role in their own education, and we are working to foster the growth of these programs.

Supporting critical research and advocacy efforts.

There is insufficient after school capacity to meet the demand. While there are estimates that Boston needs to double the number of children and youth served, reliable and current data is unavailable. Boston needs a supply and demand database as well as significantly increased public funding. We are supporting the collection and dissemination of critical knowledge as well as the development of citizen advocates.

Expanding both the quality and efficiency of programs.

The current after school system in Boston is diverse and highly complex, with 240 separate programs serving 17,000 children and youth aged five through fourteen. We are focused on increasing the scale of existing programs—especially faith-based programs serving low-income families. We are also working to systemically support those youth sports and arts programs that have impact on academic success and youth development.

Desired Outcomes

We hope our collaboration with a network of experts, funders, nonprofits, and civic leaders—and in particular the After School for All Partnership—will model ways to scale the system and contribute to critical outcomes for Boston:

• More programs explicitly tied to enhanced academic results
• A more fiscally-sustainable system through increased public and private funding, enhanced scale economies, and increased collaboration
• A greater focus on experiential learning models
• Greater knowledge of the interdisciplinary impacts of the arts and sports on academic achievement
• Greater access to training and resources for out-of-school practitioners.

Measures

• Number of programs providing experiential learning and the number of students they serve
• Average number of children and youth served per program (as a short-term proxy for efficiency)
• Unmet after school demand vs. supply by neighborhood
• After school impact on academic results.

An Invitation

While our efforts are based on research and knowledge of the field, they remain our best bets. We’re eager to learn from your insights, experience, and creative ideas. We invite you to use our suggestion form if you have an idea you believe will further the strategy outlined in this section.