School's Out

Challenges and Solutions for School-Age Programs

Tracy Galuski, Arlene Rider

• Publisher: Gryphon House Inc.
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780917505294
• eBook ISBN: 9780917505300
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

You may have noticed out-of-school-time care is burgeoning. As more families have two working parents, states and school districts are swooping in to provide supervision of children before and after school, during school breaks, and during the summer. And, as these programs grow, they continue to adapt to new approaches of out-of-school learning. Gone are the days of board games and swing sets! School's Out: Challenges and Solutions for School-Age Programs will cover all bases of creating a quality program: • What quality school-age care looks like • Forms of out-of-school-time care • Standards, credentials, accreditation—what they are, and how to get them • Licensing, regulations, health, safety, risk management, supervision and nutrition • Roles of the teachers and administrators

Section 1
Building the Groundwork

Chapter 1: Defining High-Quality School Age Care

Marisa will be the director of a new after-school program at a public elementary school. She has limited experience gained from working in school-age programs and summer camps while earning her degree in child development. How can she be sure she has enough knowledge to create a successful, high-quality program?

High-quality programs for children don’t just happen. They are the result of careful planning, staff training, and creative programming efforts on the part of those who care about children. In this chapter, we will discuss the important components of high-quality programs for school-age children, different styles of care available, state regulations and standards, and the roles of the teachers and staff, including professionalism, ethics, and confidentiality.

What does a high-quality school-age program look like? High-quality programs:

• are tailored to the developmental characteristics and needs of the children they serve.
• provide resourceful, responsive, and caring staff who have knowledge about predictable child growth and development.
• recognize the importance of peers to school-age children and facilitate the development of peer relationships and social skills.
• offer a variety of activity choices and schedules that allow flexibility for children.
• foster positive self-concept and independence.
• encourage children to think, reason, question, and discover.
• encourage leadership opportunities for children.
• promote awareness and involvement in community activities.

There is a wide array of programs for school-age children, and these programs—also known as out-of-school-time programs—are designed to provide fun and safe environments for children when they are not in a school. Both educational and recreational, these programs are open before and/or after school, during school holidays and breaks, and in some cases, for extended days during the summer. They care for kindergarten through sixth-grade children ages five to twelve; although, in some states, there is a growing need for after-school programs in middle schools, extending care to the age of fourteen. Some communities may offer specialized enrichment programs that include youth up until age eighteen, and in some cases, children with special needs up to age twenty-one. In most cases, school-age child-care programs fill a need for working families so they know their children are safe and well cared for during work hours. These programs also fill the important needs of children to feel safe, to be with friends and caring adults, and to unwind from a day at school. The programs typically offer a curriculum with a wide variety of activities, but some may offer an academically focused program, such as science, music, religious education, or language arts.

A Brief History of After-School Care

With the rise of single-parent families and dual-income families in the 1970s, by 1985, seven million of our nation’s youth between the ages of six and thirteen had been identified as so-called “latchkey kids”—children who regularly come home from school to empty houses and self-care (Donald, 1985).

Growing widespread interest in what to do for these children led to increased funding for child care, crime-prevention initiatives in after-school care to prevent juvenile crime and keep children safe, and school reform that drew attention to children’s out-of-school time.

Since the 1990s, school-age care has evolved from drop-in informal settings to more formal, comprehensive programs with expectations to meet measurable outcomes. New research demonstrates what practitioners have known for years: more consistent time spent in after-school activities during the elementary school years is linked to better outcomes in school, including narrowing the gap in math achievement among low-, middle-, and high-income families (Warner and Neugebauer, 2016).

Demand is growing steadily. According to Warner and Neugebauer, in 2014, 10.2 million children participated in after-school programs, an increase from 6.5 million in 2004. In addition, for every child in an after-school program, approximately two children would be enrolled if a program were available to them (Warner and Neugebauer, 2016). Yet, in 2017, it was still estimated that more than 40 percent of all school-age children are still latchkey children (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2017). As the number of dual-income and single-parent households has grown, so have the problems that surround providing adequate supervision of school-age children at a reasonable cost. Many people and agencies are committed to helping solve these issues.

Types of Programs for School-Age Children

School-age care takes place in a wide range of programs and facilities. Some programs are housed in school buildings, and children simply need to walk to a different space in the building, such as the library, multipurpose room, or cafeteria, at dismissal time. These programs might be run by the school or by an agency that is contracted by the school. Many programs take place off-site, and children are bused to a separate location. Examples include licensed family child-care homes that serve small multiage groups of children in a home setting and licensed child-care centers that reserve classroom space for a school-age program. Additionally, local elementary schools, churches, or community programs such as the YMCA or a Jewish community center offer a variety of activity, sports, and enrichment programs. In the summer, a myriad of community-based camps are offered.

Staff Qualifications, Training, and Credentialing

The quality of programs came under close scrutiny as challenges in staffing and professional development became evident. In the late 1990s, many states enacted regulations and quality standards. In most states, programs are legally expected to adhere to a set of minimum licensing standards, so if opening a program is your goal, researching your state’s requirements is the first step. Some programs, such as those located in churches with limited hours of operation, might be exempt. You can begin your search at www.ChildCare.gov to find the link to your state’s resources, such as licensing information, regulations, and requirements for background checks.

Regulations generally include guidelines for staff qualifications, the ratio of staff to children, program expectations, and health and safety requirements. Many licensing agencies also have built-in resource and referral programs, which help parents find appropriate local care for their children, provide support and training to staff, and report data regarding child-care needs to local and state agencies.

School-age programs use many different titles to refer to the people who care for children in these programs, including teacher, practitioner, program staff, counselor, child-care worker, aide, recreational supervisor, caregiver, administrator, and director. While different people have different roles and responsibilities in a program, for the purposes of this book, professionals will be referred to as
program staff.

High-quality programs have staff who understand the basics of child growth and development and the unique characteristics of school-age children; they use this knowledge to aid in the creation of a developmentally appropriate after-school activities. Directors and administrators evaluate their staff to be sure they have the aptitude for working with school-age children and develop a set of individual competencies that will allow staff to succeed. This could take shape in the form of additional training in a specific area, such as guiding children’s behavior or curriculum, or, more broadly, staff may earn a child development associate (CDA) or school-age credential.

Many community colleges and universities offer at least some coursework that will prepare school-age and child-care directors to hire and supervise staff, develop and oversee a budget, and create developmentally appropriate programming, as well as other administrative training. Often, these courses help staff meet the licensing requirements for education. It is important for staff to have a current understanding of their state’s licensing laws and the best-practice recommendations of professional school-age organizations, so they can ensure legal compliance and high-quality out-of-school time.

High-quality programs offer orientation and review of policies and procedures for new staff. They have a library containing current materials, books, and journals on a variety of school-age-care subjects, either on the premises or at a central or home-office location. High-quality programs provide support to directors and staff to attend courses, conferences, and trainings by offering release time and reimbursing travel, training, and conference costs. Many states require minimum training hours, either annually or within a licensing period. Professional development is relevant for directors and staff so they understand the shared body of knowledge that includes theory and practice in school-age care.

Regulations in most states consider the adult-to-child ratio. The ratios are designated as considerations for minimum standards for safety and supervision, but they can vary dramatically, and each state has different guidelines for the age groupings, maximum group size, and qualifications for staff. For example, Massachusetts requires two educators—one of them must be a group leader—in a mixed group of kindergarten and school-age children. The maximum group size is twenty-six, for a ratio of one adult to thirteen children (606 CMR 7.00 Regulations for Family, Group and School-Age Child Care Programs, 2010). In New York, the ratio for children six to ten years old is one adult per ten children, with a maximum group size of twenty (NYS Office of Children and Family Services,...

Table of contents

• Section 1 Building the Groundwork
• Chapter 2: Understanding the Roles of the Administrator and Staff
• Chapter 3: Maintaining Safety and Health
• Chapter 4: Creating Child-Friendly Spaces
• Chapter 5: Planning the Curriculum
• Section 2 Applying Child-Development Principles to School- Age Care
• Chapter 7: Social and Emotional Development
• Chapter 8: Cognitive Development
• Section 3Creating a Comprehensive Program
• Chapter 9: Building Behavior Skills in a Caring Community
• Chapter 10: Developing Family Partnerships
• Chapter 11: Providing a Summer Camp
• Appendix A: Online Resources
• Appendix B: Recommended Children’s Books by Age
• References and Recommended Reading