Out of School Time Matters

The time that students spend learning outside of the traditional classroom/school is increasingly important. Student's not meeting minimum learning objectives inside the box of the fixed-time/fixed-space classroom can be successful when in-school time is supported by the right learning experiences and support during out-of-school time. And for students succeeding inside the classroom, the out-of-school time help them reach their potential as contributing citizens.

A recent article, Not just and add on, in CatalystChicago makes the point that "Forty years of research has proven that after-school and summer programs for low-income students can help to close the achievement gap."

A good resource on out-of-school-time is the Harvard Family Research Project.