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The Children’s Aid Society 21st CCLC Evaluation Report 2013-2014

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The Children’s Aid Society

Twenty-First Century Community

Learning Center Grant

Evaluation Report (2013-2014)

Prepared by

Muamer Rasic and Heléne Clark

November, 2014

ActKnowledge 365 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor New York, NY 10016 Telephone 212.817.1906

www.actknowledge.org

tel:212.817.1906


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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 3

1.Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5

1.1 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 6

2 Brief Description of Participating Community Schools ................................................................ 7

3. The Children’s Aid Society Community Schools Model and Theory of Change .......................... 8

4. Findings ..................................................................................................................................... 12

4.1 Implementation of CAS Community School Programs and Services ........................................... 12

4.1.1 Afterschool alignment with regular school day ............................................................... 12

4.1.2 Afterschool Program Schedule and Observation at CAS Community Schools ................ 14

4.2 Educational Family Supports and Parent Involvement ....................................................... 18

4.3 Health Supports ................................................................................................................... 18

4.4 New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) Quality Self-Assessment (QSA) Results .... 19

4.5 Youth Development ............................................................................................................ 21

5. Challenges and Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 26


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Executive Summary

This is a report of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) community schools for the 2013-2014 school

year, and is the first report of the multi-year evaluation of 21st Century Community Learning

Center grant, which began in September 2013. The report focuses on clarifying the Children’s

Aid Society Community School model, programs and activities offered to students, families and

community and their implementation fidelity at five of the CAS community schools (IS 218, IS

50, FLH MS, CS 211, and CS61) during Year One of the grant1.

The Children’s Aid Society Community Schools continues to provide variety of programs and

services to students, families and to the whole community. The programs and services include:

The afterschool program that focuses on a whole child for instance on their academic needs

and youth development. The afterschool program consists of literacy, social-emotional

learning, STEM, arts and self-expression and fitness and nutrition. Activities for each

component are informed by a new curriculum designed by CAS.

Mental and health services offered in school and nearby CAS Family Centers. Two of the five

CAS community schools have school-based health centers providing medical and dental

services and the other three CAS community schools link the school to the nearby CAS

Bronx Family Center that offers pediatric and adolescent health services.

Parent engagement and family support which includes adult education programs (ESL,

computer and citizenship), health programs (healthy family development, sex education

and relationship), and social and cultural events (cultural festivals and holidays).

The CAS community schools receive support from the School Age division’s Vice President and

the Regional Deputy Directors. They ensure that certain structural elements are consistent

across all sites. They also receive support from the School Age division’s educational support

team such as the Educational Directors and the Educational Coordinators that provide program

assistance.

The results of the Quality Self-Assessment (QSA) were positive. The CAS average performance

level was above 3 from a scale 1-4, on all ten elements of an effective afterschool program. The

environment/climate, administration/organization, relationships, and linkages between day

and afterschool had the highest average performance level of 3.6.

1 This report includes two grants, a grant for CAS CS 61 and a grant for four CAS schools IS 218, IS 50, FLH MS, and

CS 211. The report combines two grants because presenting a school separate is less powerful.


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Many CAS afterschool students had positive perception of the afterschool program on their

academics, community involvement, life skills, positive core values, positive life, sense of self,

sense of future, and opportunity.

ActKnowledge staff observed afterschool activities such as test-preparation, homework help,

cooking, film making, and archery. At the time of our observation some CAS community schools

organized test-preparation in a fun environment because students were overwhelmed

preparing for the exam during the day time hours while other schools organized it in a very

disciplined and focused manner. Cooking was an activity that the majority of the CAS

community schools were conducting as an enrichment activity. Cooking culminates in an end of

the year Go Iron Chef competition and is a very popular activity amongst CAS community school

students. Students participating in a cooking class learn how to cook a variety of foods and also

learn the importance of healthy eating.

CAS staff expressed challenges in implementing programs and services. For instance:

Services are sometimes limited to a few students due to budget constraints. Services are on

a first-come-first serve basis and they can’t reach every child. Also the number of hours and

days services are offered are decreasing.

Space is always a challenge, and CAS community schools struggle to find space for in-school

health clinics, family resource room and even for CAS staff members.

There are also challenges in navigating the politics and culture of each school and

sometimes it’s hard to deal with these challenges and get things done.


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1. Introduction

This is a report of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) community schools for the 2013-2014 school

year, and is the first report of the multi-year evaluation of 21st Century Community Learning

Center grant, which began in September 2013. The report focuses on clarifying the Children’s

Aid Society Community School model, programs and activities offered to students, families and

community, and forms a baseline for understanding implementation and evaluating fidelity to

implementation quality standards at five of the CAS community schools (IS 218, IS 50, FLH MS,

CS 211, and CS61) during Year One of the grant.

The community schools operate within a strategy and philosophy, which is the basis for

programming decisions. The context of CAS community schools within the CAS mission can be

summarized as follows:

Under the new organizational wide strategy called “Keeping the Promise”, Children’s Aid

Society serves as an anti-poverty agent and believes that college education is the most

reliable path out of poverty.

Part of the Keeping the Promise strategy is the restructuring of the Children’s Aid Society

Divisions. The CAS is reorganized into five divisions; Early Childhood Division (ages 0 to 5),

School-Age Division (ages 6 to 13) and Adolescence Division (ages 14 and up), and these

three divisions are organized by key stages in a child’s life. The other two divisions are

Health and Wellness, and Child Welfare and Family Services, and they are organized by

service areas.

The Vice Presidents of each division oversees all aspects of management and program

delivery. Each division provides administrative and program support to the community

schools by ongoing supervision provided by Regional Deputy Directors (one in Washington

Heights and one in the Bronx), program assistance provided by Education Director, program

management and contract compliance provided by the Director of Quality and Outcomes,

and fiscal oversight provided by the Deputy Director for Operations.

The CAS Community School program management structure is hierarchical. Staffing will vary

from site to site but generally the Community School Director and Assistant Community

School Director sites have Program Directors and Coordinators. The Community School

Directors and staff attend monthly meetings called School-Age Division Directors’ Meetings

with the Vice-President of the division where information is shared and lessons are learned.

CAS uses what it calls ‘tight’ and ‘loose’ implementation. A ‘tight’ implementation for

example is having a structure and a plan in place, and it is consistent across all sites. A

‘loose’ implementation is the way the structure and plan are implemented and it is up to


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the Community School Director and staff adapting to the school culture, environment, and

needs.

CAS has developed a new curriculum for the afterschool program. The new curriculum is

designed to align with the regular school day and the education coordinator is to act as a

liaison between the traditional school day and the afterschool program, and oversee that

the curriculum is implemented properly.

The CAS afterschool program components consist of Literacy, Social-Emotional Learning,

STEM, Arts and Self-Expression, and Fitness and Nutrition.

CAS community schools continue to provide adult education programs, health programs,

and social and cultural events for parents and families. In addition, emergency assistance is

also provided through the New York Times Neediest Fund.

Two of the five CAS community schools under the current evaluation have school-based

health centers providing medical and dental services while the other three CAS community

schools link the school to the nearby CAS Bronx Family Center which offers pediatric and

adolescent health services.

1.1 Methodology

For the evaluation report, a mixed-method approach was employed. The methods include2:

Interview with Vice President of the School Age Division on the CAS model and its implementation.

Site visits at each of the five CAS community schools which were undertaken in May and

June 2014 using interview protocols, focus group protocols, and observational protocols

designed to elicit the views of stakeholders on developments and achievements of

community school programming.

o On-site interviews with Community School Directors and Program Staff at all five CAS community schools.

o Observations of afterschool activities with the OST instruments in all five CAS community schools.

o Focus group with parents at I.S. 218.

o Focus group with students at I.S. 218.

Student Outcomes survey analyzed which have been developed by the Colorado Trust and

adopted by Research Works (NY State Evaluator of the 21st CCLC Grant) for the 2013-2016

21st CCLC grant.

2 NYC DOE Academic Data for the 2013-14 school year was not available at the time of writing the report.


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o CAS staff administered the student outcomes surveys at three of the five schools to their afterschool participants before end of the program year.

o The student outcomes survey was analyzed based on student’s perception of how the afterschool program affects their academics, community involvement, life skills, positive core values, positive life, sense of self, sense of future, and opportunity.

o A total of 184 students responded to the survey.

The New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) Quality Self-Assessment (QSA) Tool was

used by the CAS staff at all five CAS schools and the results were analyzed. The NYSAN QSA

is designed to provide an understanding of the overall quality of the program, how it has

evolved, and where it needs to go.

2. Brief Description of Participating Community Schools

Five community schools are participating in the current three-year evaluation of the 21st CCLC

grant. They are as follows:

Salomé Ureña de Henríquez Campus

In 1992, The Children’s Aid Society joined in an unprecedented partnership with the New York

City Board of Education, Community School District Six and other community-based partners to

open the Salomé Ureña Middle Academies (SUMA IS 218) as a full-service community school. In

2004 it was divided into 3 schools; I.S. 218 Salomé Ureña de Henríquez, M.S. 293 City College

Academy of the Arts, and M.S. 322. From its inception the school has served as a prototype for

hundreds of community schools in the United States and abroad.

IS 218 had 305 students enrolled and 96% qualified for free lunch in 2012-2013. Out of the 305

students, 96.2% are Latino and 20.1% are English Language Learners (ELL).

P.S. 50/I.S. 50 Vito Marcantonio

In 2000 The Children’s Aid Society established a full-service community school at P.S. 50, in

partnership with Mount Sinai Children’s Community Health (MSCCH) and the New York City

Department of Education. From the beginning the main focus was health, in response to

disproportionately large percentage of serious medical and emotional conditions presented by

P.S. 50 students.

P.S.50/I.S 50 had 330 students enrolled and 84% qualified for free lunch in 2012-2013. Out of

330 students, 57.4% are Latino and 38.3% are Black, and only 10% are English Language

Learners (ELL).


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C.S. 61 The Francisco Oller Campus

The Children’s Aid Society began its partnership with C.S. 61 in Spring, 2002. Soon after, this K-8

school was divided into two schools: C.S. 61, serving grades PreK-5, and I.S. 190, The School of

Environmental Science, Mathematics and Technology, serving grades 6-8.

In 2012-2013, C.S. 61 had 374 students enrolled and 79% qualified for free lunch. Out of 374

students, 73% are Latino and 26.1% are Black, and only 7% are English Language Learners (ELL).

Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom Middle School

The partnership between The Children’s Aid Society and Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High

School and Middle School started in 2006. At both schools CAS provides Mental Health

services, emergency relief (through the New York Times Neediest Fund) and preventive services

–including Pregnancy Prevention; as well as After School, Holiday, Saturday, Summer and Youth

Leadership opportunities. There are College Readiness and Freshman Seminars at the high

school level.

In 2012-2013, FLH MS had 249 students enrolled and 97% qualified for free lunch. Out of 249

students, 73.7% are Latino and 23.3% are Black, and 14% are English Language Learners (ELL).

C.S. 211 The Bilingual Magnet School

The Children’s Aid Society (CAS) started collaborating with PS 211 in 2009, with an afterschool

program, for approximately 120 students in the 5th thru 8th grades. The partnership grew and

became stronger in August 2012; CAS now provides a robust afterschool program to

approximately 300 K thru 8th grade from C.S. 211 as well as from CAS Prep Charter School and

I.S. 318 which are both housed in the same building. CAS also provides a Head Start Program.

In 2012-2013, CS 211 had 632 students enrolled and 88% qualified for free lunch. Out of 632

students, 98.8% are Black or Hispanic and 33.3% are English Language Learners (ELL).

3. The Children’s Aid Society Community Schools Model and Theory of

Change

Community schools have been described as a “strategy for organizing the resources of the

community around student success” 3. Through extended hours, services and––crucially––the

building of relationships and effective partnerships, the community school model conceives of

education as a coordinated, child-centered effort in which schools, families and communities

3 Cited in the National Center for Community Schools provides a very comprehensive conceptual definition and

outline of the community school model in its publication Building Community School: A Guide for Action, 2011.


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work together to support student’s educational success, build stronger families and improve

communities.

This holistic approach has been shown to be particularly important to children living in poverty,

who need a variety of family and community resources, including intellectual, social, physical,

and emotional support, to have the opportunity to attain academic success. As noted by the

U.S. Department of Education:

“Many children live in communities that lack not only high-performing schools,

but also the support needed to be ready and able to learn when they start

school. School-community partnerships can be key strategies for providing

resources to these individual students. A variety of organizations can help

provide the missing resources for children living in poverty and, therefore, begin

to transform struggling schools and communities”.4

A key premise of the community school model is that a whole set of ‘preconditions’ or

intermediate outcomes, will need to be met before student success outcomes (that embrace

academic progress but also social, emotional and health development) can be achieved. These

preconditions have been elaborated in Children’s Aid Society (CAS) Community Schools Theory

of Change which was developed in 2011 by a broad range of stakeholders. The CAS Community

Schools Theory of Change was created in a series of participatory meetings and is the basis for

CAS evaluation efforts. It serves as a good model of Community School components in general.

The theory is a good starting point for any initiative, although each should reflect its particular

context, needs and priorities.

The CAS Community Schools Theory of Change has three outcome pathways to achieve its long-

term outcome of “Youth have opportunities for positive engagement after high school.” The

three outcome pathways consist of Youth Outcomes, Parent and Family Outcomes, and

Institutional Outcomes.

Youth Outcomes Pathway

A key precondition to the long-term outcome ‘Youth have opportunities for positive

engagement after high school,’ as articulated in the Theory of Change, is ‘Young people succeed

academically’ – i.e., students are earning good grades in class, passing state exams, and

graduating. For young people to succeed academically they have to have ‘high attendance.’

They must be present in school to keep up with class materials and homework. A precondition

to regular attendance is good health – i.e., students are not out sick on a regular basis. Also, a

4 U.S. Department of Education. https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/05/06/2014-10361/applications-for-new-awards-full-service-community-schools-program#h-4

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/05/06/2014-10361/applications-for-new-awards-full-service-community-schools-program#h-4

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/05/06/2014-10361/applications-for-new-awards-full-service-community-schools-program#h-4


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‘school-based health center’ is there to provide ‘quality health care’ so that students can be

treated in the school rather than be out sick.

Parent and Family Outcomes Pathway

The Children’s Aid Society has identified parent and family engagement as an important

precondition to youth outcomes as articulated in the Theory of Change. The long-term outcome

of the parent and family pathway is ‘Parents/Families are partners.’ They become partners by

‘engaging at every level’– i.e., by supporting their children’s academic needs at home, creating

an ‘in-home learning’ environment, being supportive at school, being ‘active participants at

school,’ by attending school events and meetings, and so on.

Institutional Outcomes Pathway

The Institutional Outcomes pathway shows short-term preconditions to outcomes in the parent

and family pathway as well as the youth pathway. Institutional outcomes (preconditions)

comprise ‘securing sustainable funding,’ ‘sharing data, results, and evidence with partners,’

‘capacity building at the site level,’ and ‘strong and effective leadership;’ all of which make the

‘community school model sustainable’.


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4. Findings

4.1 Implementation of CAS Community School Programs and Services

Implementing high quality programs and services require having a structure in place with

qualified staff on site and developing an action plan on delivery of programs and services. This

is what CAS calls ‘tight’, seeing consistently across every site a structure is in place with

qualified staff and developing action plans on delivery of programs and services. Most on site

key line staff worked with CAS for many years, in fact some started as counselors and worked

their way up to program directors, assistant community director or even community school

director. CAS constantly provides professional development and technical assistance to their

community schools and their staff.

Since every school has a different culture, environment, and needs, how the structure and

action plans are created and implemented is up to the community school director and staff of

that site. This is what CAS calls ‘loose’, CAS understands that each site has to adapt to the

culture, environment, and needs of the school to be properly integrated within the school.

Developing the afterschool schedule and the types of activities that are run is what CAS calls

‘loose’. Each community school has to create an afterschool schedule based on when the

school day ends. For example, I.S. 218, Fannie Lou Hamer Middle School and IS 211 starts their

afterschool program at 3:00 PM and ends 5:50 PM, while in P.S./I.S. 50 the afterschool program

starts at 2:20 and ends at 5:00PM, and at CS 61 the afterschool program starts at 2:30PM and

ends at 5:30PM.

Another example of tight and loose implementation is that every site is required to assess each

student to identify at-risk students and to better understand each of the student’s strengths

and weaknesses in literacy or math. Every site has to develop lesson plans that are aligned with

the common core curriculum, and every site has to have certified teachers to teach the

curriculum in the zone/tutoring; this is ‘tight’ implementation. A ‘loose’ implementation is that

the curriculum can be taught in any way, over a computer or through a fun activity, letting sites

be creative in how to teach the curriculum.

4.1.1 Afterschool alignment with regular school day

The CAS afterschool program components consist of Literacy, Social-Emotional Learning, STEM,

Arts and Self-Expression, and Fitness and Nutrition. The program is designed to focus on the

whole child and not just on the academic piece. Each community school implements the

components with ‘tight’ and ‘loose’ implementation, where a structure is in place with qualified


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staff to develop and oversee the activities, and the type of activities they do and how is up to

them. The afterschool program curriculum for each component is as follows:

The Literacy curriculum consists of KidzLit for Grades K-5, Book Club and Logs for all grades

and Word Bee for Grades K-8.

The Social-Emotional Learning curriculum was developed based on five core values: ‘Work

Hard’, ‘Focus’, ‘Create Community’, ‘Show Love. Be Compassionate’, and ‘Have Fun. Feel

Joy’. The curriculum consists of ‘socialization/orientation’, ‘artifacts, rituals, routines and

ceremonies’, and ‘reward systems, policies, and procedures’. For all three curriculums the

students participate in activities such as parachute games, brain games, feeling trees, “I”

messages, etc. Students are also being recognized for good behavior, for example publicly

acknowledging and congratulating them when they are well behaved or doing well.

The STEM curriculum consists of Tech, Gardening, and Integrated activities. The sources of

STEM lessons include: KidzScience and KidzMath kits produced by the Developmental

Studies Center of Oakland, CA (for K-5th grades), integrated lessons adapted by CAS’s Robin

Fleshman (for 6-8th grades), the gardening lessons were written by CAS’ own Go! Healthy

program and the technology lessons were adapted from Scratch Animation and Lego Mind-

storms sources by CAS’s Adrienne Evans and Deja Flynn.

The Arts and Self-Expression curriculum includes dance, film, music, spoken word, visual art,

and theater. Sites select the disciplines that reflect the interests and resources that are

appropriate for their site. A site may work with just one “discipline” like dance on the scope

and sequence, and/or with a combination to reflect integrated practice.

Each site has to cover the components but what type of activities they do and how many they

choose is up to each site. This is ‘loose’ implementation.

To implement the components that align with the regular school day is the responsibility of the

Education Coordinator. The Education Coordinator is intended to ensure the successful

implementation of the afterschool curricula by offering group leaders and teachers ongoing

support, guidance and training. The main responsibilities of the Education Coordinator are:

Develop and deliver training for group leaders/teachers in the curricula, as well as

classroom management, effective homework help techniques and other topics to be

determined.

Facilitate regular curriculum meetings with group leaders/teachers to model best practices

and allow group members to share and problem solve.

Conduct regular observations of group leaders/teachers in their classrooms and provide

feedback to improve and strengthen instruction.


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Review children’s works on an ongoing basis to assess level of engagement and to

determine learning needs.

Create and maintain a system by which group leaders/teachers have ready access to

curricula and homework help materials.

Act as a liaison between the traditional school day and after school program to ensure that

the after school program supports the school’s educational goals for children.

Communicate regularly with the Program Director regarding curriculum implementation

issues, particularly around materials/supplies needs.

Provide comments and feedback for the NYSAN and staff evaluations.

Meet as needed with the Education Director for the School Age Division to give updates and

share feedback.

The Education Coordinator at Salome performs all of the responsibilities mentioned above and

they have been using the Education Coordinator for many years now. At PS 211 the Education

Coordinator came in after the development of the after school curriculum and they plan on

using the Education Coordinator next year to develop the afterschool curriculum while the

Coordinator continues to provide other supports mentioned above.

4.1.2 Afterschool Program Schedule and Observation at CAS

Community Schools

All of the community schools under this current 21st CCLC grant provide the same or similar

afterschool services. However, the difference is in how the afterschool program is structured.

For example, at I.S. 218 and C.S. 211 the afterschool program is run on 3 cycles, cycle 1 is in Fall,

cycle 2 is in winter and cycle 3 is in spring, and in each cycle the program and activities are

adjusted based on the need of the particular period of the cycle. However, at other CAS

Community Schools in this evaluation they don’t run their afterschool program on cycles and

have fixed program activities throughout the school year.

Salomé Ureña de Henríquez Campus (IS 218)

At IS 218 the afterschool program starts at 3:00PM with supper that ends at 3:35PM. After

students have their supper, the students go into ‘The Zone’ from 3:35PM to 4:40PM. The zone

is designed to provide strong instructional interventions to at-risk students that are not

receiving additional instruction or support from the school. Before the students enter the

afterschool program they are assessed on literacy and math. Depending on what level the

students come out of that assessment, CAS targets students in level 1 and level 2 because they

are in greater need of intervention in literacy or math. The students are than separated into


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groups and into 3 levels of intervention. The 1st level of intervention is the one-on-one tutoring

and the tutoring is dependent on the need of the child. The 2nd level of intervention is

instructional intervention in ELA, Math, and now in ESL. To provide strong instructional

intervention an intervention specialists are hired and they are current or retired teachers. The

3rd level of intervention is homework help and each student and/or group of students receive

assistance in completing their homework.

After ‘the zone’ students go into clubs from 4:45PM to 5:50PM where they participate in

activities such as Alvin Ailey, Tribeca Film, Arts and Crafts, Drama, Keyboard, Fashion, Cooking,

Guitar, Chorus, Dance, Step, Cooking, Volleyball, Flag Football, Basketball, Fitness/Track,

Buckets, Paint, Baile Cultural, Robotics, VR Quest, Youth Council, and HW Help.

ActKnowledge staff observed an academic and enrichment activity at IS 218. Test-prep was

observed and conducted in a classroom with seventeen 7th and 8th grade students and four staff

members. The students were separated into two groups based on their grade levels. The 7th

grade students were preparing for an exam on their own with supervision from a staff member,

while 8th grade students were gathered in front of the classroom and answered questions

posed by another staff member. The 8th grade students would shout out an answer trying to be

the first to answer the question. It was noticeable that the 7th grade students were a bit

distracted by the noise. However, test-prep was organized as a fun activity for students as they

came from a whole day preparing for tests done during the regular day schooling with their

teacher.

An enrichment activity that was observed was Tribeca Film making. The activity was conducted

in a cafeteria with four 8th grade students and one film specialist and a staff member. The

students were preparing to film a horror movie based on the plot written by them with some

guidance by the film specialist. The film making process included writing a plot for the film,

creating a costume, learning video techniques (such as video angles), and also performance

techniques (learning to become a better actor/actress).

P.S. 50/I.S. 50 Vito Marcantonio

At P.S. 50/I.S. 50 the afterschool program starts at 2:20PM and the dismissal is at 5:00PM. The

afterschool program is designed based on each grade level. For middle school grades the

afterschool program starts with Homework help from 2:20PM to 3:00PM, after homework help

the students go into supper from 3:00PM to 3:30PM, then from 3:30PM to 5:00PM students go

into clubs and they participate in Book club, Chess club, Dance, Tribeca, Fitness, Food Justice,

Art, Public Color, STEM, Social-Emotional activities, and Middle School to High School transition.

ActKnowledge staff observed homework help and a food justice activity. Homework help was

conducted in a cafeteria with 27 students in grades 2nd, 5th, 6th 7th, and 8th. The students were


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divided by grade level and each grade had a staff member to assist with homework completion.

Homework’s varied from grade to grade, some grades were doing math problems while other

grades were reading a passage and answering questions based on the passage.

The food justice activity was conducted in a parent resource room and had 13 students from

6th, 7th, and 8th grade with two staff members. The students were divided by grade and each

group had to prepare the fruits to add into the dish to make a fruit salad. One group had

oranges and bananas to prepare, another group had to prepare mangoes and apples, and the

last group had strawberries and apples to prepare. The students were learning how to make a

fruit salad and also about healthy eating.

C.S. 61 The Francisco Oller Campus

Community School 61 designed its afterschool program based on grade level. For kindergarten

the afterschool program starts at 2:30PM and dismissal at 5:30PM Monday-Friday, while grades

1-5 start their afterschool program from 3:00PM Monday to Thursday, except on Fridays where

they start at 2:30PM and the dismissal is the same at 5:30PM. After kindergarten finishes their

snack at 3:00PM, they start academic and enrichment activities from 3:00PM to 5:30PM. The

academic and enrichment activities include sight words, homework/tutoring, KidzLit, SEL,

computers (STEM), dance, art, cooking, gardening (STEM), and fitness. After grades 1-5 finish

their supper/snack at 3:30PM, they start academic and enrichment activities from 3:30PM to

5:30PM except on Fridays where they start earlier at 2:30PM. The academic and enrichment

activities include homework/tutoring, KidzLit, SEL, computers (STEM), dance, music art,

cooking, gardening (STEM), and fitness.

ActKnowledge observed a test-prep in a classroom with eighteen 3rd grade students and a

certified English teacher in. The teacher was preparing students for the New York State English

Language Arts Exam (ELA) by reviewing a passage with students and guiding them to answer

multiple-choice questions. The teacher guided the students in a way that each student had to

have a rational behind his/her answer by showing her where in the passage they found the

answer.

One of the enrichment activities that was observed is cooking. Cooking was conducted in a

parent guardian association with thirteen 4th grade students and a certified instructor and three

staff members. Students were baking German apple pancakes with assistance from the

instructor and other staff members. The activity not only taught students how to bake a

German apple pancake but also taught them how to eat healthy by going over the ingredients

and why each ingredient was healthy for their bodies.


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Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom Middle School

The afterschool program at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom Middle School starts at 2:30PM

Monday and Friday, and at 3:00-3:30PM Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The activities

include homework hour, archery, Tribeca film, cooking club, Teen Action/Service Learning,

art/music, youth council, basketball club, and literacy club. The afterschool program ends at

5:30PM.

ActKnowledge staff observed two enrichment activities at FLH MS. One of the enrichments that

were observed was cooking. Cooking was conducted in a lab with sixteen students and four

staff members. The cooking class had a mixture of elementary and middle school students

working together to make a shrimp dumpling and a pizza pie for the Go Iron Chef competition.

Another enrichment activity that was observed was archery. Archery was conducted in a

cafeteria with eight students from 6th and 8th grade and a professional archer who taught them

safety lessons first and then practiced archery. Archery is becoming one of the most popular

activities amongst the students due to the Hunger Game books and movies.

C.S. 211 The Bilingual Magnet School

Community School 211 afterschool program is designed based on a college readiness theme,

and each group is given a university name such as Duke University, Fordham University, etc.,

and follows the schedule based on their university group. At Community School 211, the

afterschool program starts at 2:55PM with snack which ends at 3:15PM. After students have

had their snack, the students start homework help from 3:15PM to 4:10PM. Each student and

group of students receives homework help from youth counselors/staff; the goal of homework

help is for students to complete their homework. After the homework help students go into the

‘Learning Zone’ from 4:15PM to 5:00PM, and in the learning zone the selection process is

similar to Salome, where the students are assessed at the beginning of the program year and

targeted for level 1 and level 2 in ELA. The CS 211 is also targeting new arrivals (youth that have

recently immigrated to the United States) and English Language Learners.

After the ‘learning zone’ students go into clubs from 5:00PM to 5:55PM where they participate

in activities such as Passport to Manhood, Smart Girls, Project Adventure, Art and Design,

Dance, Go Chef’s, Media, Street Law, Youth Council, and Go Fitness.

ActKnowledge staff observed two test-prep activities. The test-preps were conducted in

classrooms, one had thirteen 7th grade students and another had fifteen 8th grade students

each with a certified ELA teacher. Both grades were preparing for the ELA State exam from a

workbook. Each student tried to answer questions from a workbook with minimal supervision,


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and the ELA teacher would provide support to students by going around and checking their

answers.

4.2 Educational Family Supports and Parent Involvement

Parent and family engagement is a key feature of the CAS community school strategy. Activities

to engage parents vary from adult education programs (ESL, computer, citizenship), health

programs (healthy family development, sex education and relationship), and social and cultural

events (cultural festivals and holidays). In addition to these programs CAS community schools

assist families acquire health insurance coverage through the Health Care Access Program

(HCAP), and emergency assistance is also provided through the New York Times Neediest Fund.

Even though there are challenges engaging parents, the services seem to attract immigrant

families the most. During a focus group with parents at IS 218, parents emphasized that the

services provided through CAS helped them integrate in the community. ESL and citizenship

classes for example, were the most important classes for immigrant families among the parents

in the focus group. They said these classes helped them learn the English language so they can

communicate with others and pass the citizenship exam to receive status in the USA.

4.3 Health Supports

Health and well-being of students and families is a key priority of the CAS community school

strategy. At IS 218 students have access to in-house holistic care through a Student Wellness

Center which has mental health unit, a medical and dental clinic, an orthodontics clinic (the first

in the USA to be located in a school) and a crisis intervention team. P.S./I.S. 50 also has a

school-based health center composed of medical and dental clinic, providing routine and

emergency care through the school day and during the out of school time programing. All other

sites (P.S. 211, FLHMS and CS 61) are linking the school to the nearby CAS Bronx Family Center

which offers pediatric and adolescent health services (child examinations, immunizations, acute

care (sick visits), dental services, services for pre-teens and teens, reproductive health care,

health education and counseling).


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4.4 New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) Quality Self-

Assessment (QSA) Results

The New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) Quality Self-Assessment (QSA) Tool is

designed to provide an understanding of the overall quality of the program, how it has evolved,

and where it needs to go. The NYSAN QSA has 10 essential elements of an effective afterschool

program, these include:

Element 1: Environmental/Climate which measures the quality of a program providing a

safe, healthy, and nurturing environment for all participants, staff members, and families.

Element 2: Administration/Organization which measures the quality of a program having a

well-developed systems and sound fiscal management to support and enhance worthwhile

programming and activities for all participants.

Element 3: Relationships which measures the quality of a program which develops,

nurtures, and maintains positive relationships and interactions among staff, participants,

families, and communities.

Element 4: Staffing/Professional Development which measures the quality of a program

which recruits, hires, and develops diverse staff members who understand, value, and

promote high-quality practices.

Element 5: Programming/Activities which measures the quality of a program providing a

well-rounded variety of activities and opportunities that support the physical, social, and

cognitive growth and development of all participants.

Element 6: Linkages between Day and Afterschool which measures the quality of a program

which has its staff work closely with school staff to ensure that afterschool academic

components and activities are aligned with and enrich school standards and curricula.

Element 7: Youth Participation/Engagement which measures the quality of a program

providing opportunity for youth to participate in planning, to exercise choice, and to engage

in a rich variety of offerings.

Element 8: Parent/Family/Community Partnerships which measures the quality of a

program establishing a strong partnership with families and communities in order to

achieve program goals.

Element 9: Program Sustainability/Growth which measures the quality of a program which

has a coherent vision/mission and a plan for increasing capacity that supports continuing

growth.


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Element 10: Measuring Outcomes/Evaluation which measures the quality of a program

which has a system for measuring outcomes and using that that information for ongoing

program planning, improvement, and evaluation.

CAS administered the NYSAN QSA Tool in which the staff had to rank each element from a scale

1-4 (1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest). The results of the self-assessment are

illustrated in the figure below.

Figure 1 below, illustrates the average performance level on ten essential elements of an

effective afterschool program.

The environment/climate, administration/organization, relationships, and linkages between

day and afterschool had the highest average performance level of 3.6.

The staffing/professional development, programming/linkages, and youth

participation/engagement had the second highest average performance level of 3.5.

The parent/family/community partnerships and program sustainability/growth have an

average performance level of 3.4.

The measuring outcomes/evaluation has an average performance level of 3.3.

Figure 1: Average Performance Level on ten Essential Elements of an Effective Afterschool Program

3.6

3.6

3.6

3.5

3.5

3.6

3.5

3.4

3.4

3.3

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

Environment/Climate

Administration/Organization

Relationships

Staffing/Professional Development

Programming/Linkages

Linkages Between Day & After School

Youth Participation/Engagement

Parent/Family/Community Partnerships

Program Sustainability/Growth

Measuring Outcomes/Evaluation


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4.5 Youth Development

The Theory of Change for Community Schools identifies a whole set of youth development

preconditions necessary for student achievement including key outcomes around social,

emotional and health development. After-school programs are designed to provide students

with a variety of academic and enrichment activities that encompass all these aspects of young

people’s development. Research Works (NY State Evaluator of the 21st CCLC Grant) adopted

Student Outcomes survey that were developed by Colorado Trust. CAS administered the survey

and results from the surveys presented as follows:

Figure 2 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on academic

domains. More than 50% of afterschool students answered yes to all academic domain

questions except for one.

Figure 2: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Academic domains/indicators

53% 53% 52% 54%45%

50% 51% 50% 53%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


22

Figure 3 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on

community involvement domains. 57% of afterschool students answered yes to ‘feeling better

about myself because I help others’ while on other community involvement domain questions

an average of 45% answered yes.

Figure 3: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Community Involvement domains/indicators

44%

46%

57%

43%

45%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Feel more important to my community

Feel a stronger connection to mycommunity

Feel better about myself because I helpothers

Spend more time volunteering or helpingothers in my community

Spend more time looking for opportunitiesto help others in my community

Figure 4 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on life skills

domains. More than 50% of afterschool students answered yes to all ‘life skills’ domain

questions except for two (I am better at telling others about my ideas and feelings at 42% and I

am better at listening to other people at 47%).

Figure 4: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Life Skills domains/indicators

57% 59%

42%47%

57% 56% 52%57% 58%

63%55%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


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Figure 5 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on positive

core values domains. 68% of afterschool students answered yes to ‘I am better at standing up

for what I believe’ and 59% answered yes to ‘I am better at taking responsibilities for my

actions’.

Figure 5: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Positive Core Values domains/indicators

54% 51% 51%

68%

59%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

I care moreabout other

people

I care moreabout the

feelings of otherpeople

I tell the truthmore often evenwhen it is hard

I am better atstanding up forwhat I believe

I am better attaking

responsibilityfor my actions

Figure 6 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on positive

life choice domains. 62% of afterschool students answered yes to ‘better say ‘no’ to things I

know are wrong’.

Figure 6: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Positive Life Choice domains/indicators

62%

50%54%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Better say ‘no’ to things I know are wrong

Stay out of trouble Avoid violence and fighting


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Figure 7 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on sense of

self domains. More than 50% of afterschool students answered yes to all sense of self domains.

Figure 7: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Sense of Self domains/indicator

66%

58%

54%

61%

63%

56%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Feel better about myself

Feel that I have more control over thingsthat happen to me

Feel that I can make more of a difference

Learn I can do things I didn’t think I could do before

Feel better about my future

Feel I am better at handling whatever comesmy way

Figure 8 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on sense of

future domains. About 60% of afterschool students answered yes to all sense of future

domains.

Figure 8: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Sense of Future domains/indicators

61%

59%

60%

61%

60%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Think about jobs or future careers

Think about college or other training afterhigh school

Want to stay in school

Think about my future

Set goals for myself


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Figure 9 below, illustrates the percent of afterschool students who answered ‘yes’ on

opportunity domains. 66% of afterschool students answered yes to ‘trying new things’ while

43% answered yes to ‘do things here I don’t get to do anywhere else’.

Figure 9: Percent of afterschool students who answered YES on Opportunity domains/indicators

66%

43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Try new things Do things here I don’t get to do anywhere else


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5. Challenges and Conclusion

The Children’s Aid Society Community Schools continue to provide variety of programs and

services to students, families and to the whole community, and in doing so implementing the

essential supports isn’t easy. For example:

Funding has been cut and decreasing over the years. At IS 218 programs were running

Friday’s from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm and on Saturdays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, and the

funds have been cut in recent years and now Saturday programs have been eliminated and

Friday’s hours have been cut.

Space is always an issue because the schools aren’t built as community schools, except for

Salome Schools, and Salome is having problems with space since the DOE decided to have 3

schools in the same building. CAS community schools struggle to find space for the in-school

health clinic, family resource center, and even for the CAS staff.

CAS schools stressed that implementing the afterschool program has been a challenge. The

afterschool program is supposed to offer variety of academic and enrichment activities but

it has become difficult to balance the two components because of the high expectations of

principals and teachers that the afterschool is supposed to offer more of the academic

support to students. The main reason behind this is because of the new teacher evaluation

requirements and the new test standards, where the teachers and principals are held

accountable for the performance of the students and the schools solely based on the

testing.

The politics and culture of each school is different and CAS staff has to adapt and navigate

within the politics to find the best way to get things done.

However, the CAS community schools continue to receive support from the School Age

division’s Vice President, the Regional Deputy Directors, and from the School Age division’s

educational support team such as the Educational Directors and the Educational Coordinators

to provide program assistance and to ensure that certain structural elements are consistent

across all sites.

This continues support reflects on the results of the Quality Self-Assessment (QSA). The CAS

average performance level was above 3 (from a scale 1-4) on all ten elements of an effective

afterschool program. The environment/climate, administration/organization, relationships, and

linkages between day and afterschool had the highest average performance level of 3.6.

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