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Staff development is an important component of providing high-quality afterschool programming. This webinar from American Institutes for Research’s Beyond the Bell suite of professional development services provides an overview of foundational elements of staff development. A free template for creating a professional development plan is also available until November 5.

Providing opportunities for authentic youth input and creating partnerships are important to both program success and youth development. This brief from Education Northwest explores adult-youth partnerships, including their importance, how to cultivate them, and why organizations should invest in and promote them. The brief also provides tips for educators and youth.

The U.S. Department of Education’s You for Youth (Y4Y) web portal for 21st CCLC practitioners is offering a six-part virtual institute for new grantees. Topics include an introduction to the 21st CCLC program, afterschool program management, building your team and stakeholder relationships, implementing programming with fidelity, family engagement, and sustainability. The webinars are archived on the Y4Y website and include resources and handouts.

In this archived webinar from the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, experts from the American Institutes for Research share evidence-based communications strategies to help organizations gain buy-in from stakeholders for their program evaluation. Presenters also describe barriers to communication and mobilization around program evaluation, as well as ways to overcome these barriers.

The Spring 2018 issue of Afterschool Matters, the magazine of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, includes articles useful to Illinois 21st CCLC grantees. Topics include fostering friendships and peer groups in afterschool programs, promoting youth voice, and the work of an afterschool ecology club.

Making the transition from afterschool to summer programming often means switching from 2-3 hours to a full day of activities. This blog post from the National AfterSchool Association offers ways expanded learning professionals can prepare for a full day of programming, including developing schedules that work for staff and students and planning and delivering learning activities.

If your 21st CCLC is offering summer programming, be sure to check out this summer learning recruitment guide from the Wallace Foundation. The guide includes strategies for messaging and recruitment, and a list of essential, recommended, and optional recruitment tactics.

The latest issue of Afterschool Matters, a peer-reviewed journal of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, has a variety of articles to inform and educate your afterschool team. Topics include equity and inclusion, mentoring, motivating students with video games, and how afterschool can affect students' sense of autonomy.

Afterschool professionals may have resources to support students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but do they know how to help staff members with ADHD be successful? This blog post from the National Afterschool Association provides insights on how adults with ADHD can work with the disorder and be focused in the workplace.

A new book, The Growing Out-of-School-Time Field: Past, Present, and Future, looks at how the out-of-school time (OST) field has evolved and matured over the past two decades. The Afterschool Alliance has hosted two webinars to present topics and authors from the book. Part I explores positive youth development, supporting children from underserved communities, and the role of research in the field. Part II looks at professional development and where the OST movement is headed in the future.