Resource Database

According to youth.gov, most adults who have substance use disorders began using alcohol and drugs as adolescents or young adults. The video series, Adolescent Substance Use, Addiction, and Treatment: A TAG Talk, provides information about addressing substance use and addiction in young adults, including effective approaches to treating addiction. Developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health, and partner medical organizations, the video includes discussion guides for parents and for professionals who work with young adults.

This toolkit from the Wallace Foundation offers hands-on, downloadable resources for school districts and community organizations looking to start or enhance their summer learning programs.

Volunteers provide important support for afterschool programs, and it is crucial that afterschool leaders provide the information and support volunteers need to be successful. This blog post from the U.S. Department of Education’s You for Youth (Y4Y) afterschool website provides guidance and tools for recruiting volunteers, matching them with responsibilities that fit their skills and interests, supporting them, and recognizing their contribution so that they have a rewarding experience and stay involved.

Collaborative learning supports social and emotional learning and is also a key part of successful group activities. This resource from Illinois Classrooms in Action provides an overview of collaborative learning as well as a 60-minute professional development guide with facilitator’s notes and presentation slides.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, CareerOneStop is an online resource to help individuals explore careers; learn about salaries and education and skill requirements of different jobs; find local training; and match skills with careers and jobs. Afterschool programs can use this site to help students explore careers that interest them and set education and career goals.

Increased student attendance and engagement in school, higher academic achievement, and graduating with the necessary skills, experience, and education to pursue postsecondary education or career are all components of college and career readiness. Because high-quality expanded learning programs are associated with these outcomes, some city leaders are looking to afterschool and summer learning programs to ensure that young citizens are college and career ready. This report from the National League of Cities provides examples from promising expanded learning programs and describes ways that their local communities can support them.

How can educators help students with varying reading abilities access and learn from complex texts? This blog post from Achieve the Core helps educators provide scaffolding and supports to help all readers. Suggestions include supporting vocabulary, pre-annotating texts with key ideas, using questions as scaffolds, and allowing time for reflection and discussion.

Students find math more meaningful when they are able to connect it to real-world situations. Radical Math is a resource that helps educators integrate economic and social justice issues into math curriculum and instruction. The website has links to more than 700 lesson plans, articles, charts, graphs, datasets, maps, and books that help educators support students in using math to understand and solve social problems.

With the growing focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in afterschool, it is tempting to think of the arts in opposition to STEM subjects. This blog post from Click2Science explains how afterschool programs can integrate the arts into STEM programming to offer STEAM. The blog post describes the characteristics of STEAM projects and provides examples of STEAM activities.

Many young people who are interested in improving their communities are speaking up and trying to make change through civic engagement. This archived webinar from the Afterschool Alliance provides guidance on how expanded learning programs can support youth who want to advocate for issues that are important to them. The webinar also offers suggestions on connecting youth voice and engagement to Lights On Afterschool advocacy events. Free registration is required.