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The well-being of educators is essential to healthy and resilient students. Healthier Generation, through the support of Kaiser Permanente, has developed a four-part on-demand training series with tools and resources to help educators focus on their well-being. Topics include defining and identifying burnout, as well as balancing and combatting it; becoming aware of stress and responses; balance through boundaries; and connecting to your needs. Free registration is required to access the training.

Remote meetings have become a way of life for both work and socializing. They help us stay in touch but can also be draining. This article from the Harvard Business Review outlines ways that professionals can avoid Zoom fatigue. Strategies include planning breaks, minimizing distractions, and falling back on email and phone calls if needed.

Educators have faced a multitude of critical decisions about how to implement emergency learning equitably. A new white paper from Harvard University’s Edmund J. Safra Center for Ethics examines some of the ethical decisions that education leaders made as schools transitioned to remote instruction. The paper finds that rather than posing a new set of ethical dilemmas, the pandemic intensifies inequities in the American education system.

This issue brief from the American Institutes for Research explores how afterschool and summer programs are well positioned to be strong partners in supporting children and families as schools reopen for the summer and 2020–21 school year. The brief focuses on the expanded learning field's ability to provide safe, relationship-rich environments where we can respond to trauma, be trusted partners for families and communities, and provide connections to resources schools and families need. The brief also provides links to frameworks for a whole-child approach as schools reopen and strategies for what expanded learning programs and schools can do to prepare.

A new article in the Journal of Youth Development, “Sustaining Passion: Findings from an Exploratory Study of the OST Program Workforce,” examines results from a survey of 264 out-of-school time (OST) professionals who shared how they felt about their field. Respondents reported that they found value in the relationships they formed with youth and seeing them develop over time, as well as the connections they felt with coworkers and the community. Respondents also said that overall the OST field lacks foundational workforce elements, such as financial stability, a competitive level of pay, and benefits.

The National Institute on Out-of-School Time has developed a new coaching guide. The guide covers core coaching competencies: relationships, communication, principles of adult learning, professionalism, and continuous quality improvement. It also outlines effective coaching strategies. The guide can be used by both program leaders to coach their staff and by external consultants.

“Collective impact” refers to broad, multi-sector collaborations that can involve government, schools, businesses, universities, foundations, and nonprofits. A new study by Teachers College, Columbia University, commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, examines cross-sector collaborations designed to improve education. The study of cross-sector initiatives in eight cities concludes that they “show promise” and can establish the stability needed for partnerships to move forward. This study can help inform afterschool partnerships with schools and community organizations as they seek to strengthen the reach of their programs.

Afterschool Nutrition Programs have an important role in closing the afterschool hunger gap that exists for many children across the country. A new report from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has found that student participation in Afterschool Nutrition Programs is growing. The report explains the programs’ importance and outlines ways that afterschool programs can reach more students in need. FRAC also has a blog post about the report, which summarizes findings and outlines next steps to expand program offerings.

How can expanded learning practitioners gather and use data to inform decisions that support afterschool and summer programs, recruit students, and allocate resources? A new 10-step guide from RAND offers insights into collecting, analyzing, and managing data to improve decision-making. The guide serves as a starting point to help improve the ways in which afterschool professionals use data to benefit the programs, communities, and young people they serve.

From a sudden thunderstorm knocking down power lines and flooding roads to a family dispute moving from the home to your afterschool program, emergencies happen. Y4Y has developed a suite of tools to help 21st CCLC programs prepare for emergencies. Resources include a training session on developing and implementing a safety plan, a template for a site coordinator safety checklist, and resources for communicating with families about safety.