21st Century Community Learning Centers

OST Collection Strategy Curation Protocol

The Out-of-School Time Collection is a specialized segment of the PA Evidence Resource Center. The goal of this collection is to support providers of afterschool, summer, and migrant learner supplemental services in selecting and using relevant, practical, evidence-based practices for their learning settings. By applying targeted criteria and filters to the broad landscape of educational program evidence, the collection enables program leaders to more quickly and effectively identify strong and appropriate strategies that are both evidence-based using the rigorous standards of ESSA, and are optimized to work in OST settings with participating students and families.

Evidence Characteristics

Eligible Populations

In this review, the following populations are of interest:

Grades: For afterschool programs, Pre-K through Grade 12 with a special emphasis on grades 3-8. For summer and migrant education programs, ages 0-21.
Location: Schools, families, parents, teachers, or other subject units studied were located within the United States, its territories, or tribal entities; otherwise, the country where the study took place is specifically noted.
Potential subgroups of interest for this review include:
- Characteristics of students:
  - Special education status
  - English learner status
  - Gender
  - Race
  - Ethnicity
  - Economically disadvantaged (e.g., free or reduced-price lunch status)
  - Grade
- Characteristics of staff or program implementers:
  - Certified teachers
  - Non-certified educators
  - Volunteers
  - Parents serving in an instructional/supportive role
- Characteristics of school/classroom settings:
  - Location of program setting (e.g., urban, suburban, rural, summer, afterschool, school or community setting)
  - School or Charter type (cyber or charter)
  - School level (e.g., elementary, middle, high)
  - School size

PRIORITY NOTE: Studies do not need to be conducted in OST settings or with OST students if the intervention could be feasibly implemented in an OST program. However, special attention and a priority for review is given to studies conducted within OST settings (summer, after school, supplemental programs), with staff who work in OST settings, or with students who also receive OST services.

Eligible Interventions

In this review, the following types of practices may be included:

Strategy (any program, product, technique or approach that contributes to progress in an outcome domain for students, staff, parents, or school communities)
Intervention (a strategy implemented to address or prevent a problem or challenge)
Activity (a new, additional offering or structural component)
Program or Curriculum (a system of instruction that may include numerous strategies)
Policy (a named condition or set of formalized procedures that impact entire school systems. Policies can be set by federal, state, or local governments, or adopted by a school’s governing body.)

Eligible Research

In this review, the following additional parameters define the scope of research studies to be included:

Time frame. Studies must have been released or made public within the past 20 years as of the time of publishing to the ERC.
Language. The study must be available in English to be included in the review.
Implementation details. Studies should include reasonable implementation details that would allow a program to replicate results. Implementation points of interest include:
- Cost of intervention
- Staffing requirements, their training in education (at least some training v. no training)
- Materials and technology needed
- Professional learning required to implement
- Setting of intervention (summer, after school, school setting, community setting, school year, months offered)
- Student to staff ratio and individual v. group implementation (incl. size/composition)
- Transportation needs
- Program eligibility
- Parental involvement (e.g. required, encouraged)
- Partnerships/collaborations (e.g. required, encouraged)
- Can be offered in short, discrete segments, each with value to the learner
- Students can proceed at their own pace
- Allows for student choice

As always, all studies must result in ESSA tier 1, 2, 3 or 4 evidence to be included.

Strategy Characteristics:

Strategies impact outcomes in one or more of the following areas, for learners, educators, or families:
- Target categories (Math, ELA, Attendance, Behavior, Family Engagement, High School Graduation) OR
- Conditions for Learning (Educator Well-Being, Educator Effectiveness, Student Behavior, Student Well-Being) OR
- Enrichment topics (STEM, Art, Science, Technology, Alcohol and Other Drugs, College & Career Readiness) OR
- Populations studied (ELs, Low SES) OR
- Other strategy attributes of interest:
  - Summer
  - After School
  - Migrant Education
  - Small Group
  - Individual Student
  - Parents
  - Tutoring
  - Trauma-Informed
  - STEM
  - Visual & Performing Arts
  - Outdoors
  - Physically Active
  - Mindfulness Practice
  - Family
  - Community-Based Learning
  - Partner Organizations & Agencies
  - Free
  - Free Basic Level
  - Free trial
  - Real-World/Project-Based Learning
  - Instructional Supports for Teachers
  - Foster Care / Homelessness
  - Career Exploration

AND

Strategies meet the following criteria:
- EITHER:
  - Has been studied in an OST setting (After school, summer, or at-home settings. Advisory, study hall, or other school-day tutoring sessions are also acceptable, as long as they 1) are not delivered by a specialist, and 2) don’t replace/supplant regular instructional time);
    
    OR all of the following criteria must be met:
  - Noncertified educator can implement the program with a moderate level of professional learning, or with appropriate partnerships/consultative service providers
  - AND strategy includes ongoing supports/resources for staff
  - AND strategy is feasible to implement within an OST setting/context:
    - After school: Impactful with modular, supplemental, short sessions and irregular attendance
    - Summer: Impact can be made in 8 weeks or less
    - In-home Migrant Education: 1:1 or small-group programming, with impact in a few, brief sessions
Strategy types not eligible for the collection:
- Academic assessments or assessment techniques. OST programs typically do not administer assessments. However, screening or diagnostic assessments are permitted, and computer-assisted programs with built-in assessments that help to customize the program are permitted.
- School reform models, policies or infrastructure recommendations that apply only to school environments.
- Principal or educator training, coaching, or mentoring that can only be used by certified teachers or school administrators.
- Strategies whose evidence of effectiveness depends on a school-day implementation.