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Insights and News

April 2026

How Can Arts Programs Help Young People Thrive?

In this video, researcher Kylie Peppler highlights a new tool designed to help arts organizations identify and support the outcomes they want for young people. The tool is based on interviews with adults who participated in community-based arts programs when they were young. Practitioners can use the tool to evaluate their program or generate ideas.

How Districts Keep Summer Programs Going

Summer learning can help improve academic outcomes and provide students with exciting enrichment opportunities. As pandemic relief funds expire, how are districts keeping those programs going? A new brief from NYU Metro Center shares lessons from 13 districts working to sustain and strengthen their efforts.

A Stronger Path to the Principalship

National Assistant Principals Week is coming up next week! To celebrate, take a look at this step-by-step approach to identifying, preparing, and advancing assistant principals into the principalship.

Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents

"This initiative is about working with communities to help them build lasting systems that support young people's growth, learning and wellbeing based on a set of proven principles," says Gigi Antoni, Wallace's vice president of youth development, in a recent interview with Inside Philanthropy. Through the Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents initiative, Wallace is working with communities nationwide to strengthen high-quality, interest-driven career awareness and exploration opportunities for youth.

Two Upcoming Webinars

Register here for a practical webinar focused on how leaders can thoughtfully rethink programmatic and organizational structures to align mission impact with financial health on Tuesday, April 14th, from 2:00pm – 3:30pm ET.

Join Every Hour Counts for Charting a Path Forward in Changing Times, their virtual conference on June 10–11, 2026 that lifts up the experiences, challenges, and needs of the youth development field. Register and learn more here.

Request for Proposals

As a part of our Advancing Well-Being in the Arts initiative's Field Studies program, we are seeking proposals for new research on how community-based arts organizations contribute to economic mobility. Letters of interest are due May 12, 2026.

Schools, Districts, States

Linda Darling-Hammond discusses balancing management and leadership as a principal in an interview with Edutopia.

A recent Hunt Institute webinar featuring Wallace's vice president of education leadership, Rotunda Floyd-Cooper, explores why representation in school leadership matters and how districts are building stronger, equity-centered pathways into the principalship.

According to estimates from district leaders, teacher and principal turnover is declining from pandemic-era highs and nearing prepandemic levels, though disparities, especially in urban districts, persist.

New research shows that more than two-thirds of assistant principals never apply for a principal role.

Summer, Afterschool, Social and Emotional Learning

As demand for afterschool and summer programs surges, this opinion piece by the Afterschool Alliance's Jodi Grant and Overdeck Family Foundation's Emma Banay highlights how rising costs are pricing out millions of families—and outlines steps providers, policymakers, and funders can take to expand equitable access.

In states like Arizona, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Washington, leaders have pledged to expand high-quality career exploration opportunities for middle school students.

Education Week reports on how young people are using AI tools for learning and mental health support.

The Arts

In this Youth Today article, a pre-med graduate and former National Dance Institute student reflects on how childhood dance classes sparked his interest in science, built his confidence and sense of belonging, and shaped his path toward a career in medicine, arguing that arts programs should be a core part of education.

What does it take to build lasting relationships with theatre audiences today? The Bridge, a new podcast from Theatre Communications Group, explores how theatres are experimenting with new models, rethinking belonging, and more.

A recent collaboration between Wallace grantees Theater Mu and Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project brought audiences together in St. Paul for a screening of documentaries by queer Asian filmmakers—stories that explore identity, migration, and resistance.