Afterschool and summer programs are prime settings for building life skills in young people. Whether they're focused on sports, art, or homework help, programs offer young people safe spaces, supportive relationships, and chances to practice skills like self-control and teamwork. But a good setting isn't enough on its own. Research shows that efforts to build life skills in young people work best when they’re done systematically with dedicated time and explicit instruction. Organizations that coordinate and support out-of-school time providers in a community can play a vital role in helping ensure that programs’ life skills activities are thought-out and effective. Strengthening Young People’s Life Skills, a new resource-rich guide from the RAND Corporation, highlights three ways intermediaries and other organizations can work with OST programs to improve life skills for youth, by:
Establishing a life skills framework that describes specific skills for programs to target Connecting providers to evidence-based resources that support effective life skill development Offering opportunities for professional development to bolster providers’ abilities and confidence For each of these, the RAND team offers a wealth of practical guidance, no-cost tools, and real-world examples and resources. For instance, they provide a complete professional development calendar, along with a template for users to fill out on their own. They also identify common obstacles that both OST intermediaries and providers face, like balancing competing priorities and handling program staff turnover, along with advice for overcoming them. All of these tips and resources were drawn from the Wallace-funded Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative, which involved more than 100 afterschool programs in six communities—Boston; Dallas; Denver; Palm Beach County, Fla.; Tacoma; and Tulsa. You can find more insights from the initiative here. |
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