From Pushing in to Partnering: (Re)Considering Community-Based Organizations’ Changing Role in 21st-Century Community Learning Centers

• In Event: Evolution of Learning and Programming in the Out-of-School Time Field

Abstract

Community-based organizations (CBOs) have partnered with educators to mitigate challenges and help students flourish since the first schools opened. Today, policymakers are blaming too little school time as the cause of educational failures, and are turning to a longer school day as a solution and looking to CBOs to play a role. This is the next step in a series of shifts in the after-school field which increasingly pushes them to focus on academic achievement. This paper describes a study that used narrative inquiry to explore the impact of academic-heavy policy and rhetoric on how schools and CBOs conceive of their work in 21st CCLCs in terms of academic supports and social/emotional development from the perspective of site directors.

Author

• Jennifer Siaca Curry, New York University