Promising Practices for Family Engagement in Out-Of-School Time

This concise monograph addresses the expanding field of family involvement to out of school time (OST). OST may be defined as time outside of state required time limits for compulsory school attendance but time in which students are engaged in planned academic or enrichment activities. During the past decade, OST programs have burgeoned across the United States. OST programs are offered to children and youth, elementary through high school, as structured and safe venues to increase student academic achievement, and extend students’ interests. Chapter authors share promising practices from a range of backgrounds, including nonprofit organizations, faith-based, health, and governmental agencies as well as university-school connections. Contents describe the benefits and concerns of parent engagement in OST, such as student outcomes of parent engagement in OST, how parents select appropriate programs, ways to connect with parents to assure regular attendance of youth, methods to solicit families to participate in OST activities, and evaluation measures.