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Mott Foundation grant offers opportunity for afterschool and summer program improvements

A $225,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation along with matching funds from the Alabama State Department of Education will enable Auburn University’s Truman Pierce Institute to help improve the availability and quality of afterschool and summer programs in Alabama.

Awarded in October, the grant will provide support through September 2015. The Truman Pierce Institute, an outreach and research unit of Auburn’s College of Education, will lead efforts to create a statewide network of organizations and agencies serving youth.

Cindy Reed, director of the Truman Pierce Institute and the Gerald and Emily Leischuck endowed professor of educational leadership in the College of Education, said afterschool and summer programs play an essential role in helping students realize their educational and employment goals.

“Effective summer and afterschool learning programs are important components of the types of support systems that need to be available for students to help address issues of access, equity and achievement in schools – particularly for low-income students,” Reed said. “High quality out-of-school programs are especially needed if all students are to be successful in our increasingly global economy.”

The statewide afterschool network created by the Truman Pierce Institute in partnership with the Alabama State Department of Education and other agencies will focus on the following goals:

Identifying and implementing a statewide standard of excellence for afterschool and summer programs.
Organizing regional forums with community- and faith-based organizations, as well as local and state agencies, to aid in the development of a shared vision for afterschool programs.
Coordinating and building support for local and statewide policies that lead to increased resources for afterschool programs.
Building a website offering data on the effect of afterschool and expanded learning programs on schools, families and communities.
Connecting technical assistance resources to afterschool programs.

Reed said the statewide network will also provide access to curriculum resources, professional development and best practices.

Last Updated: Nov 08, 2012