The Success of After School Programs

Here's a really interesting item. The 7th Annual Afterschool for All Challenge which brings together youth and afterschool staff as well advocates and administrators from around the country in Washington DC on May 14 and 14, 2008 for two days of workshops, networking, meetings with Congressional offices and celebrations. This year's Afterschool for All Challenge is partnering with the National League of Cities and their National City Afterschool Summit. City officials, superintendents, school board members, and afterschool providers will have a chance to share ideas and strategies to help ensure the growth of afterschool programs.The event honors afterschool all stars and celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Initiative. Plus they all meet with members of Congress and the need for continued investment. Click here for highlights from last year's Challenge

Last ,year, more than 300 advocates, providers, parents and students participated in this year’s Challenge and they visited more than 200 Congressional offices delivering the message that afterschool is key to kids’ success.

I know for a fact that afterschool programs work well because of my work as a Board member of Children of the City. In fact, here's Rosa's story... She is 12 and lives in Brooklyn, New York. If someone dared asked Rosa to read, even a book as simple as one by Doctor Seuss a few years ago there would have been mayhem. In the midst of screaming and pounding fists, she was known to overturn her desk and send books flying across the room. School teachers gave up on Rosa, aiming to manage her tantrums rather than provide any instruction. In third grade, Rosa was still learning addition and subtraction.”

When Rosa began to attend an educational after school and summer program at Children of the City, she found the nurture and structure she needed to survive. She began doing her schoolwork, and she found a new home. Now Rosa is in sixth grade and doing well in school.

I have other information on my Rocco Basile website for anyone interested.

Education Trends

I was poking around on the Internet and found this interesting National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities article entitled, Educational Trends Shaping School Planning and Design 2007 by Kenneth R. Stevenson, Department of Educational Leadership and Policies, College of Education, at the University of South Carolina. He originally wrote the article in 2002 and had ten points, but this is the latest version with 12 points. The trends that he has identified came about by reviewing the latest research along with the school facilities and student outcomes; current issues, problems, and initiatives in the educational field. It also takes into account any emerging demographics. Below are the top five trends...

Trend 1 - School Choice. Parents and policymakers around the country are unhappy with public education, so they have attempted to dismantle what they consider to be a public monopoly over the delivery of K–12 schooling. They have pushed for vouchers and tax credits that permit parental choice and offer alternatives to the local public school. In response, school districts are embracing the idea that parents and their children should have choices. So they have started offering parents options ranging from magnet schools to charters (Shostak, 2004), and by 2005 there were approximately 3,400 charter schools in the United States serving about 800,000 students (Carpenter, 2005).
Trend 2 - Small May Be Better. Over the next 25 years we may see elementary schools housing an average of 200 students, middle schools with no more than 400 to 500 students, and high schools with 500 to 750 students. Supporters argue that small schools are particularly good at improving the academic achievement for students who have not done well in traditional settings. They believe small schools have higher graduation rates and improved behavior among students(Wasley, 2002; et. al.).
Trend 3: Reduced Class Sizes. Significant research demonstrates that smaller-class benefits not only include enhanced academic performance but improved student behavior and teacher morale (Finn & Pannozzo, 2003). A few studies further suggest that such classes particularly benefit students whoare at risk (Nye, Hedges, & Konstantopoulos, 2004).
Trend 4: Technology in Education. School districts will need to develop effective methods to control costs caused by more-numerous neighborhood schools, lower teacher-pupil ratios, higher energy costs, and reduced tax revenues. One solution would be by means of virtual education, or “e-schooling” (Berge & Clark, 2005). Students seeking more specialized or advanced courses could take classes via closed circuit television or through Internet e-learning.
Trend 5: The Mission. School buildings must accommodate a change in mission. For example, schools attempting to maximize standardized achievement test scores may need to modify their curricula (Dillon, 2006). Students with academic difficulties may be required to take additional courses in their problem areas. To enhance scores on state or national tests, students may be required to sign up for a second course in math rather than taking art as an elective. And those students doing well in math or science may be encouraged to take more math and science, rather than non-academic electives. This will raise their school’s academic profile. As schools increase the focus on traditional academic subjects, demand for music, art, and vocational courses may diminish.

I find it fascinating that our own Children of the City (COC) charity in Brooklyn, NY is already proving some of these kinds of trends. You can read more about Children of the City on my own personal Rocco Basile website. As a Board member, I know that our programs such as Create Success work. It is an after school and summer program for a student’s academic success. Click here to learn more about this program.

Could After School Programs Help Crime Prevention?

The recent news on February 15th about the gunman who shot 18 students from a stage before killing himself at Northern Illinois University (NIU) is devastating, and deserves our thoughts, prayers and condolences. Yet many of us dig deeper and wonder how could this have been prevented?

In the charity work that I do at Brooklyn, New York-based Children of the City, we are no strangers to how crime and violence affect children every day. But we also see how a community can help. Perhaps if there were more programs nationwide like this, tragedies like the one at NIU would have been prevented.

It is interesting that violent and property crime rates at our country's schools during the year 2005 were statistically unchanged from the year 2004 versus 2005.

According to a report released a year ago on December 2, 2007 by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics violent and property crime rates remained about the same in the year 2005 compared to 2004. They measured crimes such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault and also theft. Here are some of the highlighted statistics:

-- Older students, of the ages 15 to 18, were less likely than younger students, of the ages 12 to 14, to be victims of crime at school during 2005.
-- Older students were more likely than younger students to be victims of crime away from school.
-- Other serious violent victimizations were lower at school than away from school for every survey year from 1992 through the year 2005.
-- During the year 2005, 99 percent of the students aged from 12 to 18 observed at least one of selected security measures at their school; the percentage of students who observed the use of security cameras at their school increased from 39 percent in 2001 to 58 percent during 2005.
-- Of the students in grades 9 through 12 an estimated 43 percent reported drinking alcohol anywhere and four percent reported drinking at school during the 30 days prior to the 2005 survey.

The charity's programs including its FutureSafe program, which is is a collaborative monthly event attended by an average of 500 children. It's like a neighborhood block party, complete with food, games, singing, crafts, and other fun activities for children. Children are picked up from their homes and brought to a community center where they participate in this event. Children of the City provides a much-needed preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, gang involvement, teen pregnancies, as well as teach them on important issues such as health and education.

Stay tuned for more information on this topic. Or check out my Rocco Basile Charity website.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. More information can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/.

Education Historically Focused on Music, Math and History

Recently, along with my research on successful programs for students being done at Children of the City, I started researching the history of education in other parts of the world. In China, for example, formal education can be traced back to around the 16th century B.C. At that time, education was a privilege for the elite, and basically for the purpose of producing government officials. The studies included what was known as the “Six Arts”: Rites, Music, Archery, Chariot-Riding, History, and Mathematics.

I am sure glad that today’s gym teachers don’t have to worry about teaching chariot-riding!

But what I do find very interesting is that the basics are still the same – given music, history and math. These topics are to this day still quite challenging for some students, and why our Children of the City after school program called Create Success has been such a success. Many of the kids in Brooklyn come from ethnic families who do not speak English at home. One little Asian boy who started studying in the COC program is now reading books way above the standard level for a second grader. He sounds out the harder Latin based words with ease.

Create Success is an after school and summer program focusing on each student’s academic success with intense tutoring and daily personal help with homework. The program has shown dramatic results, increasing many students’ reading and math skill levels, and encouraging healthy study habits, communications, along with improved peer relationships.

By personally connecting with each child in their environment, Children of the City volunteers and staff are able to reach the children at home, at school, on the streets and playgrounds, and in their facilities. This builds strong relationships and from there we are able to teach, inform and counsel on various life issues and skills.

Education and Crime

I came across a website that lists some very interesting statistics on education and crime, and it reiterates how I feel about our schools. Every school should be a safe haven for teaching and learning, and it should be completely free of violence and crime. This is pretty depressing, but it is something that we need to be aware of so that programs can be put in place to make change.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, during school year 2005–2006 there were an estimated 54.8 million students were enrolled in prekindergarten through grade 12. Preliminary data show that among youth ages 5–18, there were 17 (14 homicides and 3 suicides) school- associated violent deaths from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006.

Among students ages 12–18 in 2005, there were approximately 1.5 million victims of nonfatal crimes at school, with 868,100 thefts and 628,200 violent crimes. Although there's some evidence that student safety has improved, the victimization rate of students ages 12–18 at school declined between 1992 and 2005. Violence, theft, drugs, and weapons continue to pose problems in schools.

These numbers are not pretty and it is why I am on the Board and work with charities like Children of the City. Our Executive Director Joyce Mattera has some great hopes and plans for 2008. She mentioned that the charity's after school program "is doing amazing well ... with several students in our program who were at risk in Junior High and are now doing fabulous in high school, and volunteering their free time back into the program."

It is through programs like this that we can help make a difference to mitigate crime. In fact, you can read more about Children of the City and the other charities I represent at my website -- http://www.roccobasile.org/

Basile Builders Group Sponsors Seminar on Brooklyn Subprime Market

With all the latest information on the subprime market, the saddest news is how much it has affected the minority neighborhoods all over the U.S. They have been heavily targeted for risky high cost loans. That's why my family's company Basile Builder's Group, is joining a group of other specialists including Legacy Financial, the law offices of Daniel Boldi, Esq., L.I. Business Consultants, Amenity Appraisals and Ameraprise Financial to hold a free seminar on February 19 at The Knights of Columbus, Brooklyn , New York.

Why? Our community needs advice and guidance. With millions of Americans suffering from rising mortgage payments due to adjustable rates, balloon payments and other unscrupulous sub-prime programs, many folks have started to really panic as they hear about or know other family members and friends who are losing their homes. It's our goal to help answer questions.

Minorities are at the center of the subprime mortgage crisis, according to a study that was put out by United for a Fair Economy, a Boston-based economic policy group. The “State of the Dream 2008: Foreclosed” report evaluated subprime lending during the past eight years and projects a direct loss from defaulted subprime loans to range between $365 billion and $605 billion.

It's estimated that whites hold 55 percent of the bad subprime loans, while minorities hold the other 45 percent. African-American borrowers are projected to lose between $71 billion and $122 billion — about 20 percent of the total projected losses, while Latinos will lose $76 billion to $129 billion for the same period, about 21 percent of the subprime default burden.

It's pretty bad here in New York in places like Brooklyn. According to this January 26th Bloomberg subprime article, the communities of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights had a foreclosure rate of almost four times the national subprime figure of 6.89 percent, which was the highest since March 2003.

These sharp increases in subprime mortgage loan delinquencies and in the number of homes entering foreclosure do raise important economic, social, and regulatory issues.

For more information on the Feb. 19th free seminar, contact Jonathan at 516-404-5855.

Giants hero David Tyree to Attend Children of the City Gala

Being on the Board of a charity like Children of the City (COC) has its advantages. Sometimes we get to meet some totally amazing people. For instance, our big annual gala is coming up on Thursday March 13 . And New York Giants SuperBowl hero David Tyree will be coming as a special guest, for the third year in a row; along with Richard Jefferson of the New York Nets.

This year's 27th anniversary gala will be held at Tribecca Rooftop in New York City. The Master of Ceremonies is Steve Shirripa of the HBO series The Supranos. This wonderful organization serves the children and families of Southwest Brooklyn, helping families overcome welfare and poverty, and benefiting children and their challenges in life with education, and more.

It is only $5,000 to sponsor a child -- to provide a complete comprehensive plan for success for one child for a year, and get name recognition, and receive frequent updates on the progress of your sponsored child's development throughout the year. Then of course, if you happen to be with a major corporation and want to sponsor the event to the tune of $50k, you're company will get name recognition at all major COC events, in all communicaitons, publications and media coverage throughout the year including fundraising events, programs, activities and community gatherings.

Oh and just to attend the gala the tickets are $400 each. Anyone interested in a sponsorship can call Joyce Mattera before February 29th at 718-436-0242 X 18. Be sure to tell her you saw this on the Rocco Basile blog, and I also plan to mention it on my website at www.roccobasile.org where you will find out more about my charities and the importance of education.

The State of American Education

This year on May 31, 2008, it will be a year since the following press release went out regarding the state of affairs over education in America entitled, "Report on the State of American Education Shows High School Students Taking More Advanced Coursework." It indicated that high school students in the United States have been taking more courses in mathematics and science, social studies, the arts, and foreign languages.

All of these statistics are according to The Condition of Education 2007 report released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It is a congressionally mandated report providing an annual statistical outlook on education in the U.S. 48 indicators cover various aspects of education, from student achievement to school environment.

Many of today's students are minority students who make up 42 percent of public school enrollment. Twenty percent of school age children speak English plus another language at home.
This report shows that the rate of college enrollment right after high school increased from 49 percent to 69 percent in the year 2005, and female college enrollment surpassed male enrollment starting in 1978 and continues to grow, widening the gender gap.

Last year this report showed that U.S. public school enrollment is becoming increasingly diverse and that more people are enrolling in postsecondary education. It also pointed out that more bachelor’s degrees have been awarded than in the past.

High school course taking results indicate that between 1997 and 2005, the number of students taking AP exams more than doubled to about 1.2 million. The numbers of blacks and Hispanics grew faster than those from any other racial or ethnic group. In the year 2004, Asian/Pacific Islander graduates were more likely than graduates of any other race or ethnicity to have completed advanced coursework in science, mathematics, English, and a foreign language.

Students who eventually dropped out of high school were behind their peers who graduated on time in the total number of credits they earned in their freshman and sophomore years, as well as the amount they earned in English, mathematics, and science courses. Year-to-year change shows that credit accrual declined for dropouts, putting them further behind. About three-quarters of the freshman class graduated from public high schools on time in 2003–04.

Interestingly enough, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded increased by 33 percent between 1989-90 and 2003-04. The number of associate's degrees increased by 46 percent. What's more, minority students have accounted for about half of the growth in associate's and bachelor's degrees.

Adults between the ages of 25 to 34 with a bachelor's degree or higher have higher median earnings than their peers with less education, and these earnings differences increased from 1980 to 2005. The average total price for one year of graduate education (full time) ranged from $21,900 for a master's degree program to $41,900 for a first-professional degree program.

For more information on educational statistics, and charities that help students get a better education, such as Children of the City, visit Rocco Basile's website at http://www.roccobasile.org/


Resource: The NCES is the statistical center of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education.

The full text of The Condition of Education 2007 (in HTML format), along with related data tables and indicators from previous years, can be viewed at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe.