News & Events
The beginning of a New Year is always a stimulating time, full of potential and hope as well as a chance to look back at recent accomplishments. 2008 was a busy year for NIOST. We continued work on several large scale research projects and evaluation, completed many small projects and conducted trainings and presentations around the country. A complete listing of our current and recently completed projects is listed here . A few of the highlights of our work last year are described below. This summer we wrapped up our Afterschool Program Assessment System Pilot. Generously funded by the AT&T Family Care Development Fund , this project involved piloting our SAYO and APT outcome measurement and assessment tools in sites in New Jersey and Atlanta, Georgia. With additional funding from United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB) and Partners in Out-of-School Time, we expanded the pilot to include Boston sites as well as Charlotte sites. Our online SAYO tutorial was successfully launched and nFocus software integrated our tools into their KidTrax data management system. This project was a huge undertaking and we are pleased with the results. Please go to our APAS page to learn more. Both Boston (United Way of Massachusetts Bay ) and Atlanta (United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta and the Department of Human Resources) are expanding the number of sites using APAS this year. Over the past 18 months NIOST conducted a major study of the FasTracKids (FTK) Enrichment Program. Led by Dr. Georgia Hall, this study took our researchers to three states as well as five other countries (Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, China, and Egypt). Studying the impacts of participation in FTK program sites related to these skills contributes to a deeper and fuller understanding of how enrichment activities such as FTK can promote positive development of learning and social skills outcomes for children. Last March at the National Afterschool Association Conference Ellen Gannett had the honor of presenting Michelle Seligson, our founder with a lifetime achievement award in front of over 2000 people. This was a very emotional moment that brought the crowd to their feet for a long standing ovation. This summer the Robert Bowne Foundation offered a major grant to NIOST to host the national expansion of Afterschool Matters. The National Afterschool Matters Initiative (NAMI) includes expanding the Fellowship Program as well as publishing and distributing the Afterschool Matters Journal . We have partnered with the National Writing Project to strengthen the Fellowships, and two groups are underway in Philadelphia and Berkeley. Our next issue of the journal should be in print by April 2009. Please visit the NAMI page for more information. 2009 is already looking exciting. We are ready to start registering people for our annual summer seminars to be held from July 13th – 16th. NIOST will have a booth at Beyond School Hours XII and the NAA annual Convention in New Orleans – stop by and visit us!
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