Taking Literacy Skill Building to Scale in OST Programs

A Three-Tiered Approach from the Philadelphia Out-of-School Time Literacy and Quality Improvement Initiative

By Patricia McGuinness-Carmichael, Karen B. O’Neill, & Kathryn A. Wheeler

Research indicates that out-of-school time (OST) programs have the capacity to support literacy skill development and can provide a comfortable environment where youth can build excitement about literacy (Afterschool Alliance, 2015). Providing literacy-rich environments outside the school classroom where children can practice and enhance their literacy skills has been a priority for the City of Philadelphia and the William Penn Foundation.