Out-of-school time programs in rural areas can provide healthy and constructive activities that offer productive ways for children and youth to spend their time, build positive relationships, and receive academic support. This brief highlights the challenges faced by rural out-of-school programs and suggests several strategies that can strengthen these programs.

Published: May 2008

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Increasing community involvement in out-of-school time programs can yield significant benefits to programs and the students that they serve. Community partnerships have the potential to meet a wide variety of needs, from improving participant recruitment and attendance to contributing volunteers or other resources to programs.2 This research brief discusses ways in which community involvement can be important for out-of-school time programs and describes how programs can begin to identify valuable community resources and develop strategies for leveraging community support.

Published: March 2008

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Fact sheet on the benefits from afterschool program participation

Published: 2008

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Twenty-one percent of the nation’s children attend public schools in rural areas. Children attending rural schools have the lowest median per-student funding for afterschool programs under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grants program, as compared to their urban and suburban counterparts. Additionally, rural schools have fewer financial resources – largely as a result of diminished local property tax bases and inequitable distributions of state funds. This disparity underscores the fact that children living in persistently poor rural America need greater attention.

Published: September, 2007

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