New Tool to Help Middle Schoolers

Keeping Kids on Track in the Middle School Years: Investing in Out-of-School Time Staff and Volunteer Competencies as a Dropout Prevention Strategy. The brief explains why adults who serve middle schoolers in out-of-school time (OST) programs must have core competencies to be effective, then highlights three leading practices: training and development in working with this age group; aligning talent development with quality improvement; and investing in the competence of OST managers. The Youth Program Quality Intervention, developed by the Forum's Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, is among the models explained.