The Birth of a Field - An Interview with Michelle Seligson, Founder of NIOST

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford

The document presents an interview recounting the creation of the School-Age Childcare Project and its evolution into the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST). Michelle (Micki) Seligson explains how feminism, motherhood, and community needs shaped early afterschool and childcare efforts, including grassroots program models and data gathered from parents’ letters. It also describes policy influence through federal initiatives, funding support, and research partnerships that expanded professional guidance and increased access to afterschool enrollment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

The Birth of a Field

Interview overview and NIOST’s origin

From Brookline to Wellesley College

Exemplary programs, data, and the policy report

Policy implications and field development

The Birth of a Field An Interview with Michelle Seligson, Founder of NIOST Michelle (Micki) Seligson has been nationally recognized as a leader in afterschool and in childcare policy and practice. In 1978, she founded the School-Age Childcare Project, which became the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at Wellesley College. To commemorate NIOST’s 40th anniversary, she sat down with Georgia Hall, director and senior research scientist at NIOST, to talk about how observation of exemplary practices became guidance for an emerging field. Georgia: Tell us about your journey 41 years ago to start the School-Age Childcare Project, now known as NIOST. Micki: My whole involvement in childcare was about my feminism as a mother. I was back at school, and I had children. I knew I needed to get my education finished. Five of us started a children’s center in Brookline, Massa- chusetts, for our little kids. Then we needed afterschool, so I went to the school department to figure that out. It was perfectly serendipitous that I met Jim Levine, who was writing a book called Day Care and the Public Schools. At that point, he was working as a foundation officer. He found me through my work for the 4-C Committee [Community Coordinated Child Care] in Brookline. Some cities had set up these committees in anticipation of federal childcare legislation that Nixon vetoed. Brookline and some other cities used federal money to fund childcare resources and referral for parents for awhile. The 4-C Committee was crucial in developing childcare programs, including extended day programs in the schools. It was real systemic change in attitude, driven by feminism and the needs of working moms. My seven years with the 4-C Committee saw the development of parent-run afterschool programs in every school in Brookline, along with the beginnings of middle school initiatives. Georgia: How did you get from the Brookline position to Wellesley College? Micki: What happened was, Ladies Home Journal and McCall’s published pieces on school-age childcare, with tips and ideas for parents. In response, there were 2,000 letters from parents. We used those 2,000 letters as the first data to show the deep need. We convinced the Ford ment. We published School-Age Childcare: A Policy Report as a companion to the practitioner action manual. Georgia: The Afterschool Alliance estimates that 10.2 Foundation to give us a $10,000 grant, which enabled million children are enrolled in afterschool programs, the start of the School-Age Childcare Project at Wellesley. and that for every child in a program there are two who We became the place to come for information, resources, are waiting to get in. Are you surprised, 40 years later, at and technical assistance. Later, we got funding from the the size of both the professional field and the utilization Reader’s Digest-DeWitt Wallace Foundation for an early of afterschool programs? version of the MOST (Making the Most of Out-of-School Micki: I’m not surprised, and it’s thrilling. It’s thrilling to Time) initiative in three cities. know that we helped start something. I remember, when I left Brookline, somebody said, “Oh, you won’t get anyone’s inter- Georgia: Where did the work in the estesteindianftethrsatcoI’olm. NglobadodyI di’sdin’nttleris-- I remember, when I left afAtendrschoowhatl prowasgramyoufiresld tensaeke youof the? ten to the naysayers. Brookline, somebody said, value of the field? G40eorthgiaye:aNrIiOnST hasserviceceleYbraourtedlanitds- “Oanhyo, ynoe’us iwntoenre’gti Mdidpeicllkithed:aItt’mtronaiuonniwngdea JbrstunecaandguiaseanItafanelatdlystcomeep.er mark book School-Age Child Care: afterschool. Nobody’s level what kids were really experiAninoldbo1oAc982Atk wtiinshloehMait wtimelpnuieyol,lsoodwoueasn bwsigperon, u4tedb0e, lvishye“Telearhopidss, I’mi ntrtleInidyi ’hatyel t. e”n enarItthcereinweaafghollyterin twcamschheoeiaeorrlleofi,iuevitlendscoanudmsaidnywwgwthhyaduorke pwelt

FAQs

How did Michelle Seligson’s early involvement in childcare influence the creation of the School-Age Childcare Project?

Her involvement was driven by her perspective as a mother and by the needs she saw while continuing her education. She and others started a children’s center and then pursued afterschool support through the local school department.

What role did parent input and early data play in shaping the field’s guidance?

Letters from parents were used as initial data to demonstrate the depth of need. That evidence helped support the development of a policy report and an approach to afterschool programming.

Why did the “exemplary programs” research approach matter for developing the action manual and book?

The process interviewed leaders of exemplary programs and deconstructed grassroots efforts. It documented everything from needs assessment through implementation, producing content previously missing from afterschool programming.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford