Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Core? - The Common Core Standards and Out-of-School Time Programs

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious

The paper examines concerns from New York City out-of-school time (OST) providers about the pressure created by the Common Core Standards. It describes how networking meetings supported by the Robert Bowne Foundation surfaced questions about whether OST programs should respond to school-focused standards. Background on OST’s enrichment and positive youth development role is provided alongside evidence that providers, leaders, and researchers disagree over how Common Core should be applied in OST practice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Background and initial concerns

OST providers and Common Core pressure

How Common Core relates to OST

Alignment through enrichment and youth development

Stakeholder perspectives

Youth Today controversy and differing expert views

PERSPECTIVE Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Core? The Common Core Standards and Out-of-School Time Programs Suzanne Marten, Sara Hill, and Anne Lawrence “I have kids breaking out in tears over homework this year! That never used to happen before.” “Yeah, I know; we have had that happen too. Kids are stressed, teachers are stressed, and now I feel like weare getting stressed. It seems like a lot of the pressure is coming from the Common Core Standards.” “We are not school, so what do these Common Core Standards have to do with us?” “And what is wrong with the work we do with kids anyway?” These and similar comments and questions bubbled to the surface at the beginning of a networking meeting sponsored by the Robert Bowne Foundation for out-ofschool time (OST) providers in New York City in the fall of 2013. This meeting, organized by the Center for Education Options and facilitated by Suzanne Marten, was entitled “Introducing the Common Core Learning Standards: What Are They? What Do We Need to Know?” The response was so great that a second session SuzANNE MARTEN is a literacy and learning specialist with the Center for Educational Options, a small New York City nonprofit that provides professional development to school, OST, and communitybased organizations. She has worked with the Robert Bowne Foundation for more than 10 years on several OST professional development and networking projects. SARA HILL is the editor of the OST Hub at Kennesaw State University’s Center for Sustainable Journalism. She has conducted research on community-based youth programs in the U. S. and Belarus and has published articles and edited a book in the areas of literacy, afterschool, and community-based education. She worked on a team that documented innovative practices in 21st Century Community Learning Centers for the U. S. Department of Education. She can be reached at [sara@sarahill.net](sara@sarahill.net). ANNE LAWRENCE began working for the Robert Bowne Foundation in 1987 and became the program officer in 2002. In 30 years in adult and youth education, she has served as associate director of education for Literacy Partners of New York City and has managed professional development, evaluation, and adult literacy programs atthe Literacy Assistance Center, the City University of New York, and the New York Public Library Centers for Reading and Writing. had to be added to accommodate all the people who wanted to attend, a clear indication of the interest of OST providers in getting to know the standards, considering what to do about them in their programs, and sharing their questions and concerns. The Robert Bowne Foundation supports the development of quality programs that offer literacy education in the out-of-school hours to children and youth of New York City, especially young people from disadvantaged communities. The foundation’s networking meetings, now in their 10th year, offer quarterly forums in which and should not be—school. OST programs have traditionally engaged young people in positive youth development through the arts, sports, civic engagement, and youth leadership. Though much of this work supports academic learning, it is designed to provide children and youth with enriching experiences they may not find elsewhere. School budgets have cut back sharply on the arts, sports, socioemotional learning, and other enrichment activities in favor of preparation for high-stakes testing, including for new tests that are advertised as being aligned with the Common Core. In light of this reality, the experiential and participants from a wide variety of hands-on nature of many OST pro programs across the city can share Respected leaders, grams can complement school-day their work, develop new ideas for practitioners, and academics. OST programming has their programs, and discuss impor- researchers in the field been seen as an “extended platform”tant isTsuheespinroctheess fioefldg. athering topic disagree about

FAQs

Why are OST providers asking questions about the Common Core Standards?

They report increasing stress and pressure, and they question how standards designed for in-school education relate to the work OST programs do with children.

What is the original purpose of many out-of-school time programs?

OST programs traditionally focus on positive youth development through arts, sports, civic engagement, and youth leadership, offering enriching experiences beyond school.

How do experts featured in the discussion differ on whether OST should align with Common Core?

An article in Youth Today quotes Jodi Grant supporting learning approaches suited to afterschool programs, while Professor Robert Halpern argues there is no reason afterschool programs must relate to school-focused standards.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious