Supporting Literacy in Out-of-School Time

Philadelphia’s Out-of-School Time (OST) initiative has identified K-3rd grade literacy support as the focus of the first phase of its strategic plan, launched in 2017. Over the next few years, Philadelphia’s OST initiative will undertake a focused effort to improve reading outcomes for K-3rd grade participants.

To inform its early literacy work, the City OST initiative asked Research for Action to conduct two pieces of research:

1. A literature review of evidence-based programs for delivering effective OST literacy support, released in June 2017. The report identified evidence-based programs and the Key Ingredients of high-quality OST literacy programs. The report also includes a tool which enables OST providers to assess whether they have these Key Ingredients in place.
2. A scan of Philadelphia’s OST literacy programs and practices as compared to these evidence-based programs. This report, shown here, assesses the degree to which Philadelphia’s OST literacy programs have the Key Ingredients necessary for high-quality literacy programming. It also identifies areas that require more support. Findings are based on interviews with two leaders in Philadelphia’s early literacy landscape, staff from six OST literacy programs, and a survey completed by staff from 48 OST programs.