After School and Extracurricular Activities

after school and extracurricular activities

Here’s a list of resources that will give you food for thought, concrete strategies, and a world of connections to make afterschool a welcoming, active, and fruitful way to spend out-of-school time.

Focus on Families! How to build and support family-centered practices in after school.

From the Harvard Research Project.

www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/afterschool/resources/families/

Try the AIM guidelines.

The AIM Guidelines describe the need for and characteristics of successful afterschool inclusive math programs.

http://www.edequity.org/files/ eec-power-user/AIM% 20Guidelines%20for%20Website.pdf

Boosting inclusion with assistive technology and supplemental services.

From the National Center for Technology Innovation and Center for Implementing Technology in Education. http://www.ldonline.org/article/9924

10 tips for affirming diversity and supporting equity in new afterschool programs.

http://www.californiatomorrow.org/media/astips.pdf

access for students with disabilities to field trips and extracurricular activities:
The Massachusetts Office on Disability has posted a memo reminding schools districts that districts must consider access for students with disabilities<http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/mod/mod-school-field-trip-and-extracurricular-activities-memo-april-2017.pdf> when planning day or overnight school field trips and any other extracurricular activities. When public schools schedule programs at inaccessible locations or provide separate transportation or accommodations for students with disabilities, they risk violating those students’ civil rights. For technical assistance on providing equal access for individuals with disabilities, contact the Massachusetts Office on Disability at 617-727-7440 or through their website<http://www.mass.gov/anf/employment-equal-access-disability/oversight-agencies/mod/contact-us-form.html>.

laws pertaining to after school and extracurricular activities

Sec. 300.107 Nonacademic services.

The State must ensure the following:

(a) Each public agency must take steps, including the provision of supplementary aids and services determined appropriate and necessary by the child’s IEP Team, to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in those services and activities.

(b) Nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities may include counseling services, athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the public agency, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, and employment of students, including both employment by the public agency and assistance in making outside employment available.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(1))

Sec. 300.117 Nonacademic settings.

In providing or arranging for the provision of nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities, including meals, recess periods, and the services and activities set forth in Sec. 300.107, each public agency must ensure that each child with a disability participates with nondisabled children in the extracurricular services and activities to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of that child. The public agency must ensure that each child with a disability has the supplementary aids and services determined by the child’s IEP Team to be appropriate and necessary for the child to participate in nonacademic settings.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(5))

Sec. 300.320 Definition of individualized education program.

(a) General. As used in this part, the term individualized education program or IEP means a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in accordance with Sec. Sec. 300.320 through 300.324, and that must include–

(1) A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including–

(i) How the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum as for nondisabled children); or

(ii) For preschool children, as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities;

(2)

(i) A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to–

(A) Meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and

(B) Meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability;

(ii) For children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or short-term objectives;

(3) A description of–

(i) How the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals described in paragraph (2) of this section will be measured; and

(ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided;

(4) A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child–

(i) To advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals;

(ii) To be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and

  1. To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities described in this section;

34 C.F.R. §300.306.  Nonacademic services.
(a) Each public agency shall take steps to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in those services and activities.

(b) Nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities may include counseling services, athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the public agency, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, and employment of students, including both employment by the public agency and assistance in making outside employment available.