The Beacon Community Centers’ Middle School Initiative: Report on Implementation and Youth Experience in the Initiative’s Second Year

June 2010; Policy Studies Associates, Inc. Based in public school buildings in six cities around the country, Beacon community centers have, for close to 20 years, offered services in the evenings, on weekends, over holidays and throughout the summer to community members, both young people and adults. This report looks at an effort begun in 2007 and supported by The Wallace Foundation to build up New York City Beacon after-school programming for middle school students. The second of three evaluations, it finds that the Beacon middle school out-of-school time programs with the highest attendance rates were more likely than others to have a master teacher on staff and a director who frequently communicated with the host school. (Abstract Source: The Wallace Foundation)