21st Century Community Learning Center

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to afterschool programs. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reauthorized 21st CCLC in 2002, transferring the administration of the grants from the U.S. Department of Education to the state education agencies. Each state receives funds based on its share of Title I funding for low-income students. Funds are also allotted to outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.The No Child Left Behind Act narrowed the focus of 21st CCLC from a community learning center model, where all members of the community benefited from access to school resources such as teachers, computer labs, gymnasiums and classrooms, to an afterschool program model that provides services only to students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools. The services they provide include Academic enrichment activities that can help students meet state and local achievement standards. They also provide additional services designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program, such as: drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, art, music, and recreation programs, technology education programs, and character education programs. Programs also may provide literacy and related educational development services to the families of children who are served in the program.

The mission of 21st Century Community Learning Centers is to promote student achievement and prepare students to compete on a global scale. Specifically, the program targets high-poverty and low-performing schools that may need extra support. The program has three main goals:

1. To help students achieve standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math

2. To offer enrichment programs that supplement regular academic programs

3. To provide educational services for the families of participating students

The following sections explain more about how 21st Century achieves these goals.

After school programs were developed in the early 1900s. As neighborhoods became more dangerous and more mothers entered the workforce, parents searched for safe places for their children to go after school. Schools responded to these changes by creating programs in which students could stay after school to receive help with their homework or to participate in other activities. In 1994, The U.S. Congress created 21st Century Community Learning Centers through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Originally, all community members were welcome to use these centers, not just students. In other words, any member of the community could go to participating schools and take 21st Century classes after the regular school hours. The original bill (Text H.R.6. - 103rd Congress) states the following:

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