The Transformative Potential of Out-of-School Time Learning

News and Insights

The Transformative Potential of Out-of-School Time Learning

September 26, 2025

Education & Insights Webinar Recap

• Time outside the classroom is sometimes the best place for learning.
• Two experts discussed how their programs build STEM and cultivate confidence.
• Not enough families can access these valuable resources.

We can look at test results and see it, read about it in the news, or just talk to the people in our community: We are confronting a crisis of academic engagement and performance, and a devastating decline in youth mental health. Recent NAEP resultsshow ever-diminishing reading and math skills, with approximately 49% of students performing behind grade level in math.Chronic absenteeism has surgedto 28% of students missing at least 10% of the school year.

A proven, effective and essential antidote to this challenge is out-of-school time learning, such as high-quality afterschool programs and community service projects. Our most recent FINN Partners Education Issues & Insights Webinarexplored how out-of-school time learning is addressing these challenges with Camsie McAdams, inaugural director of the Institute for a STEM-Ready Americaat STEM Next Opportunity Fund, and Manuela Testolini, founder of In A Perfect World (IAPW). These two remarkable leaders are immersed in work that demonstrates the transformative potential of expanded learning opportunities for both youth and communities.

As a parent I can attest to the transformative power out-of-school time learning holds for young people. Whether it's a day at the museum to take in the cool science exhibitions or joining the robotics team or debate club, time spent learning and doing things one is both interested in and excited about can animate a mind-and body-in ways that formal education seems to be missing out on these days. Free from the sometimes ossified approaches of the traditional classroom, informal learning allows students and educators the opportunity and flexibility to pursue interests, learn skills and crafts, and most importantly build a sense of self and future vision of one's place in the world.

Learning Another Way

McAdams opened our discussion with a striking statistic: 80% of a young person's waking hours are actually not spent in school. This time-afternoons, weekends, and summer months-represents great potential for meaningful engagement, and research clearly shows improved attendance and higher academic achievement when students take part in high-quality afterschool programming.

STEM Next's efforts and partners across the U.S. serve as a valuable resource to support and extend STEM learning for the 52 million students in our classrooms. STEM jobs are growing at nearly twice the rate of non-STEM jobs, but very few of our young people have access to the kinds of STEM learning that can help them explore and prepare for those futures. STEM Next's Career-Connected Learning Framework helps out-of-school-time providers embed career awareness, exploration and preparation into their activities in ways that are practical, age-appropriate, and grounded in both research and real-world relevance.

Testolini believes that students thrive when they have more self-directed spaces and experiences in order to build character and skills like communication, resilience, creativity and persistence. She has seen how challenging young people to build their confidence outside the classroom can have a positive impact on how they perform inside the classroom too, but most importantly, she has witnessed participants flourish as whole humans.

McAdams and Testolini spoke about how these experiential learning opportunities create pathways and insights that help young people envision their futures. McAdams explained that being deliberate about career-connected learning is a way to bridge the gap between academic preparation and real-world opportunities, especially in STEM.

Growing Leaders

IAPW approaches youth empowerment and development with a fusion of programs that operate along a spectrum that includes arts projects for grade schoolers to community service trips abroad at the high school level.

With a goal of access to education and cultivating creativity, social consciousness and leadership for every student, Testolini is focused on the ways in which these informal learning experiences support young people. "You take these big issues and make them small enough for kids to see that if they do their part, it is part of a ripple effect." Young people not only develop a sense of agency about themselves, they build skills that help them learn emotional regulation and manage anxiety-a recurring challenge for this generation.

In a different way, STEM Next's Flight Crew program, positions young people as STEM storytellers and ambassadors in their communities. These young people don't just develop technical skills, they build leadership abilities, practice networking, and form communities with like-minded peers across the country. "They get to meet and deal with and work with each other, and they get to know these young people that are across the country who are involved in things that are just like them," McAdams said.

Expanding Access with Partners and Families

The sobering reality is that only 10% of America's young people can access high-quality STEM programs in their communities."There are just not enough seats, and there are just not enough options," McAdams acknowledged. Issues such as educator compensation are also a challenge.

A big part of changing this reality depends on how we tell these stories to potential funders-particularly today. Both McAdams and Testolini emphasized blending quantitative data with compelling storytelling.

McAdams stressed the importance of understanding your potential funder and "asking good questions about what motivates them, and what they care about." This approach, she explained, requires doing homework before meetings with potential funders or partners, then presenting programming through frameworks that resonate with specific stakeholder interests.

Given the dynamics of the current funding and partnership landscape, both leaders emphasized the importance of authentic youth voices. "It's been that much more important to center youth voices in our work and in how we communicate what we do," Testolini observed. She advocates for sharing "stories over stats" to build connections with stakeholders.

Both McAdams and Testolini agreed that the need to expand access can become a learning opportunity for young people participating in their work. Youth ambassadors for STEM Next and IAPW frequently take center stage to tell their stories.

Families are also essential partners rather than passive recipients of these efforts. "We count on families. We have the most success with kids when families are engaged in our work and understand our work," Testolini explained. IAPW now develops specific family programming because parents increasingly ask how to continue the work at home.

For McAdams family engagement is framed around choice and collaboration. "Families are choosers in the out-of-school time space," she noted, explaining how this voluntary participation creates opportunities for deeper partnerships than traditional school-family relationships typically allow.

The Path Forward

As we confront a projected national shortfall of more than five million skilled workers by 2030, the need for talent is greater than ever. Today, young people are navigating an increasingly fractured world filled with economic, political and social complexities. The need for informal, out-of-school time learning can address workforce demands and create social connections across communities and sectors. Organizations like STEM Next and IAPW are building pathways for young people so they can develop real, marketable skills, but they're also helping them build confidence, empathy and agency, qualities essential for living in an increasingly complex world.

When we invest in these expanded learning experiences, we're not just filling program slots, we're nurturing the next generation of leaders and changemakers our communities desperately need-and often, we're discovering the kids are alright!

Watch the Full Webinar

Interested in learning more about strategic communications for youth development organizations? Connect with FINN Partners' Education Practice to explore how compelling storytelling can amplify your impact and expand your reach.

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POSTED BY: Marina Stenos