Since emerging as a national funder in the 1990s, The Wallace Foundation has supported efforts to expand access to high-quality afterschool for disadvantaged children and teens in urban areas across the country. The investments, which have included funding for leading programs, independent research, and communications to share key lessons, are based on the belief that young people need a variety of high-quality opportunities to support their development into successful adults.
Test scores are important because they measure knowledge. But parents, employers and those who work with young people have long understood that it takes more than strong math and reading skills to succeed in life. Success also depends on a range of attributes that society values – behaviors like persistence and conscientiousness; attitudes like self-confidence and openness to new ideas; and abilities like self-control, time management and goal-setting...