The State of OST Research & What’s Needed for the Future: Out-of-School Time Monthly Field Convening

May 16, 2025, 12:00 pm ET

Recent federal actions have led to dramatic cuts in out-of-school time (OST) and education research funding. Deprioritizing research has deep impacts on understanding and advocating for what works for children and youth and particularly so for youth with marginalized identities. Underfunding research also has implications for building/maintaining a robust pipeline of researchers entering the field. Join the EdFunders OST Impact Group on May 16 to understand the impacts of federal actions and executive orders on the state of education and OST research. We’ll hear directly from researchers in the field about the evidence we can all lift up, including a new consensus study from the National Academies, to advocate for the importance of OST programs, the types of research and infrastructure the field is at risk of losing, and how funders and field leaders can work together to make the case for investing in research and evaluation.

Resources

Speakers

• Rachel Dinkes, President and CEO, Knowledge Alliance

• Diane Hsieh, Research Scientist, Search Institute

• Ishmael Miller, Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, MLFC Division for Advancing Education Policy, Practice, and Leadership, Arizona State University

• Sandi Simpkins, Professor, School of Education, University of California, Irvine

About the Series

Join the EdFunders Out-of-School Time Impact Group for an ongoing conversation with funders, practitioners and other field leaders centered on learning about and with the out-of-school time sector, focusing on essential issues in OST now and in the future. Each video call will dive into a specific content area, challenge, and/or opportunity for the field and feature experts in the sector and philanthropy.

Register once for the ongoing series and join as your schedule allows. Already registered? We’ll send you a reminder of your meeting access beforehand.

Calls are scheduled from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET on the third Friday of each month.

See video and resources from past calls in the event archive.