"This issue of New Directions for Youth Development explores the social, emotional, academic, and psychological benefits of after-school programs. It showcases a variety of large-scale policy initiatives, effective institutional collaborations, and innovative programming options that produce high-quality environments in which young people are realizing their potential. The volume underscores the conditions - from fostering interagency partnerships, to structuring organized out-of-school-time activities, to encouraging staff-student relationships - that lay the groundwork for positive youth development after school. At the same time, these examples illuminate the challenges for policymakers, researchers, and educators to redefine the field of afterschool as a whole, including the search for a shared lexicon, the push to preserve the character of after-school as an intermediary space, and the need to create and further programs that are grounded in reliable research and that demonstrate success."--BOOK JACKET.