Disguised Learning: An Educator's Guide to Closing the Participation Gap through After School Programming

Disguised Learning is defined as an extended-learning strategy that provides a curriculum and focus that is aligned to the school day, but yet different in that it utilizes multiple learning styles, sparks learner engagement, provides academic support, and offers ongoing opportunities for students to experience success through their strengths. We immediately benefited from successfully implementing the essential elements of Disguised Learning. Right away student participation in the after-school program and in the classroom increased; student success in reading, writing, and math improved; teacher-student relationships grew; school-community partnerships were created; and parental presence and awareness increased.