This brief underscores the potential of after-school programs to advance children’s academic achievement. It shines a light on what matters most for programs that strive to promote academic success–namely, program quality and youth engagement–and it suggests what works by linking these program attributes to academic benefits. Based on the full outcomes report “Advancing Achievement,” by Public/Private Ventures, the brief draws lessons from the Foundation’s Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative. CORAL was an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative aimed at improving education achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities.