Afterschool programs form a part of the comprehensive support systems that Communities In Schools (CIS) provides to local schools to help kids stay in school and prepare for life. As a part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen these support systems, CIS has determined that evidencebased information is needed about the core elements of afterschool programs to ensure the design and implementation of effective and accountable strategies. CIS contracted with the National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) at Clemson University to identify for CIS and its local affiliates (1) afterschool programs that have been found through scientific studies to be effective and (2) the core elements that contributed to their effectiveness. To accomplish this, a comprehensive search and review was conducted of major studies, prior reviews, and meta-analyses on afterschool programming for elements and programs proven to be effective through empirical research. This document provides a summary of the search strategy and the results of this review. (author abstract)