Fact Sheet on After-School Programs

Fact Sheet on After-School Programs

Fact One: Non-school hours represent the single largest block of time in the lives of American youth.

American youth only spend about 32% of their waking hours in school. By contrast, about 40% of young people’s waking hours are discretionary – not committed to other activities such as school, homework, meals, chores or working for pay.[i] The Afterschool Alliance reports that 25% of youth, K-12, are responsible for taking care of themselves in the after-school hours, while only 11% of youth, K-12, participate in an after-school program. Twenty-two million children want after-school and only 6.5 million children are currently participating in after-school. The need is particularly high for youth in middle school – just 6% are enrolled in after-school programs.[ii]

Fact Two: Young people’s participation in constructive learning activities during non-school hours contributes to their success in school.

In a time of increased accountability – when improving young people’s school success is on everyone’s minds – it has been found that elementary-age students who participate in high quality after-school programs demonstrate higher school attendance and higher language redesignation rates. Parents and teachers report that students who participate in after-school programs are more excited about school and more confident, especially in their academic ability.[iii] Further, there is evidence that participating in after-school programs has a positive impact on homework completion and school grades.[iv]

Fact Three: In addition to improved academic achievement, youth experience multiple benefits from participation in high quality after-school programs.

More than half of middle-grade youth report that their after-school program is giving them the leadership opportunities and life skills they need to become productive members of society; even more report a high level of self-esteem.[v] Studies spanning more than two decades show that a host of positive benefits result from children’s participation in high quality after-school programs, including: better grades and work habits, improved behavior in school, better emotional adjustment and peer relations, and a greater sense of belonging to the community.[vi]

Fact Four: Children’s regular participation over an extended period of time produces maximum benefits.

Children’s gains are more profound if they participate regularly (an average of 3 days per week) and over time – dosage makes a difference.[vii] The After-School Corporation (TASC) found that youth, PreK-8, who were highly active for two years in after-school programs made the greatest gains on math standardized test scores and had the highest increases in school attendance, especially in the middle grades.[viii] Another study cites higher participation and long-term involvement (at least four years) as being significantly related to positive achievement on mathematics, reading, and language arts standardized tests.[ix]

Fact Five: Low-income and low-performing youth benefit greatly from after-school programs.

A synthesis of research conducted over a 20-year period indicates that out-of-school time activities can have positive effects on the achievement of low-performing or at-risk students in reading and mathematics.[x] This is particularly true if youth participate in after-school programs consistently, over time and are highly engaged.[xi] TASC reports that youth from families living at or below the poverty line prior to enrolling in an after-school program gained more points than expected in math scores after both one and two years of after-school participation. Further, Black and Hispanic youth showed the greatest academic gains over similar non-participants.[xii]

Fact Six: Teenagers also benefit from participation in high quality after-school programs.

StanfordUniversity professor Milbrey McLaughlin found that adolescents who participate regularly in community-based youth development programs (including arts, sports and community service) have better academic and social outcomes and higher education and career aspirations than other similar teens.[xiii] Low-income teenagers who participated in the an after-school program in several large American cities were more likely to be high school graduates (63%) compared to non-participants (42%) and more likely to go to post-secondary schools (42%) compared to non-participants (16%).[xiv]

Fact Seven: After-school programs help to reduce youth crime and other at-risk behavior.

Violent juvenile crime triples between 3:00 and 6:00 PM. During these same hours, children face the most serious danger of becoming victims of crime. Children unsupervised during after-school hours are at a greater risk of pregnancy, truancy, receiving poor grades, dropping out of high school, mental depression, and substance abuse. Unsupervised eighth graders in after-school hours are twice as likely to smoke, drink, or abuse drugs.[xv] Several recent studies have confirmed the relationship between availability of after-school programs and reduced juvenile crime. In one city, boys participating in an after-school program were only one-sixth as likely to be convicted of a crime during their high school years as non-participating boys.[xvi]

Fact Eight: Parents and children want quality after-school programs. However, programs are not equitably distributed – low-income youth are much less likely than their affluent peers to have access to them.

In a national survey, both parents and students (spanning grades K-12) expressed the desire for after-school activities. In fact, the vast majority of children themselves explicitly recognized the value of quality, supervised out-of-school time activities. But low-income and minority families are far more likely to be dissatisfied with the quality, affordability and availability of options in their communities.[xvii] Substantial inequalities exist in youth's after-school participation rates by socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity.[xviii]

Fact Nine: After-school programs promote greater parental involvement.

Parents of children participating in after-school programs are more likely to attend parent-teacher meetings, after-school events, open houses and volunteer activities. One study reported that parents were more likely to help their children with homework if they were attending an after-school program.[xix]

Fact Ten: There is widespread public support for the expansion of after-school programs.

An overwhelming majority of voters (94%) say that there should be some type of organized activity or place for children and teens to go after school every day, and 75% of voters (a near 10% increase since 2000) believe that Federal or state tax dollars should be used to expand daily after-school programs.[xx] This support is based in part on the public’s recognition that the three-hour difference between children’s school days and their parents’ work days presents significant problems for young people, families and communities.

Revised 11/23/05

[i] Timmer, S.G., Eccles, J. and O’Brien, I., How Children Use Time, in Time, Goods and Well-Being, Juster, F.T. and Stafford, F.B. (editors), Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, 1985.

[ii] Afterschool Alliance, America After 3pm Executive Summary, May 2004.

[iii] Policy Studies Associates, Inc., Building Quality and Supporting Expansion of After-school Projects: Evaluation Results from the TASC After-School Program’s Second Year, February 2001.

[iv] Kane, T.J., The Impact of After-School Programs: Interpreting the Results of Four Recent Evaluations. A working paper of the William T. Grant Foundation, January 2004.

[v] The After-School Corporation (TASC), Quality, Scale and Effectiveness in After-School Programs, May 2005.

[vi] Vandell, D.L. and Shumow, L., After-School Child Care Programs, The Future of Children: When School is Out, Vol. 9, Num. 2, Fall 1999, David and Lucile Packard Foundation. See also: Miller, B.M., Critical Hours: After-School Programs and Educational Success. Quincy, Massachusetts: Nellie Mae Education Foundation, 2003.

[vii] Simpkins Chaput, Sandra, Priscilla M.D. Little and Heather Weiss. Understanding and Measuring Attendance in Out-of-School Time. Harvard Family Research Project, Issues and Opportunities Out-of-School Time Evaluation Briefs, Number 7, August 2004.

[viii] The After-School Corporation (TASC), May 2005.

[ix]UCLACenter for the Study of Evaluation, A Decade of Results: The Impact of the LA’s BEST After School Enrichment Program on Subsequent Student Achievement, June 2000.

[x] Lauer, P.A., Akiba, M., Wilkerson, S.B., Apthorp, H.S., Snow, D., & Martin-Glenn, M., The Effectiveness of Out-of-School-Time Strategies in Assisting Low Achieving Students in Reading and Mathematics: A Research Synthesis (Updated ed.). Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. 2004.

[xi]Weiss, H. B., Little, P. M. D., & Bouffard, S. M., More Than Just Being There: Balancing the Participation Equation. In H. B. Weiss, P. M. D. Little, & S. M. Bouffard (Issue Eds.) & G. G. Noam (Editor-in-Chief), New Directions in Youth Development: Vol. 105. Participation in Youth Programs: Enrollment, Attendance, and Engagement (pp. 15-31). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Spring 2005.

[xii] Reisner, E.R., White, R.N., Russell, C.A., and Birmingham, J., Building Quality, Scale, and Effectiveness in After-School Programs: Summary Report of the TASC Evaluation.Washington, DC: Policy Studies Associates, 2004.

[xiii] McLaughlin, M.W., Community Counts: How Community Organizations Matter for Youth Development, Washington, DC: Public Education Network, 2000.

[xiv] National Institute on Out-of-School Time, Center for Research on Women, WellesleyCollege, Making the Case: A Fact Sheet on Children and Youth in Out-of-School Time, January 2003.

[xv] Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. America's After-School Choice: The Prime Time for Juvenile Crime Or Youth Enrichment and Achievement, October 2000.

[xvi] The After-School Corporation, 3:00 P.M.: Time for After School, New York, NY: Author, 1998.

[xvii] Duffett, A. & Johnson, J., All Work and No Play? Listening to What Kids and Parents Really Want from Out-of-School Time. New York: The Wallace Foundation, 2004.

[xviii] Harvard Family Research Project, Analysis of Predictors of Participation in Out-of-School Time Activities. September 2005.

[xix] Kane, 2004.

[xx] Afterschool Alliance, Afterschool Alert Poll Report: A Report on Findings of a Nationwide Poll of Registered Voters on Afterschool Programs, July/August 2003.

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE WITH APPROPRIATE CREDIT TO THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY