After-school Programs Make a Difference

Whether they take place in extracurricular activities in school, afterschool programs, or private lessons, exposure to a range of opportunities after school is important because they help children find meaning in what they learn in school. Children who spend their time after school applying curricular content in a variety of contexts-developing interests, building competence and enjoying relationships with peers and adults-are engaged in learning. Children who don’t have these opportunities and spend time without adult supervision face risks to their learning and development.

Participation in extracurricular activities is highly correlated with school success, including consistent attendance, academic achievement and aspirations to continue education beyond high school. Particularly for high school students, the link between involvement in extracurricular activities and achievement in school is well established in the research literature.

Several studies have followed students over time, allowing researchers to distinguish between the effects of pre-existing differences and those related to participation in extracurricular activities. One such longitudinal study found that among at-risk students, “the school dropout rate was markedly lower for students who had earlier participated in extracurricular activities compared with those who did not participate.” (1)

Compared to students who spent 5-19 hours per week in school-sponsored extracurricular activities, students who were not involved in any activities were:

• Six times more likely to have dropped out of school by senior year
• Three times more likely to have been suspended in sophomore or senior year
• Twice as likely to have been arrested by senior year
• About 75 percent more likely to have smoked cigarettes or used drugs (2)

A decade of research and evaluation studies, as well as large-scale rigorously conducted syntheses looking across many research and evaluation studies, confirms that children and youth who participate in after-school programs can reap a host of positive benefits in a number of interrelated outcome areas – academic, social/emotional, prevention, and health and wellness. (3)

Academic Achievement
Afterschool programs can have an impact on academic achievement. Improved test scores are reported in evaluations of The After-School Corporation (TASC) programs and in Foundations, Inc. elementary school programs. A more recent longitudinal study showed significant gains in math test scores for elementary and middle school students who participated in high-quality afterschool programs and a meta-analysis of 35 studies of at risk youth found that out-of-school time programs had a positive effect on reading and math achievement.

Social and Emotional Development
Programs with a strong intentional focus on improving social and personal skills were found to improve student’s self-esteem and self-confidence.

Prevention of Risky Behaviour
The hours after school offer opportunities for juvenile crime, sexual activity, and other risky behaviours such as drug and alcohol use. Research and evaluation studies have shown that participation in afterschool programs have a positive impact on juvenile crime and help reduce pregnancies, teen sex, and boys’ marijuana use.

Health and Wellness
The afterschool setting presents an opportunity to address the growing problem of obesity among children and youth. Research has shown that afterschool programs can contribute to healthy lifestyles and increased knowledge about exercise and nutrition.

What Conditions Appear to be Necessary to Achieve Positive Results? Afterschool programs “have the potential to impact a range of positive learning and development outcomes,” and these three factors are critical to achieving those outcomes:

• Access to and sustained participation in the program
• Quality programming and staffing
• Strong partnerships among the program and other places where students are learning, such as their schools, their homes and other community institutions

References

1. J. Mahoney and R. Cairns, Do Extracurricular Activities Protect Against Early School Dropout? Developmental Psychology, 1997.
2. Beth M. Miller, After School Programs and Educational Success, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, 2003.
3. Harvard Family Research Project, After School Programs in the 21st Century: Their Potential and What it Takes to Achieve It, February 2008.