After School Program Efficacy' title='After School Program Efficacy' />Afterschool Programs Make a Difference Findings From the Harvard Family Research Project. Home SEDL Letter Archive. Volume XX, Number 2, August 2. Afterschool, Family, and Community. A recent study showed significant gains in math test scores for students who participated in high quality afterschool programs. In February, the Harvard Family Research Project HFRP published After School Programs in the 2. Century Their Potential and What It Takes to Achieve It Little, Wimer, Weiss, 2. Featured in the brief are studies that evaluate large afterschool programs with experimental or quasi experimental designs. The authors, Priscilla M. D. Little, Christopher B. Luncheon November 9, 2017 1200 to 1330 Speaker Amy Finkelstein, John Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics, MIT and coScientific Director, JPAL North. CONRAD exists to facilitate the rapid development of safe, acceptable, affordable products and methods that provide contraception andor prevent the sexual. ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x&stmp=1359493571212' alt='After School Program Efficacy' title='After School Program Efficacy' />Wimer, and Heather B. Weiss, drew on those evaluations to address two primary questions 1 Does participation in after school programs make a difference, and, if so, 2 What conditions appear to be necessary to achieve positive results In this article, we summarize their findings and discuss the characteristics of programs leading to positive student outcomes. Does participation in afterschool programs make a differenceAccording to Little, Wimer, and Weiss,The short answer is yes. 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 areasacademic, socialemotional, prevention, and health and wellness. Living Books: Abc By Dr. Seuss there. 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 in New York City Reisner, White, Birmingham, Welsh, 2. White, Reisner, Welsh, Russell, 2. After School Program Efficacy' title='After School Program Efficacy' />Foundations, Inc. Klein Bolus, 2. 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 Vandell, Reisner, Pierce, 2. Lauer, Akiba, Wilkerson, Apthorp, Snow, Martin Glenn, 2. The HFRP brief emphasizes that many studies repeatedly underscore the impact of supporting a range of positive learning outcomes, including academic achievement, by affording children and youth opportunities to learn and practice new skills through hands on, experiential learning, p. After School Program Efficacy' title='After School Program Efficacy' />Citizen Schools Espino, Fabiano, Pearson, 2. Fabiano, Pearson, Williams, 2. LAs BEST Huang, Coordt, La Torre, Leon, Miyoshi, Prez, et al., 2. These programs not only offered academic support to improve academic performance, but also combined it with other enrichment activities to achieve positive academic outcomes. Little, Wimer, and Weiss noted,Thus, extra time for academics by itself may be necessary but may not be sufficient to improve academic outcomes. Balancing academic support with a variety of engaging, fun, and structured extracurricular or co curricular activities that promote youth development in a variety of real world contexts appears to support and improve academic performance. Social and Emotional Development. Programs with a strong intentional focus on improving social and personal skills were found to improve students self esteem and self confidence Durlak Weissberg, 2. Examples include Go Grrls, an Arizona program of structured group sessions that helps improve girls body image, assertiveness, self efficacy, and self liking Le. Croy, 2. 00. 3 and mentoring programs such as Across Ages Taylor, Lo. Sciuto, Fox, Hilbert, 1. Prevention of Risky Behaviors. The hours after school, between 3 p. 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 Goldschmidt, Huang, Chinen, 2. Philliber, Kaye, Herrling, 2. Philliber, Kaye, Herrling, West, 2. 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. Girlfriends for KEEPS Story, et al., 2. Medical College of Georgias Fit. Kid program Yin, Gutin, Johnson, Hanes, Moore, Cavnar, et al., 2. Z Setup Sfx Silent Install Builder'>7Z Setup Sfx Silent Install Builder. Connecticut afterschool programs Mahoney, Lord, Carryl, 2. What conditions appear to be necessary to achieve positive resultsLittle, Wimer, and Weiss wrote that while afterschool programs have the potential to impact a range of positive learning and development outcomes, some programs do not maximize this potential. They identified the following three factors as critical to achieving positive youth outcomes Access to and sustained participation in the program. Download Video Player Mfc Application Remove'>Download Video Player Mfc Application Remove. 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. Access to and Sustained Participation. The HFRP brief discussed a number of research syntheses American Youth Policy Forum, 2. Redd, Cochran, Hair, Moore, 2. Simpkins Chaput, Little, Weiss, 2. After School Matters program in Chicago Goerge, Cusick, Wasserman, Gladden, 2. Louisianas 2. 1st Century Community Learning Center CCLC program Jenner Jenner, 2. LAs Best Huang, et al., 2. Much like gaps among students in regular day school, Little, Wimer, and Weiss noted differences among students whose families have higher incomes and more education and those students whose families are less advantaged. They wrote p. 6 that students whose families have higher incomes and more education Are more likely to participate in afterschool activities. Do so with greater frequency during the week. Participate in a greater number of different activities within the week or month. Are more likely to participate in enrichment programs, whereas disadvantaged students are more likely to participate in tutoring programs. Quality Programming and Staffing. According to Little, Wimer, and Weiss, research on the quality of afterschool programs is mostly descriptive, with only a handful of rigorously designed studies. They have drawn from a set of studies they describe as a small but powerful set of studies. Regarding program structure and supervision, Little, Wimer, and Weiss p. Without the structure and supervision of focused and intentional programming, youth participants in after school programs, at best, can fail to achieve positive outcomes and, at worst, can begin to perform worse than their peers Vandell, Pierce, Brown, Lee, Bolt, Dadisman, 2. Pearson, Russell, Reisner, 2. They continue, In fact, some research finds that when youth are concentrated together without appropriate structure and supervision, problematic behavior follows, suggesting that focused, intentional activities with appropriate structure and supervision are necessary to keep youth on an upward trajectory and out of trouble Jacob Lefgren, 2. In a meta analysis of the impact of 7. Durlak and Weissburg 2. Sequenced Used sequenced set of activities designed to achieve skill development objectives. Active Used active forms of learning to help students develop skills. Focused Devoted program components to developing personal or social skills. Explicit Targeted explicit personal or social skills.