latest research
The latest research on after school is available here. The sited articles and reports go back as far as 2007 and are categorized below. Any research older than that can be found in our Articles & Issues (Archive) section.
- Professional Development & Quality New!
- Early Childhood/After School Link
- Parent Involvement
- Bullying
- Narrowing the Achievement Gap
- Summer Learning New!
- Elementary School Programming New!
- High School Programming New!
- Harvard Family Research Project
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers New!
- Global Learning New!
- Health & Wellness New!
Professional Development and Quality:
The Wallace Foundation has recently published a report on creating city-wide systems to support after school.
After Zones: Creating a Citywide System to Support and Sustain High Quality After School Programs (PDF) New!
Afterschool Matters - Fall 2009 Issue (PDF) New!
Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time
AED Center for Youth Development and Policy Research and American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) recently released, "Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time."
SEDL's Resource Guide for Planning and Operating After School Programs (PDF)
American Youth Policy Forum's Learning Around the Clock: Benefits of Expanded Learning Opportunities for Older Youth (PDF)
Expanding and Enhancing Summer Learning Opportunities in New York State (Winter 2009)
Summer learning opportunities are a critical component of a comprehensive and coordinated system of youth programs that contribute to the learning and healthy development of young people. This brief articulated the value and impact of high quality summer learning opportunities; spotlights exemplary programs already operating in New York state and recommends strategies to expand and enhance these types of programs.
The Federal Role in Out-of-School Learning: After-School, Summer Learning, and Family Involvement as Critical Learning Supports
Four decades of research demonstrate that it is necessary to redefine learning--both where and when it takes place--if the country is to achieve the goal of educating all of its children. This report from Harvard Family Research Project makes a research-based case for federal provision of out-of-school complementary learning supports, so that all students gain the skills necessary for success in the 21st century.
This report was commissioned by the Center for Education Policy and presented at a hearing on Capitol Hill in November 2008.
This August issue of the SEDL Letter includes a summary of systematic reviews of research literature on parent involvement and after school extended learning opportunities and offers parent involvement strategies that focus on the active engagement of a parent with their child outside of the school day.
A New Day for Youth - Creating Sustainable Quality in Out of School Time (PDF). This white paper commissioned by the Wallace Foundation. Written by Gil G. Noam, Ed.D., Ph.D., Harvard University
Child Trends Brief: Using Incentives to Increase Participation in Out-of-School Time Programs suggests that regular participation in after school programs can benefit children and youth in several ways. The brief provides key strategies for implementing a successful incentive program and a list of print and online resources as well as advice from a practitioner who has successfully used incentives to promote program attendance and involvement.
Child Trends Brief: Strategies For Improving Out-of-School Programs in Rural Communities highlights the challenges faced by rural programs and suggests several strategies that can strengthen them. The brief also includes advice from the director of a successful rural after school program and a list of additional resources.
The James Irvine Foundation released a study: What Matters, What Works: Advancing Achievement After School You can also visit their Web site for more information. www.irvine.org
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Early Childhood/After School Link
NYSAN (New York State Afterschool Network) recently released a new Policy Brief that outlines the need to build a system of support for the "whole child" in which all children and youth have full and equitable opportunities to be healthy, safe, engaged and prepared from "cradle to career." The pillars of a system include not only an excellent public education system, but robust early care and education (ECE) programs and high-quality after school learning and development opportunities. NYSAN and their ECE partners have developed a written blueprint for how the early care and after school communities can work together advance such a system.
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Parents can play an important role in helping their children acquire or strengthen the behaviors and skills that promote physical and mental health and overall well-being. Recognizing this, a variety of programs and interventions engage parents in efforts to achieve positive outcomes for their children. Two new Child Trends fact sheets synthesize the findings from rigorous evaluations of parent involvement programs for children ages 6-11 and adolescents ages 12-17. The authors identify the components and strategies associated with successful programs and also point to gaps in research, particularly the need to better recruit and engage parents.
This fact sheet presents lessons learned from 67 parent involvement programs that work, don't work, or have mixed results for children aged 6-11. Overall, programs that actively engage parents generally have positive impacts on at least one child outcome. These include parenting skills training programs, parent-child involvement programs, and programs that actively involved both parents and children. Also, most programs that integrated technology into their interventions had positive impacts. However, parent education-only programs did not generally have impacts. The fact sheet includes a chart of the programs that worked or didn't work for different outcomes, and a glossary summarizing the programs.
This fact sheet presents lessons learned from 47 parent involvement programs that work, don't work, or have mixed results for adolescents ages 12 to 17. Overall, nearly two-thirds of parent involvement programs were found to be effective. Interventions that build parenting skills generally had positive impacts on at least one outcome. All family and teen-focused therapeutic interventions were found to work. Also, programs with a combined focus on parents and teens--those that include intervention components for both groups--were likely to be effective. On the other hand, parent education programs--those that simply offer information, but do not give parents opportunities to practice related skills--did not tend to work. The fact sheet includes a chart of the programs that worked or didn't work for different outcomes, and a glossary summarizing the programs.
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How to Assess Bullying and Peer Conflict and Promote Positive Conflict Resolution
Twenty-four percent of parents report that their child bullies or is cruel to other children at least some of the time, and 35 percent of parents report that they are concerned about their child being bullied at school, according to the National Survey of Children's Health. Two new Child Trends briefs help youth program providers identify peer conflict and bullying and promote positive peer conflict resolution techniques.
Assessing Bullying: A Guide for Out-of-School Time Program Practitioners (PDF)
This brief provides information on who is most likely to be a bully or victim, how to know when conflict has turned into bullying, and ways to reduce bullying. It includes specific questions to assess students' tendencies to bully others, to be victimized by bullying, and to be pro-social and help others.
This brief defines peer conflict, how it differs by age and gender, what factors are associated with youth who engage in aggressive behaviors, and ways to reduce peer conflict. It includes specific questions to assess the prevalence of aggressive behaviors and peer conflict among students.
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In his report Poverty and Potential: Out of School Factors and School Success, David C. Berliner argues that out-of-school factors have a significant impact on a student's chances of school success. In part the report observes..
The U.S. has set as a national goal the narrowing of the achievement gap between lower-income and middle-class students, and that between racial and ethnic groups.... However, six out-of-school factors (OSFs) play a powerful role in generating existing achievement gaps, and if these factors are not attended to with equal vigor, our national aspirations will be thwarted.
These six OSFs are related to a host of poverty-induced physical, sociological and psychological problems that children often bring to school, ranging from neurological damage and attention disorders to excessive absenteeism, linguistic underdevelopment, and oppositional behavior.
Also discussed in the report is a seventh factor: "extended learning opportunities, such as pre-school, after school and summer school programs that can help to mitigate so much of the harm caused by the first six factors."
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New! The Afterschool Alliance has published a new report on the need for summer programming.
America After 3 PM: Special Report on Summer: Missed Opportunities, Unmet Demand (May 2010) (PDF)
Thinking About Summer Learning: Three Perspectives - Over the summer, many students forget some of what they have learned during the school year, but “summer learning loss” is particularly severe among low-income youth and a leading cause of the achievement gap between them and more affluent students. Recently, The Wallace Foundation asked leading experts in the field of summer learning to explore how summer programs could be a solution to this problem and how they could be better supported, improved and made more available to the children who need them.
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Elementary School Programming:
2009 Department of Education report on After School Programs in the public elementary schools.
Building After-School Programs
March 2009; MDRC
About half of school-age children participate in after-school programs, and there is widespread public support for after-school programs among parents, school staff, and community members. The U.S. Department of Education spends roughly $1 billion a year supporting after-school programs. Research suggests that after-school programs can make a difference in academic performance and socio-emotional development, but the record is far from consistent and the two rigorous studies of the largest federal programs found limited or no impacts on student outcomes. The logical next step is a systematic effort to improve the quality of federally funded after-school programs.
(Abstract Source: MDRC)
www.mdrc.org/area_issue_33.html
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The after school community can play an important role in building a youth serving system in New York State that keeps young people engaged in school and on track to graduation from high school. This policy brief provides an overview of the benefits to high school graduation; describes the New York state context; links after school to factors that improve high school graduation rates; and recommends a number of policies that can forge a stronger partnership between schools and after school programs in addressing this issue.
After-School and Workforce Development: Helping Kids Compete
April 2009; Afterschool Alliance
Preparing youth for success in tomorrow’s workforce is of increasing concern to our nation’s schools, communities, policy makers and businesses. Afterschool programs, which have proven to keep kids safe, help working families and inspire learning, are also a powerful tool that helps young people develop the skills needed for the 21st Century workplace. Through partnerships with community-based organizations, schools, institutions of higher education and the business community, afterschool programs are playing a key role in preparing youth for work and careers.
(Abstract Source: Afterschool Alliance)
www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_36_Workforce.cfm
After-School Grows Up: Helping Teens Prepare for the Future, Out-of-School Time Policy Commentary #14
April 2009; Forum for Youth Investment
This commentary takes readers on a cross-country tour of after-school innovation – from northern and southern California to Chicago, New York and New Hampshire. In On the Ground we describe two very different school-based models in California. In Research Update we summarize lessons from recent evaluations of After School Matters in Chicago and the OST Initiative in New York City and identify studies to watch for. In Voices from the Field we talk with leaders from New Hampshire where an ambitious high school redesign effort is building upon successful high school after-school programs.
(Abstract Source: Forum for Youth Investment)
Recruiting and Retaining Older Youth in Afterschool
April 2009; Afterschool Alliance
Afterschool programs across the country provide critically needed services to our nation’s children and families, however, many afterschool providers find it difficult to recruit and retain children once they enter middle school and high school. Teens offer afterschool providers a special set of challenges, which they must overcome in order to attract and retain participants. For example, older youth are more autonomous, busier, better able and more likely to articulate specific needs, and less appeased by activities designed for a general audience. While older youth can clearly benefit from participation in afterschool, programs must employ innovative strategies to attract and keep older youth engaged.
(Abstract Source: Afterschool Alliance)
www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_37_recruitingandretaining.cfm
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Harvard Family Research Project:
Harvard Family Research Project's out-of-school time experts regularly present at conferences on a range of out-of-school time issues. Two of their recent presentations are now available on their Web site.
www.hfrp.org/out-of-school-time/publications-resources
Supporting Student Outcomes Through Expanded Learning Opportunities
February 2009; Harvard Family Research Project
This paper looks at the role of after school and summer learning programs in supporting student success. The paper explores how to bridge the divide between out-of-school time programs and schools by offering research-derived principles for effective expanded learning partnerships. It was commissioned by Learning Point Associates and the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) as part of a report on school reform and expanded learning. The paper highlights: the benefits of expanded learning, including less disciplinary action, lower dropout rates, better academic performance in school, greater on-time promotion, improved homework completion, and improved work habits, why and how schools and programs should partner and five principles that support transformative, sustainable partnerships, a warrant for future research on expanded learning and education reform, including implementing and testing a variety of expanded learning opportunity models.
(Abstract Source: Harvard Family Research Project)
www.hfrp.org/out-of-school-time/publications-resources/supporting-student-outcomes-through-expanded-learning-opportunities
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21st Century Community Learning Centers
21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing Afterschool Supports to Communities Nationwide
March 2009; Afterschool Alliance
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to afterschool programs. The No Child Left Behind Act reauthorized 21st CCLC in 2002, transferring the administration of the grants from the U.S. Department of Education to the State Education Agencies. Each state receives funds based on its share of Title I funding for low-income students. Funds are also allotted to outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Conversations about the next reauthorization are underway. The Afterschool Alliance has developed a set of recommendations to help ensure continued effectiveness of the program and provide adequate supports to local afterschool programs.
(Abstract Source: Afterschool Alliance) Click here to read.
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Afterschool and Global Competence: Expanding and Enhancing Learning Opportunities
April 2010 Afterschool Alliance Issue Brief
In our increasingly globalized and interconnected society, knowledge about the world, communication and collaboration skills, and an understanding of the multiple perspectives of different peoples and cultures are essential. However, many youth—especially those from
minority and low-income backgrounds—do not have adequate opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge and perspectives needed to succeed in a global age. Policymakers are rightfully concerned that American children may not be ready to compete and thrive as adults in
the global workforce, and in our increasingly diverse communities.
Global learning, also referred to as global education or international education, prepares learners to be active global citizens who believe that they can make a difference and have the skills to do so, at local and global levels.
(Abstract source: Afterschool Alliance) Click here to read.
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Expanding the Role of After School Programs in Promoting Health and Wellness
NYSAN Policy Brief - Winter 2010
Research shows that poor health has a wide range of consequences, including higher risk of illness and higher incidents of risk-taking and negative behaviors. Moreover, various studies show that academic success is linked with good health because physical activity and fitness levels contribute to higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of anxiety and stress, two factors that have an impact on learning. Evidence shows that access to fitness and nutrition resources encourages healthy behavior, thereby contributing to the positive development of children and youth. This policy brief focuses on the issues related to child and youth health, the resources after school programs provide, and how to expand the role of after school programs to better promote healthy physical development. Click here to read more!
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