Study of Promising After-School Programs

Principal Investigator: Deborah Lowe Vandell
Researchers: Kim Pierce (UCI), B. Bradford Brown (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Elizabeth Reisner (Policy Studies Associates, Inc.), Ellen Pechman (Policy Studies Associates, Inc.), Andrea Karsh (UCI)
Funding: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Description and Key Findings | Measures | Reports

Description and Key Findings

The Study of Promising After-School Programs was conducted by research teams at the University of California, Irvine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Policy Studies Associates, Inc. The purpose of the study was to determine the short-term and long-term impacts of high-quality after-school programs on the cognitive, academic, and socioemotional development of children and adolescents in high-poverty communities. The participating after-school programs were selected following a national search for high-quality programs serving low-income students. The programs were located in 14 cities in 8 states and included 19 programs serving elementary school children and 16 programs serving middle school youth.

A total of 2,914 students (1,796 elementary, 1,118 middle school), some of whom attended the selected programs and some who did not, participated in the study. Our findings indicate that both elementary and middle school students enrolled in the after-school programs and other structured activities, compared to students who were largely unsupervised in the after-school hours, experienced relative gains in their math achievement test scores, work habits at school, and compliance at home, and relative reductions in misconduct. Elementary program participants also experienced relative gains in grades, task persistence, social skills, and prosocial behavior, and reductions in aggressive behavior, compared to their classmates who were unsupervised after school. And, middle school program participants reported relative reductions in their use of substances (alcohol, tobacco, drugs) compared to their unsupervised classmates.

The major goal of the longitudinal Study of Promising After-School Programs: Follow-Up was to examine whether economically disadvantaged elementary and middle school students’ participation in high-quality after-school programs (and other structured activities) was associated with the students’ academic, social, and behavioral outcomes four years later. We did not find strong evidence to suggest that program participation has long-term implications for participants’ adjustment, perhaps due to the lack of information about the students’ program and activity involvement in the intervening years. In contrast, participation in after-school activities (sports, arts, academic clubs, nonacademic clubs, programs, volunteer and community service work) at the time of the follow-up was associated with concurrent student adjustment. Associations were evident between participation in structured activities and a variety of positive academic, social, and behavior outcomes, whereas spending the after-school hours with peers, without adult supervision, was associated with negative outcomes. Additional findings indicated that changes in student outcomes across four years, between the earlier and follow-up studies, were associated with involvement in sports and unsupervised time with peers. Students who participated in sports at the follow-up experienced (significantly) positive changes in their classroom work habits, whereas students who spent large amounts of unsupervised time with peers experienced negative changes in work habits and increases in misconduct and substance use.

Overall, the findings in this study highlight the importance of structured after-school activities for economically disadvantaged middle and high school students’ positive developmental outcomes. The findings also underscore the negative ramifications of spending the after-school hours with peers and without adult supervision. We speculate that structured activities provide opportunities for students to bond with the school and with supportive and caring adult activity leaders, and that absent these connections, students may affiliate with peers who are similarly disconnected and who reward antisocial more than conventional behavior.

Measures

Data collection in the Study of Promising After-School Programs included observations of the after-school programs and surveys completed by program directors and staff, students, teachers, and parents.An overview of the data collection can be viewed by clicking HERE.

Program Quality

Promising Practices Rating System [PDF manual] [PDF documentation]

Observational measure of process quality in after-school programs

  • Program Director Survey [PDF survey] [documentation not available]

Structural indicators of program quality and background information about program staff

  • Program Staff Survey [PDF survey] [documentation not available]

Structural indicators of program quality and staff job satisfaction

Program & Activity Participation

After-School Activities

Student Outcomes

Academic performance (grades) [PDF documentation]

Elementary teacher report [PDF measure]

Middle teacher report [PDF measure]

Child Adjustment Scale (work habits, peer relations, compliance)

Child Behavior Scale (aggressive, prosocial with peers)

Educational Plans

Misconduct Scale

Self-Efficacy

Social Skills with Peers

Substance Use

Task Persistence

Work Habits

Family & Neighborhood

Family demographics

  • Parent report [PDF measure] [PDF documentation not available]

Neighborhood Safety

Reports

Vandell, D. L., & Reisner, E. R. (2003). The Study of Promising After-School Programs: Brief descriptive report.Report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. [PDF full text]

Vandell, D. L., Reisner, E. R., Brown, B. B., Pierce, K. M., Dadisman, K., & Pechman, E. M. (2004). The Study of Promising After-School Programs: Descriptive report of the promising programs. Report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. [PDF full text]

Vandell, D. L., Reisner, E. R., Brown, B. B., Dadisman, K., Pierce, K. M., Lee, D., & Pechman, E. M. (2005). The Study of Promising After-School Programs: Examination of intermediate outcomes in year 2. Report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. [PDF full text]

Vandell, D. L., Reisner, E. R., Pierce, K. M., Brown, B. B., Lee, D., Bolt, D., & Pechman, E. M. (2006). The Study of Promising After-School Programs: Examination of longer term outcomes after two years of program experiences.Report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. [PDF full text]

Reisner, E. R., Vandell, D. L., Pechman, E. M., Pierce, K. M., Brown, B. B., & Bolt, D. (2007). Charting the benefits of high-quality after-school program experiences: Evidence from new research on improving after-school opportunities for disadvantaged youth. Report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. [PDF full text]

Vandell, D. L., Reisner, E. R., & Pierce, K. M. (2007). Outcomes linked to high-quality afterschool programs: Longitudinal findings from the Study of Promising Afterschool Programs. Report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. [PDF full text]

Vandell, D.L., Pierce, K. M., Karsh, A. (2011). Study of Promising After-School Programs: Follow-Up. Report to Participating School Districts. [PDF full text]

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