Resources > Policy Considerations

This research brief draws on seminal research and evaluation studies to address two primary questions: (a) Does participation in after school programs make a difference, and, if so (b) what conditions appear to be necessary to achieve positive results? The brief concludes with a set of questions to spur conversation about the evolving role of after school in efforts to expand time and opportunities for children and youth in the 21st century.

Published: February, 2008

Published during a time when New York State was working to improve educational opportunities, the New York State Afterschool Network published a policy brief on how the state needed toalso invest in reforming and expanding its financial system for afterschool programs. Offering guidance to state policymakers on how to approach this challenging task.
The brief includes an overview of the major sources of public funding for afterschool programs in the state and analysis of how the current system can be improved to increase program quality and access. It concludes with suggestions for steps the state should take to begin building a more coordinated and effective system.

Published: May, 2008

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In order to learn how families fill the gap between when school ends and when parent(s) come home from work and how children spend the hours after school, the Afterschool Alliance and J.C. Penney Co., Inc. conducted a national household survey on afterschool. The findings were first released in May 2004. The America After 3 PM survey provides the most comprehensive and accurate picture to date of what our nation’s youth are doing each day after school.

Published: May 2004

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Since 2003, The Wallace Foundation has supported a range of initiatives in five cities to develop and test new, coordinated approaches to making high-quality out-of-school time learning opportunities available to more children. While much remains to be learned, we believe a coordinated approach holds considerable promise for building and sustaining improvements in OST opportunities on a wide scale. In this paper, we describe the basis for our working hypothesis for expanding the quality and reach of out-of-school time learning opportunities. And we identify six “action elements” that can help other cities get started with a coordinated approach to OST improvement.

Published: February 2008

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In this article, we examine the long-term educational consequences of summer learning differences by family socioeconomic level. We find that cumulative achievement gains over the first nine years of children’s schooling mainly reflect school-year learning, whereas the high socioeconomic status (SES) –low SES achievement gap at 9th grade mainly traces to differential summer learning over the elementary years. These early out-of-school summer learning differences, in turn, substantially account for achievement-related differences by family SES in high school track placements (college preparatory or not), high school noncompletion, and four-year college attendance. We discuss implications for understanding the bases of educational stratification, as well as educational policy and
practice.

Published: April, 2007

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Research on language acquisition confirms what all language-learners know from experience: Practice is key. Extensive and varied opportunities to use the language are necessary for developing The skills of speaking and listening for different purposes, with different audiences, in different settings. Oral skills, in turn, underlie literacy.

Published: February 27, 2008

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For over a decade, researchers have provided encouraging evidence about ASPs and their impact on the academic and social well-being of Black children and adolescents. To gain a better understanding of what Black parents want and think about ASPs, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation decided to fund a project that directly asked parents their opinions. With this in mind, the goals of this study were: to discover which factors influence Black low-income and working-class parents’ decisions to enroll their children in ASPs; to understand how these parents assess a program’s quality and availability; and to develop a working definition of a positive ASP experience based on the identification of key contributing factors.

Published: October 2007

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Afterschool, before-school, and summer programs have become essential supports for working parents and a key part of life for many American children. These programs offer safe havens for children, as well as academic and development opportunities that many children and youth need.

But despite a growth in after-school programs nationwide, many communities struggle to finance and sustain quality programs. In the past decade, The Finance Project has developed unparalleled resources that help leaders address financing and sustainability issues for out-of-school time programs. The Out-of-School Time clearinghouse brings together The Finance Project’s resources with resources developed by other organizations dedicated to building better after-school programs.

This brief, prepared by California Tomorrow, was part of a convening of grantees that the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health held on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006.

"Program effectiveness in a diverse society requires responsiveness to the dynamics of cultural difference and power. But what does that look like? What does it mean for service providers to be culturally responsive? How can a program or agency operate in ways that are inclusive and equitable for the various cultural and language groups they seek to serve? Part of the answer lies in the development of cultural competency."

Published: December, 2006

Amidst a national push to establish standards for quality after-school programs, the field is working harder than ever to articulate the ingredients of high-quality activities. This report aims to build on existing knowledge about what constitutes engaging after-school programs in which youth of all ages learn and grow. The study was designed to detail key activity characteristics linked to youth engagement and learning and to provide instructors with a road map for how to create engaging learning environments in after-school programs. Specifically, we examined three related questions:

• What conditions lead youth to want to attend the activity?
• What aspects of an after-school activity, such as the staff’s behaviors and the activity’s structure, lead youth to be highly engaged?
• What conditions lead youngsters to feel they have learned in an activity?

Published: April, 2007

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In rethinking what it will take for our public schools to better serve students who are academically behind, wisdom tell us that a comprehensive approach that encompasses numerous options will provide the best opportunity to support student learning. The expansion of learning time can serve as one effective vehicle to modernize our schools because it allows teachers, principals, community organizations and leaders, and parents to build multiple curriculums to best educate our children to succeed in the 21st century. Expanded learning time turns dissatisfaction with the limitations of the current six-hour, 180-day school year into a proactive strategy that will create a new school structure for children.

Published: August, 2007

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Fact sheet on the benefits from afterschool program participation

Published: 2008

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One refreshing feature of All Work and No Play? is its examination of the views of students and parents—two important constituencies rarely heard from in the policy debate surrounding out-of-school time. What are the people who actually use out-of-school activities and programs really looking for? Just how much do parents and students rely on out-of-school-time opportunities to enhance academic learning? To what extent are they looking for socialization, playtime or merely a place with adult supervision? Since participation is purely by choice, knowing what drives these consumers is essential for implementing effective policies or creating constructive programs.

Published: 2004

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To be successful, policy and program leaders need good information on developing effective youth engagement approaches and greater understanding of what works, for whom, and at what cost. They also need access to strategies to finance and sustain these efforts.

Published: 2008

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Although afterschool programs for children have been operating for decades in some communities, the afterschool movement—the great national awakening to the opportunity afterschool offers—is just a few years old. As public demand for afterschool has grown, so has the demand for accountability. That is particularly true in afterschool programs that spend public dollars. After all, where tax dollars flow, so must accountability to taxpayers. Fortunately for afterschool advocates, a steady stream of afterschool evaluations are documenting gains for children, especially those who regularly participate in afterschool programs and those at highest risk of academic failure.

Published: July, 2008

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Investing in afterschool programs helps children of rural communities break out of the cycle of poverty and creates opportunities for at-risk youth. In areas where prospects and resources are limited, afterschool programs are often the only source of supplemental enrichment in literacy, nutrition education, technology, and preparation for college entrance exams. Afterschool programs offer an effective and affordable way of overcoming obstacles confronting rural communities and helping children realize their full potential.

Published: September, 2007

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The need for work supports, along with state flexibility to allocate TANF funds, affords a valuable opportunity to “make the case” for using TANF dollars to support out-of-school time programming. Moreover, policymakers, program leaders, and intermediaries must be able to understand and assess the policy and fi nancing options for using TANF or MOE funding on out-of-school time initiatives.

Published: June, 2007

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MDRC conducted the research for its "Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs" report with a grant from the federal Institute for Education Science's National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Researchers tested the effectiveness of 45 minutes of focused academic instruction during afterschool, using specially created materials. The result was a statistically significant increase in students' mathematics scores.

Download The MDRC study

Download synthesis of recent afterschool research

Students who are disengaged from school are at risk for poor academic achievement, skipping classes, sexual activity, substance use, and ultimately dropping out of school. The nation has moved to establish rigorous academic performance standards, such as those required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). However, some evidence shows that levels of school engagement are declining, and that these engagement levels are particularly low among boys. Just one-half of girls and only 25 percent of boys aged 14-15 were engaged in school in 1999. By 2002, these levels fell further: only 39 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys were reported by their parents to be engaged in school. Out-of-school time programs can play a role in increasing school engagement.

Published: October, 2008

Twenty-one percent of the nation’s children attend public schools in rural areas. Children attending rural schools have the lowest median per-student funding for afterschool programs under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grants program, as compared to their urban and suburban counterparts. Additionally, rural schools have fewer financial resources – largely as a result of diminished local property tax bases and inequitable distributions of state funds. This disparity underscores the fact that children living in persistently poor rural America need greater attention.

Published: September, 2007

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A new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Wisconsin- Madison and Policy Studies Associates, Inc. finds that regular participation in high-quality afterschool programs is linked to significant gains in standardized test scores and work habits as well as reductions in behavior problems among disadvantaged students. These gains help offset the negative impact of a lack of supervision after school. The two-year study followed almost 3,000 low-income, ethnically diverse elementary and middle school students from eight states in six major metropolitan centers and six smaller urban and rural locations. About half of the young people attended high-quality afterschool programs at their schools or in their communities.

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• School Age/Youth Core Knowledge Areas:  There are nine core knowledge areas.  Each area contains a basic level and an advanced level of requirements to be met depending on which level you hope to meet.
• Professional credential levels:  There are six levels from basic to advanced which are described in the chart and referenced throughout the document. These levels are also located within the application packet.
• “Bridges to Excellence” School Age-Youth Credential Application Packet. You will have all you need to submit a request for a credential at the level for which you qualify.
• A copy of the credential signed by the director of the Credential Office and the Manager of the State Department of Human Services.

HB 1363 was vetoed by the Governor on June 2, 2006.

To read the Governor's veto letter click here.

2005 Colorado Legislative Session

• HB 05-1024 - Rep. Solano and Sen. Williams

  Creates a Dropout Prevention Activity Grant Program in the State Department of Education to fund before and after school arts-based and vocational programs for students enrolled in grade 6 through 12. The grant program would be funded through a voluntary contribution that would appear on state individual income tax return forms.

  HB 1024 was signed into law by the Governor on May 24, 2005.

   

• HB 05-1228 - Rep. Paccione and Sen. Groff

  Authorizes a $500 refundable credit against state taxes for qualifying low-income students eligible for enrollment in preschool, kindergarten and grades 1 - 3 to participate in a qualifying supplemental education services program. Qualifying providers could include after school programs that meet any of the state's model content standards. This bill would create a TABOR refund mechanism totaling $40 million per year in years which excess TABOR revenues exceed $120 million.

  HB 1228 did not make it out of the House.