SEO Ed Digest
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Vol. 3, Issue 9
September 2006
Bringing urban P-16 education resources to policymakers, parents, advocates, and district and school staff in the District of Columbia
Research on DC Schools
National Lessons Learned
New Ideas
The State Education Office does not endorse the views expressed in the resources and reports contained in the SEO Ed Digest.
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Today, students in the United States are in school 13 days less than the international average. Research has found that during summer vacation, students forget much of what they learned during the school year. Further, studies have shown that students in afterschool programs are more successful than those that do not participate in these programs. Summer school and afterschool programs are especially beneficial for low-income and minority students. These programs are also beneficial for older youth. This issue of the SEO Ed Digest covers recent and background research on the topic of out-of-school time and extended-day learning including: the pattern of participation in out-of-school time learning by race and socio-economic status; the role of out-of-school programs in children’s literacy development; the benefits for teens; parents’ expectations; and findings from evaluations of effective programs. This topic is relevant to the District of Columbia as extended-day and year learning is implemented by more schools. Also, the District is one of five cities chosen by the Wallace Foundation to participate in its Learning in Communities Initiative, which aims to develop comprehensive systems of out-of-school learning with consistently high standards.
Articles
Reports
Articles
Reports
Afterschool Matters is a national journal developed to promote professionalism, scholarship, and consciousness in the field of afterschool education. This edition of the journal contains the following articles: Youth Media Citizenship Beyond “Youth Voice”; Creating Engaged Citizens Using Young Adult Novels and Thematic Units to Encourage Democratic Action; Growing Leaders in Native American Communities, An Interview with Gerald Eagle Bear; Democracy in Action, Experiential Civics Learning in Afterschool Advocacy Days; and Toward a Movement, Uniting Organizers and Direct Service Providers in a Movement for Juvenile Justice Reform.
The out-of-school time (OST) programs profiled in Finding Fortune in Thirteen Out-of-School Time Programs, a compendium of evaluation summaries from the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), make the case that participation in OST programs improves outcomes for youth in the key areas of academic achievement improvement and higher developmental outcomes. The report contributes to the evidence needed to make reasoned decisions regarding the future of afterschool and out-of-school-time OST programming. This is especially important at a time when increased funding and support to OST programs have been challenged, specifically, by one high profile study that showed little difference in academic outcomes between program participants and non-program students.
For the past two years, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) has gathered information on out-of-school time (OST) programs around the United States by conducting a literature review, visiting communities, and inviting national experts and innovative program leaders to share their knowledge of such programs. They find that OST programs are an essential component in any strategy to improve the life chances and outcomes for youth, particularly disadvantaged youth. OST programs add productive time to the day and year for young people to develop a myriad of important skills, to supplement academic learning, to connect with caring adults, and to support their healthy development. As high school reform becomes paramount, OST programs must be viewed as a rich resource in the struggle to improve learning for high school-aged youth. Based on the review of relevant research on OST programs, the authors make the following observations: there is a correlation between frequent attendance in OST activities and positive outcomes; high-quality OST programs are supportive contexts for youth development and offer excellent opportunities for youth to develop skills in supervised, safe and engaging environments; older youth will participate in OST activities if the programs are designed for their age group, employ effective recruitment strategies, and offer high interest activities; and the quality of OST programs depend largely on the quality of the staff and leaders. The report concludes by providing recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to support OST programs.
This study used random assignment to evaluate the effectiveness of the Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) program—a summer program designed to improve academic skills, parental involvement, academic self-perceptions, and social behaviors among low- income children and families. Over 1,000 elementary school children who applied to BELL summer programs in New York and Boston in 2005 were randomly chosen to be in either a treatment group that was selected to participate in the BELL summer program, or a comparison group that was not. Independent researchers collected student reading tests and student and teacher surveys. The study found that children in the BELL treatment group gained about a month's worth of reading skills more than their counterparts in the comparison group during the summer. This is a modest, yet notable increase in reading skills for a six-week program. The study also found evidence of positive impacts on the degree to which parents encouraged their children to read. No impacts were found on academic-self perceptions or social behaviors. The results provide some support for investments in out-of-school time programming for low-income children during the summer, such as those currently coming from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program and the Supplemental Services provisions of Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act.
This paper explores some of the key issues and challenges facing program and city leaders in creating and sustaining afterschool program opportunities that engage the interest and participation of high school-age youth. The authors discuss effective program characteristics and strategies for citywide collaboration, along with steps for cities and organizations to build their capacity to meet the needs of today's teen youth during the out-of-school time hours. Investigation was particularly focused on five cities: Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, and Fort Worth.
The report, compiled from visits by groups of policymakers, discusses the challenges to OST program implementation, including issues of going to scale, state and local roles and responsibilities, funding and sustainability, the role of intermediaries and advocates, and the relationship between OST programming and academic achievement. The reader will find tips on how communities provide OST activities that are both effective and responsive to local needs. Also illustrated are numerous uses and public policy solutions to which OST programming has been applied, including leverage for school reform initiatives; opportunities for teacher professional development; expanded resources for schools and communities; sites for school-based services; reinforcement of mutual school and community interests; and outlets for individual/group expressions, extended youth development, community culture and community education. Also discussed is the need for dedicated funding streams or existing funding streams that can be more strategically combined for OST use, allowing OST to be viewed as a part of a larger, integrated system of youth supports. The publication provides policy recommendations such as: expanding OST opportunities for older youth and in rural areas; ensuring consistent quality while providing for variability across programs; imbedding OST strategies into school reform efforts; and establishing clear and consistent expectations, policies and goals.
In this survey of teens and parents, Public Agenda found the vast majority of students regularly participate in organized activities in their out-of-school time. Most students believe kids who participate are better off than those who do not participate. But there are stark differences in the experiences of low-income and minority parents, who are much more likely to say they have trouble finding high-quality, convenient and affordable activities for their children. While the policy debate revolves around whether afterschool programs improve academic achievement, this is not the first thing that comes to mind for either parents or students that were surveyed. Low-income and minority parents, however, are considerably more likely to want activities that emphasize academics.
For more than 20 years, calls for extending learning time have largely gone unheard. Major reports, including A Nation At Risk, Prisoners of Time, and Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer: A Progressive Education Agenda for a Stronger Nation, stress the importance of making better use of learning time. The author argues that the increased focus on opportunities for extending learning time in our public schools can be attributed to its great potential for impact. Making better use of school time holds the promise of improving student performance and closing achievement gaps. American students – regardless of income, age, race, or linguistic abilities – are no longer making the grade. Students in programs of extended learning tend to make academic gains that exceed those of children in traditional learning programs. Reorganizing the school year and providing greater learning time and opportunities, particularly in low-performing schools and districts, can enhance the rigor, innovation and academic supports of public school education in a systematic manner designed to boost student performance. Restructuring the school year and making extended learning opportunities readily available must be priorities at the local, state and national levels. The author recommends that government can take the following steps: stimulate local and state efforts through demonstration projects; and update the Title I formula to provide additional funds to schools and districts committed to implementing programs of extended learning.
Today’s students spend between six and seven hours per day in school, five days a week, 180 days a year. This school year is 13 days less than the international average for industrialized nations. Across 12 years of study, this 13-day deficit means that our children lose 156 days—almost one entire school year. When that learning loss is viewed against the background of huge achievement gaps among U.S. students and mediocre achievement by our students as a whole, America’s use of learning time cries out for change. Lengthening the school day and school year will help move our education system out of the agrarian age into the information, knowledge-driven era of today. Better preparing our students for the challenges of the 21st century will strengthen our economy and our democracy. This report lays out 15 new ideas for tackling America’s challenges head-on. Each page outlines an idea and provides a link to more detailed treatment. One of these 15 ideas is to extend learning time.
Several trends have come together to intensify interest in how public libraries might best support the interests and needs of youth in their communities. This study reports on findings from the Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development (PLPYD) Initiative, a 4-year, 9-site initiative funded by the Wallace Foundation to develop innovative models for public libraries to provide high-quality educational enrichment and career development programs serving underserved low-income children and youth. The evaluation reveals that public libraries can be a resource for youth in low-income communities. In addition to providing access to technology and a safe place to be during out-of-school hours, evaluation results indicate libraries can provide high-quality youth employment programs that include training in both specific job skills and more general personal and social skills. These programs also can have positive impacts on the library system and the community. However, to work intensively with youth requires time, financial resources, dedicated staff, consistent leadership, and alignment of youth program with the library’s core mission and goals. Thus, public libraries need to assess and build their capacity for youth programs and services in a systematic way.
Harvard Family Research Project’s series of Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshots distills the wealth of information compiled in their Out-of-School Time Program Evaluation Database into a single report. Each Snapshot examines a specific aspect of out-of-school time (OST) evaluation. Snapshots include: A Review of Out-of-School Time Program Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Evaluation Results; A Review of Activity Implementation in Out-of-School Time Programs; Performance Measures in Out-of-School Time Evaluation; Engaging With Families in Out-of-School Time Learning; Detangling Data Collection: Methods for Gathering Data; Measurement Tools for Evaluating Out-of-School Time Programs: An Evaluation Resource; Harnessing Technology in Out-of-School Time Settings; and Learning From Small-Scale Experimental Evaluations of Afterschool Programs.
Fostering children's literacy is an increasingly common interest of afterschool programs serving low-income children. As they work with children day-in and day-out, afterschool providers observe that a good number of low-income children are not acquiring solid literacy skills in school. Many children who have adequate basic skills do not grasp the meaning of what they read, write creatively, or enjoy reading or writing. These perceptions have prompted many after-school providers to wish to do more to foster literacy. Chapin Hall researchers undertook a study designed to provide a basic picture of the after-school field in relation to fostering low-income children's literacy. The study had two main components: a survey of the literacy practices and environments of more than 200 afterschool programs in two distinct urban areas, Chicago and Seattle, and case studies of 16 afterschool programs with exemplary or innovative approaches to children's literacy in Chicago, New York City, and Seattle. The authors found that despite being a strong base for children's literacy development, after-school programs have much work to do in order to fully address literacy issues.
This strategy brief describes several funding streams included in the No Child Left Behind Act – other than the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program – that can support extended learning opportunities. These funding streams include Title I (general Title 1 School Improvement, and Supplemental Educational Services), Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC), Comprehensive School Reform (CSR), and Innovative Programs. The brief first discusses NCLB to help afterschool program leaders understand the context and tenets of the law and its funding streams. It describes each funding stream and discusses how each could be used to support extended learning in afterschool programs. Finally, the brief includes considerations and examples to help program leaders interested in pursuing education dollars to support extended learning programs.
With support from the William T. Grant Foundation, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) is conducting a research study on the factors associated with whether children and youth participate in out-of-school time (OST) programs and activities. Building on previous work, the authors are using national data to examine the many factors and contexts in children's lives that predict participation. This research brief distills findings from the first phase of the study, which examines demographic differences in youth's OST participation rates. It first provides information on current demographic differences in OST participation rates, and then looks at whether there is any evidence that such differences have changed in recent years. Current findings include the following: across virtually all OST contexts, youth from higher income families were more likely to participate than youths from lower income families; for tutoring programs, youth from lower income families were more likely to participate than youth from high income families; across most types of programs, Latino youth are consistently underrepresented, White youth are overrepresented, with Black youth somewhere in between; Black youth showed higher participation rates in some OST contexts, such as before and afterschool programs and summer camps; the historical analysis revealed a general pattern of stability in demographic differences in participation rates over the late 1990s; and for before and afterschool programs there have been increases over time in participation rates at every level of family income but the increase was greatest among the lowest income youth. The brief concludes with implications for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers.
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