Review of Research the Benefits of After School Programs
Introduction
Children spend approximately 25 percentage of their waking hours in school, and policy leaders are often striving to provide more learning opportunities through afterschool programs.
Broadly defined, afterschool programs (sometimes called OST or Out-of-School Time Programs) are school or community-based programs that offering bookish and enrichment activities in the hours that follow the school day. These programs serve children of all ages and include bookish support, workforce development opportunities, mentoring relationships, and more than. As shown below, these programs are funded and supported legislatively in a variety of means.
What the Research Says
Research shows that loftier-quality afterschool programs improve students' educational outcomes, school attendance, and social and emotional learning. Afterschool Alliance claims that quality afterschool programs understand that children and youth in different historic period groups vary in bookish, psychological, and physical action needs. Consequent participation in afterschool programs has shown lower dropout rates and has helped close accomplishment gaps for low-income students. For older youth, regular participation in an afterschool program may likewise reduce risky behaviors and aid them gain college and career-needed skills.
Afterschool programming has been shown to improve social and academic outcomes for students, however, research points to certain central elements for success. To fully realize all the positives of afterschool programming, students must receive a regular dosage, fairly trained staff, and high-quality programming. Since 2004, Afterschool Alliance has provided the most comprehensive national and state-specific account of how children and youth spend their afterschool hours. In their 2020 America After 3PM report, one of the biggest takeaways is the continued need for afterschool programs. Co-ordinate to their research, for every kid enrolled, three are waiting to go into a program. That equates to roughly 25 million children who are unable to access afterschool programs. The barriers cited are program cost, availability, and transportation or accessibility.
Funding for Afterschool
The Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Customs Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programme, the only dedicated federal funding stream, is available specifically for local afterschool, before-school, and summertime learning programs. Through state education-awarded grants, this program currently serves almost ii million youths. Research shows that several barriers to access afterschool programming be, and funding continues to be one of those. Cost and access continue to be barriers to participation in afterschool programs, with about three in v parents citing this the reason they did non enroll their kid in a programme. Every bit federal funding has not kept up with inflation, the 21st CCLC funding level is now $ten million lower in inflation-adapted terms since 2014. Thus, leaving the burden of funding such programs falls on states, communities, and families. Support for engaging and enriching afterschool programs reached its highest level in America After 3PM history in 2020 in, with 87 percent bipartisan parent support of public funding for programs that provide afterschool opportunities to students in communities that have few opportunities for children and youth. Notwithstanding, allocating additional funding for afterschool tin be hard with tight land budgets.
Currently, twelve states allocate funds dedicated to afterschool programs. An additional xi states fund initiatives that include afterschool programs every bit an allowable utilize. Other states tap into other funds to support afterschool. For example, grant programs in Tennessee and Nebraska receive a portion of their state lottery profits. Missouri is currently considering similar legislation for their unclaimed lottery prizes. Others receive funds from state departments of education or social services.
The pandemic has brought funding barriers to the forefront. According to the Chase Establish'south tracker at least 17 states have allocated COVID relief funds to afterschool and summer programs so far. However, a contempo survey has cited that 61 percent of afterschool programs have reported high levels of concern around permanent closure.
Afterschool Policy
States' efforts to support afterschool include focusing policy and funding on certain populations (e.g. at-run a risk or older youth) or issue areas (east.g. STEM). Other states have taken steps to collect information the afterschool landscape inside their country to inform hereafter policy and funding opportunities.
Session 2020 Legislative Summary
As COVID-19 changed the landscape of work and life, state legislatures faced many challenges. Legislatures had to append sessions, limit access to country capitols, and explore alternatives to physical meetings, while abiding to the legislative constraints. By legislative trends around afterschool revolved around creating councils and taskforces to provide research, expand the free and reduced lunch to include snacks during afterschool, and provide additional funding allocated for afterschool programming.
During the pandemic, many states began to wait at reopening schools in the autumn of 2020 and how to help students catch up and proceed up. Afterschool and summer programs were increasing recognized for their part in mitigating learning loss.
Throughout a typical year, learning loss is of concern due to prolonged periods of out-of-school time; still, 2020 has exacerbated these concerns. Enquiry shows that quality afterschool programs can narrow the math gap experienced in K-5 learning. Additionally, this meta-assay indicates that students tin can await gains in multiple areas including improved attendance, positive social behaviors, and test scores if they nourish high-quality afterschool programs. New Jersey is considering legislation to establish the Alleviating Learning Loss Grant Program. This aims to help public schools in establishing or expanding certain educational programs to accost learning loss in students.
One approach several states have taken to boost student learning is utilizing land and federal funding to support summer and afterschool programs. The federal Coronavirus Assist, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law on March 27, which includes $13.5 billion to the Uncomplicated and Secondary Education Relief (ESSER) Fund and $3 billion to the Governors Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. Alabama has allocated $9 million in GEER funds to back up intensive before and after school tutoring to help combat learning loss. Vermont devoted $half-dozen million for schoolhouse-age providers to use for afterschool programs. These two examples of funding were used to accost pandemic challenges and play a office in the long-term recovery.
Following the CARES Act, Congress passed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Human activity, 2021 (CRRSA) on Dec 27th, 2020. This provided an additional $54.3 billion to the ESSER Fund and $1.three billion to the GEER Fund.
Additional Afterschool Policy Areas
The following examples provide a snapshot of legislation and is not exhaustive.
| APPROACH | SUMMARY |
| At-Risk Youth | Afterschool programs provide a safe space for youth during the hours when many are unsupervised and participation in risky behaviors is peculiarly prevalent. In some states, programs targeting at-run a risk youth may receive special funding.
|
| Council/Taskforce | Councils or task forces take been established by legislatures in at least 16 states. These groups typically convene for a specified amount of fourth dimension, are comprised of state agency representatives, community stakeholders and ofttimes times state legislators, and are tasked with collecting data on the land's afterschool and/or summer learning landscape and making policy recommendations to the legislature.
|
| Data | Since 2014, with support from the Charles S. Mott Foundation, NCSL has worked with 39 states on data grant projects. NCSL has provided technical assist to statewide afterschool networks equally they collected new and compiled exisiting state-specific afterschool and summertime learning information, and shared this data with state legislators and other primal stakeholders via written reports and/or data release events. Many grantees have gathered information on afterschool programs and gaps in admission to afterschool, while others have conducted afterschool return on investment studies. Links to data reports or mapping tools, when applicable, are included below.
|
| STEM | Students that attend high-quality afterschool programs with Stem programming have shown increased STEM knowledge and skills and a higher likelihood of graduating and pursuing a STEM career. They have also shown to exist constructive in engaging student populations that are underrepresented in the STEM field, especially girls and minority students. Additionally, afterschool Stalk programs allow for partnerships among schools and the community including colleges and universities, museums, science centers, federal science agencies and businesses.
|
Additional Resources
NCSL Resources
- Stability and Alter in Afterschool Systems, 2013-2020: A Follow-Upwards Report of Afterschool Coordination in Large Cities (Wallace, 2021)
- The Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Podcast ( Wallace Podcast, 2021)
- New Afterschool Report Shows Both Demand and Barriers to Access Have Grown (2020)
- Recent NCSL Meeting Highlights Value of Afterschool Programs (2020)
- COVID-19 Recovery: Leveraging Afterschool and Summertime to Help Students Catch Upwardly, Keep Upwardly (2020)
- Webinar Blog: Recent NCSL Coming together Highlights Value of Afterschool Programs (2020)
- LegisBrief: State and Federal Investments in Afterschool Programs (2019)
- Policy Brief: A Snapshot of Rural Afterschool (2019)
- LegisBrief: Quality Afterschool Programs Maximize Positive Outcomes (2018)
- Webinar: Afterschool Program Quality - What States Are Doing to Drive Quality Forward (2018)
- ABC's of Afterschool podcast (2017)
- LegisBrief: Boosting Social and Emotional Evolution In and Out of School (2017)
- LegisBrief: Stalk and Afterschool (2014)
- ELO Enquiry Policy and Do
- Families and Expanded Learning Opportunities: Working Together to Support Children's Learning (2012)
- Twelvemonth-Round Learning: Continuity in Educational activity Beyond Settings and Fourth dimension Through Expanded Learning Opportunities (2012)
- Helping Older Youth Succeed Through Expanded Learning Opportunities (2011)
Other Resources
- America After 3PM (Afterschool Alliance, 2020)
- Recognizing the Role of Afterschool and Summer Programs in Reopening and Rebuilding (American Institutes for Research, 2020)
- The Scientific discipline of Learning and Development in Afterschool Settings (American Institutes for Research, 2019)
- Agreement Central Elements, Processes, and Outcomes of Expanded Learning Systems: A Review of the Literature (American Institutes for Research, 2014)
- Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Ability of afterschool and Summer Learning for Pupil Success (Expanded Learning, 2013)
- The Value of Out-of-School Fourth dimension Programs (Wallace Foundation, 2017)
- Afterschool Alliance
- American Institutes for Research: Afterschool and Expanded Learning
- American Youth Policy Forum
- National Afterschool Association
- National Institute of Out of School Time
- National League of Cities: Expanded Learning
- Statewide Afterschool Networks
- STEM Ready America
- Wallace Foundation
Source: https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/expanding-learning-opportunities-through-afterschool-programs.aspx
0 Response to "Review of Research the Benefits of After School Programs"
Post a Comment