The Importance of After-School Programs (continued)

Not infrequently, one or another child-rearing institution has taken on a role out of a conviction that others were not fulfilling their responsibilities. Afterschool programs, like other institutions, have periodically felt themselves to be a support of first and last resort. Afterschool programs can work as a developmental resource and support for children only to the extent that they are allowed to work from a modest and reasonable story line. And they will only be able to fulfill some of their potential if they themselves are adequately nurtured, supported and protected.

While research and anecdotal evidence exist to suggest that afterschool programs are a positive factor in student achievement, some countervailing reports, most notably the controversial Mathematica evaluation of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC), reached a number of negative conclusions about afterschool students’ academic achievement and behavior.

According to the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to afterschool programs by 2010, the methodology used in the Mathematica study was highly suspect . . . as are the findings. While the study found that African American and Hispanic students, as well as girls participating in 21st CCLC's afterschool programs, showed academic gains, in general the results focused on negative outcomes, prompting the Bush Administration to cut FY04 funding from $1 billion to $600 million.

Other critics of the study’s methodology note that the findings are based on just one year of data, collected very early in the life of the original 21st CCLC initiative; the study evaluated a very small number of grantees; and the study failed to be representative of the afterschool population.

The rollout of a new evaluation system in 2005 should help to put to rest some of the criticism by ensuring that States have data on the performance of each of their grantees, according to Robert Stonehill, 21st CCLC director. In addition, the National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning, which is funded by the Department through a contract with the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, is identifying promising and exemplary programs, activities and materials that can be adopted by state and local providers to provide rich academic content in afterschool programs that differ from the regular school day but are still standards based.