After-school Programs Promote Children's Development

In 1999, the National Research Council Board for Children, Youth, and Families and the Forum on Adolescence held a workshop for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to examine research on (a) the developmental needs of children aged 5 to 14 and (b) the types of after-school programs that they need.  The workshop participants discussed ways that after-school programs can be designed to provide school-age children with oppportunities:

• To develop competence in a number of developmental domains
• To develop cross-cultural skills
• To learn from older youth and to mentor younger children
• To interact successfully with peers
• To establish close bonds with caring adults
• To contribute to their communities

The experts agreed that school-age children need a variety of skills to move successfully from middle childhood to adolescence.  They also recognized that after-school programs may  help children explore different areas of interest in which they can exercise their talents and achieve competence.  Finally, they concluded that successful experiences in a wide range of out-of-school programs can give school-agers a positive sense of themselves and a healthy appreciation of others (Gootman, 2000).

In the past several years, there has been a dramatic increase in the level of state and federal funding for after-school programs.  For example, the U.S. Department of Education funds the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program.  The focus of this school-based program, authorized under Title X, Part I, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is to provide learning oppportunitites for school-age children in supervised, drug-free environments in public school buildings.  Other sources of funding for after-school programs have also been increasing, including the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative (Gootman, 2000).

The National Research Council established the following recommendations to guide new after-school programming:

• Programs need to be designed to address age-related stages of development.
• Programs need to incorporate the kinds of activities that will build physical, cognitive, emotional and social competencies.
• Programs need to incorporate academic experiences that will encourage a positive attitude toward learning.
• Programs need to address the challenges faced by school-age children in their daily lives.