Characteristics and Impacts of Elementary School Programs

The two most common objectives of administrators of elementary school programs were to offer students a safe place after school and to help students improve academically. These goals mirror those of parents, who said they enrolled their children in the programs to help them do better in school (79 percent of parents) or to provide "a safe place for my child after school" (63 percent of parents).

A Typical Elementary School Center

The center is open five days a week for three hours a day, serving students in kindergarten through grade six. About 120 students a day come to the center. The first 75 minutes is snack time followed by homework. Certified teachers and aides supervise the homework sessions. The next two sessions are 40 minutes each and include academic and enrichment activities. For the first session, students alternately work on computers to enhance their reading or math skills or meet with a certified teacher for lessons that complement what students worked on with computers. For the next session, students are grouped with other students in their grade and rotate through enrichment activities such as arts and crafts, karate, and fitness and dance. A mix of teachers, instructional aides, and outside organizations lead the enrichment activities. On Fridays, students have free choice for one 40-minute block and use the time to play board games or basketball.

Generally programs were open for three hours after school four or five days a week. A typical day included one hour for homework and a snack, one hour for another academic activity such as a computer lab, and one hour for recreational or cultural activities.

Eighty-five percent of the centers offered homework assistance, mostly by setting aside time for students to do their homework. Eighty-five percent also provided academic activities, such as teaching or tutoring, in addition to, or instead of, homework help.

Moreover, programs provided recreational, cultural, and interpersonal activities. Nearly all centers—92 percent—offered recreational opportunities, ranging from unstructured free time to organized sports. Programs also offered dance, drama, and music, and workshops on developmental topics, such as building leadership skills and resolving conflicts with peers.

Attendance at programs was moderate (Figure 1). Students attended, on average, 63 days a year, or about two days a week. Almost one-fourth of the students attended more than 100 days a year and one-fourth attended fewer than 26 days.

Supervision After School. Students who attended after-school programs were more likely to be with adults who were not their parents, and less likely to be with their parents after school. Students also were less likely to be with an older sibling after school. Programs did not affect the frequency with which students reported "self-care," or the number of days when they were at home after school without a parent, another adult, or an older sibling. Just over one percent of both groups of students said they were in self-care three or more days in a typical week (Figure 2).

Academic Achievement. Students attending after-school programs scored no better on reading tests than their peers who did not participate; nor did their grades in English, mathematics, science, and social studies increase (Figure 2). In addition, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of students in time spent on homework, student effort in class, preparation for class, and absenteeism; and, according to teachers, program students were less likely to complete homework often.

Safety After School. Programs improved students' reported feelings of safety after school; 1.5 percent of participants, compared with 4.5 percent of nonparticipants, reported feeling "not at all safe" after school (Figure 2).

Developmental Outcomes. Programs had few impacts on developmental outcomes. For example, treatment group students were no more likely to report getting along with others their age, to rate themselves highly on working with others on a team, or to be able to set goals and work to achieve them than nonparticipants. Students in programs were more likely to report helping other students after school.

Negative Behaviors. Students in programs were no less likely than students in the control group to be suspended, to receive detention, or to be sent to the office for misbehaving. Students in programs were as likely as control students to report negative behaviors, such as breaking things, arguing with parents, or giving teachers a hard time.

Parent Outcomes. Parents of students in programs were more likely to attend after-school events in schools. There was no effect on parents attending parent-teacher organization meetings or school open houses, or volunteering at school. There was some evidence that programs increased whether mothers of elementary students worked or looked for work. Mothers of students in programs were more likely to be in the labor force (working full time, part time, or looking for work) than mothers of control students.

Subgroup Impacts. The study looked at subgroup impacts for elementary students but found few groups with significant impacts. Students from two-parent households had larger impacts on some outcomes than students in single-parent households, but after controlling for membership in other subgroups, many of these impacts were no longer significant.

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