Youth Governance: How and Why It Can Help Out-of-School Time Programs Involve At-Risk Youth (June 2008)
http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2008_06_18_YouthGovernance.pdf
While after-school providers often seek to provide services to high-risk youth, programs often have difficulty attracting this population. This Child Trends brief examines the role youth governance—defined as establishing youth-adult partnerships to run aspects of the after-school program—can play in targeting at-risk children and youth. The benefits of youth governance to youth, adults and the program itself are discussed, as well as concrete ways to implement such a structure. The brief also addresses the frequent challenges of youth governance and describes potential solutions. It concludes with references to various organizations working on initiatives that make use of youth governance.
Author/Publisher: Bowie, Lillian and Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew. Child Trends.
Using Incentives to Increase Participation in Out-of-School Time Programs (June 2008)
http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2008_06_18_PI_OSTIncentives.pdf
Although some research suggests that using incentives can potentially reduce youth initiative and creativity, this Child Trends brief highlights ways they can be used to increase participation in after-school programs. The authors differentiate between incentives that take the form of special activities and reward-based incentives, exploring which type is more appealing to different age groups.
Author/Publisher: Collins, Ashleigh, Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew and Mary Burkhauser. Child Trends.
Improving Attendance and Retention in Out-of-School Time Programs (June 2007)
http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2007_06_19_RB_AttendandReten.pdf
Given the variety of social and academic outcomes associated with participation in after-school programs, Child Trends focuses on ways to increase attendance and retention so youth can benefit. The brief highlights common barriers to participation and the ways programs can navigate these challenges to both maintain and increase attendance and retention. The five most common barriers include: 1) safety, transportation and cost; 2) family responsibilities; 3) youth desire or need to work; 4) the lack of identification with staff members; and 5) adolescents' lack of interest in organized activities. Child Trends suggests steps for programs seeking to assess how successfully they recruit and retain youth, while providing references to specific programs that have taken similar steps.
Author/Publisher: Kennedy, Elena, Brooke Wilson, Sherylls Valladares and Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew. Child Trends.
More Time For Teens: Understanding Teen Participation—Frequency, Intensity and Duration—In Boys & Girls Clubs (March 2008)
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publication.asp?section_id=23&search_id=&publication_id=231
Arbreton et al. draw on results from Public/Private Ventures' longitudinal evaluation of Boys & Girls Clubs to understand participation among teens. Findings from the study suggest that several factors contribute to ongoing teen participation, including the variety of activities available at the Club, the ability of the Club to adjust its programming to suit the social and developmental needs of teens and the opportunity for participants to spend time with friends. Importantly, the research suggests that sustained levels of participation can be linked to positive character development and school-related outcomes, improved health behaviors and decreased risk behaviors.
Author/Publisher: Arbreton, Amy , Molly Bradshaw, Rachel Metz and Jessica Sheldon with Sarah Pepper. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures.
Attracting and Sustaining
Youth Participation in Out-of-School-Time Programs. (July 2004)
http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/moving-beyond-the-barriers-attracting-and-sustaining-youth-participation-in-out-of-school-time-programs
This brief draws from implementation and impact evaluations to develop
a set of promising strategies to attract and sustain youth participation
in out-of-school-time programs.
Author/Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project. No. 6
Understanding and Measuring Attendance in Out-of-School-Time
Programs. (August 2004)
http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/understanding-and-measuring-attendance-in-out-of-school-time-programs
This brief draws on developmental research and out-of-school-time
program evaluations to examine the three indicators of participation:
1) intensity, 2) duration and 3) breadth of attendance. It clearly
defines the three indicators of participation and discusses what
the research says about them individually and how they work together.
Author/Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project. No. 7
A Decade of Results: The Impact of the L.A.'s BEST After-school
Enrichment Program on Subsequent Student Achievement and Performance
(2000)
The evaluation of the L.A.'s Better Educated Students for Tomorrow
(BEST) initiative linked long-term involvement (at least four years)
to positive achievement on standardized tests. The report summarizes
the evaluation of the community-based initiative serving K-5 students.
The study looked at students who were in second through fifth grades
during the 1993-1994 school year and followed them through 1997-1998.
Author/Publisher: Huang, Denise, Barry Gibbons, Kyung Sung Kim,
Charlotte Lee and Eva L. Baker. UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.
Building Quality, Scale and Effectiveness in After-School
Programs: Summary Report of the TASC Evaluation (2004)
www.policystudies.com/studies/youth/TASC
Summary Report Final.pdf
The After-School Corporation (TASC) evaluation collected data over
four school years from 96 TASC after-school projects and their host
schools in New York City to answer questions about quality and scale
in program implementation, program effects on participating students
and program practices linked to academic benefits for students.
The evaluation found that participation in TASC activities was linked
to academic performance and school attendance, especially for those
participants who attended TASC projects regularly and for more than
a year. The report provides an overview of all the findings from
the TASC evaluation.
Author/Publisher: Reisner, Elizabeth, Richard N. White, Christina
A. Russell and Jennifer Birmingham. Policy Studies Associates, Inc.
The Study of Promising After-School Programs: Examination
of Intermediate Outcomes in Year 2 (2005)
http://www.wceruw.org/projects/projects.php?project_num=241
Vandell et al examined the longitudinal effects of participation
in high-quality after-school programs on various outcomes among
economically disadvantaged youth in both elementary and middle school.
The study found that among elementary and middle school students
who spent time in structured after-school activities, few were devoted
exclusively or even primarily to a single program. Instead, they
constructed an after-school schedule that involved sets of experiences.
The conclusions provide information for consideration for the design
of after-school programs.
Author/Publisher: Vandell, Deborah Lowe, Elizabeth R. Reisner, B.
Bradford Brown, Kimberly Dadisman, Kim M. Pierce, Dale Lee and Ellen
M. Pechman.
The Study of Promising After-School Programs: Examination
of Longer-Term Outcomes After Two Years of Program Experiences (2006)
http://www.wceruw.org/projects/projects.php?project_num=241
Vandell et al conducted the Study of Promising After-School Programs
to assess the developmental benefits associated with youth participation
in after-school programs that met certain research-based quality
criteria. Vandell found that although there may be some long-term
benefits to involvement in after-school programs for a period of
as little as one year, benefits appeared to intensify as children
and adolescents continued their involvement over a succession of
years. For middle school students there was a slight advantage in
long-term outcomes (work habits and behavior) to combining program
attendance at a “promising after-school” program included
in the evaluation with participation in other activities, rather
than being involved only in a promising after-school program or
being supervised at home. The strongest effects of after-school
experiences were observed for measures of misbehavior.
Author/Publisher: Vandell, Deborah Lowe, Elizabeth R. Reisner, Kim
M. Pierce, B. Bradford Brown, Dale Lee, Daniel Bolt and Ellen M.
Pechman.
After-School Pursuits: An Evaluation of Outcomes in the
San Francisco Beacon Initiative (2004)
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/168_publication.pdf
The evaluation of the San Francisco Beacon Initiative, a multiyear
study of youth and family centers located at schools, indicated
that participation over two to three sessions (roughly one year
or more) was a critical amount of exposure for middle school youth
to achieve the youth-development-related outcomes examined. This
study provides additional evidence of the importance of exposure
for after-school programs.
Author/Publisher: Walker, Karen E. and Amy J. A. Arbreton. Philadelphia:
Public/Private Ventures.
"Participation in Youth Programs: Enrollment, Attendance
and Engagement" in New Directions for Youth Development. No.
105 (Spring 2005)
This periodical focuses on youth participation in out-of-school-time
programs. It provides research-based strategies on how to increase
participation and how to define, measure and study participation.
Author/Publisher: Weiss, Heather B., Priscilla M.D. Little and Suzanne
M. Bouffard. Gil G. Noam, Editor-in-Chief.
