Abstract

In 2005, the After-School Corporation (TASC) commissioned an evaluation of the after-school programs it funds in New York City to determine which programs were most successful in improving student academic performance and to identify what traits and features were common to them. The study was implemented by Policy Studies Associates (PSA) as a follow up to their multi-year evaluation of TASC. PSA found that shared characteristics among these high-performing programs include: a broad array of enrichment opportunities; opportunities for skill building and mastery; intentional relationship building; a strong/experienced leader/manager supported by a trained and supervised staff; and sponsoring organizations that provided an effective balance of support and autonomy. The findings of this study will be of value to new and existing national service-funded organizations seeking to establish or improve their programming, staffing, and support systems for out-of-school time (OST) programs.

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Issue

Developing and maintaining an effective mix of enrichment activities is a constant challenge for OST programs. In addition, OST programs are increasingly being asked to participate in and demonstrate their impact upon improving the academic achievement of the school-aged children and youth they serve. Organizations seeking to build or improve OST programs — including those supported by members of the Corporation for National and Community Service programs — will thus benefit from reviewing research-validated best practices that promote effective programming and management generally and academic support specifically.

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Action

PSA’s 2005 report “Shared Features of High-Performing After-School Programs: A Follow-Up to the TASC Evaluation” details management and programming features found in common among ten of TASC’s highest-performing after-school programs, as measured by changes in student achievement on state- and city-wide math and English language arts/reading (ELA) tests.  Evaluators report the following characteristics shared by these effective programs:

A broad array of enrichment opportunities — including dance, music, art, and sports to spark students' interests and expand their own goals for schooling, careers, and hobbies.

Site coordinators at the ten high-performing after-school programs seek programming activities that include both cognitive and personal enrichment and improvement. Coordinators often feel strong external pressure to tie their activities more closely to school-day priorities and emphasize tutoring and homework help, but effectively accommodate the demand for academic support without short-changing "youth-centered, developmentally responsive" activities. They achieve this by designing "holistic" learning opportunities exposing participants to a wide variety of activities that incorporate project- and team-based learning components. Adult paraprofessionals or college students typically lead academic and non-academic instruction, supervised by experienced program coordinators or certified teaching specialists.

Literacy enrichment activities are programmed to build participants' skills systematically through reading, writing, and story-telling, typically through project-based work centered on a culminating exhibition or performance.

While each of the ten projects approach skills-focused activities differently, all provide three to six enrichment activities per week that involve group processes developing a performance or product. Most projects hire specialists to lead several activities a week, which helps build an orientation toward skill-building and mastery in literacy, arts, sports or community service activities. All ten projects provide opportunities to increase participants' literacy skills through reading, story-telling, and writing activities. Formal curricula including KidzLit, KidzMath, Passport to Success, and the Madison Square Garden Literacy Challenge provide structure for some of these activities. When teaching or leading activities, program staff consistently employ one or more of the following instructional strategies:

• Communicating the goals, purposes, and expectations of the youth activity.
• Assisting youth without taking control of the activity, such as coaching or employing scaffolding techniques to help youth gain a better understanding of a concept or complete an action.
• Praising youth's efforts and accomplishments.

Intentional relationship-building not only with the host school, but also with staff, and between staff and students.

The site coordinators at the ten high-performing after-school programs are intentional about building strong personal and working relationships with the leadership and staff of their schools. Essential ingredients of the most effective partnerships were: mutual respect between the project coordinator and school principal; working with teachers and paraprofessionals from the day-school; shared appreciation that students benefit from the after-school experience; and flexibility among schools' teaching, custodial, cafeteria, and security staff. Successful strategies undertaken by after-school programs to align academic priorities between day-school and after-school projects include:

• Hiring a teacher from the day-school to provide information about what principals and teachers were doing during the school day.
• Using literacy and mathematics materials from school-day curricula.
• Observing in classrooms and talking informally with regular teachers about participants' learning needs and behaviors.
• Coordinating joint appreciation events between day-school and after-school staff and providing teachers with incentive gifts, recognition, and thank-yous.
• Pooling resources to hire arts and recreation specialists to work in the school day as well as in the after-school project.
• Arranging for classroom libraries, manipulatives, and games to support homework and other after-school academic activities.
• Hiring school-day paraprofessional aides to coordinate the academic records of student progress.
• Sharing the school's parent liaison to facilitate connections between the school and families.

The high-performing projects are also intentional in fostering strong relationships among staff members, and between staff and their students. The programs set strong expectations for staff and participants to contribute to a positive and supportive environment at the beginning of the program year. Staff members are trained through pre- and in-service training to model positive behavior management and affect toward participants. In cases where behavior management proves to be a challenge, site coordinators bring in social workers and experienced youth specialists to conduct targeted trainings on relationship building and conflict management. Programs maintain regular contact with parents to involve them in their children's after-school learning through newsletters, progress reports, and informal conversations with parents as they arrived to pick up their children.

Site coordinators with experience in youth development, strong connections to the local community, and a commitment to effective programming.

The high-performing projects seek site coordinators with five or more years of experience working with the grantee organization or similar organizations, and who have strong ties to the communities where they work (e.g., they are former students of the school or have children enrolled there). Site coordinators also articulate a strong vision for the goals and objectives of their programs, effectively balancing the competing demands for academic and non-academic activities. This vision is reinforced through comprehensive staff orientations and frequent in-service trainings, mentoring of junior staff by more experienced staff, and informal and formal evaluations. Proactive recruiting identifies potential staff members and volunteers with the backgrounds, credentials, and temperaments that would most effectively advance the program's work. The well-developed staff mentoring and training opportunities also helps with retention, serving to offset the relatively low compensation available for staff members.

A sponsoring organization allowing day-to-day autonomy and flexibility to sites while providing administrative, fiscal, and professional development support.

Sponsoring agencies (the TASC grantees) provide an effective balance of autonomy and support to site coordinators at the highly effective after-school programs. Site coordinators make decisions regarding activity selection and staffing, with sponsoring agencies concentrating on securing financial resources and supplying professional development, proactive communication, and oversight of site coordinators.

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Context

TASC funds over 230 after-school programs serving almost 50,000 K-12 students in over 250 schools in New York City. TASC programs are operated by community organizations at public schools, and are open every day school is in session from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Services are free, and all students enrolled in the host school are eligible to participate. Each project site is led by a full-time, year-round paid site coordinator managing a diverse staff of paraprofessionals, arts specialists, certified teachers, and volunteers. Staff-to-student ratios are held at 1:10 for elementary schools, but are slightly higher at middle and high school sites.

The ten TASC-funded after-school programs reviewed in preparation of the "Shared Features" report are located throughout the city, with three programs each in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens and one program in Manhattan. On average, among the students in the ten evaluated programs:

• Ninety percent qualified for free or reduced lunches
• Eight percent recent immigrants
• Nineteen percent English language learners
• Six percent eligible for special education services

The education-research firm Policy Studies Associates prepared the "Shared Features" report on behalf of TASC and the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, with funding in part from the U.S. Department of Education. Program and student performance data sources were: a previous evaluation of TASC funded programs conducted by Policy Studies Associates; data supplied by the New York City Department of Education; and on-site observations and interviews conducted at the high-performing programs. Additional information regarding the study methodology and instruments can be accessed in the full "Shared Features" report, which can be found at the link to the report provided in the "Citation" section of this effective practice.

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Citation

The After-School Corporation. (February 2006). "Shared Features of High-Performing After-School Programs: A Follow-Up to the TASC Evaluation."
http://www.tascorp.org/content/document/detail/1353/

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Outcome

TASC incorporates the best practices for after-school programming and management captured in the "Shared Features" report into TASC's technical-assistance and program-evaluation activities. They allow TASC to better support and advocate for improvements in capacity building and program management among its own after-school grantees and other OST programs.

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Posted On

July 10, 2006

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For More Information

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Resources

LEARNS: Out-of-School Time web page

The Resource Center: After-School Programs web page

Related Practices

• Starting an out-of-school program

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Related sites

After School Alliance

Topic Areas

• Mentoring
• Out-of-school time
• Tutoring
• Performance measurement
• Program evaluation
• Senior Corps
• AmeriCorps
• Learn and Serve America
• Community-Based Organizations
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Schools
• Students
• Education
• LEARNS

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