FINAL REPORT: After-School Programs as a Support to Academic Achievement

Quality after-school programs by using the positive youth development approach can provide the support and opportunity for young people to succeed both developmentally and academically

Today, over 10,000 youth in Austin are involved in different afterschool programs organized by schools, local youth organizations, community based organizations, churches, etc.  Despite the variety of program types and models, there are some characteristics and qualities of after-school programs which help them have a great impact on academic achievement of kids.

Impact on Academic Achievement

Research shows that participation in after-school programs leads to better school attendance, more positive attitude towards school work, higher aspirations for college, improved work habits, better interpersonal skills, lower drop out rates, higher quality homework completion, less time spent in unhealthy behaviors, and improved grades.  Developmental psychologists now indicate that social and emotional development that youth receive through participation in an after-school program is linked to academic success in youth.

Assets and Risks

It is understood that one needs skills, knowledge, and a variety of other personal and social assets to function well during adolescence and adulthood. In 2002 the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine jointly produced a list of 28 personal and social assets grouped into four developmental domains: physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional, and social development.  Individuals have different combinations of these assets; having more assets is better than having few. However, there are also risk factors that can lead to a youth’s poor school and developmental outcomes including cognitive deficits, behavior and adjustment problems, and psychological problems. Such risk factors include:

• Living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment

• Living in single-parent families

• Living with a household head who is a high school dropout

• Living in low-income working families

• Living in a household without a telephone

• Living in a household without a vehicle

• Have difficulty speaking English

Need to find demographic data on Austin

Any of these factors in combination or alone can limit children’s ability to perform in school and develop the emotional and social competence to transition successfully through adolescence.  

Role of an After-School Program

By promoting positive youth development, after-school programs play an important role in helping youth overcome some of these risk factors and critical barriers to academic learning and personal well being.  To be successful in learning and developing, young people need safe, structured places and access to basic services. They need high quality instruction. But they also need personal attention; strong, respectful relationships with adults; peer support, clear rules, high expectations and real assessments; and challenging experiences and opportunities for self-direction, participation and contribution within the organization and the community.  Ensuring that these features exist in after school programs is no easy task.  And while some after-school programs may focus on delivering only several of these key elements, it is critical that programs be aware of the full range of key elements and ensure that at the very least, they do no harm in each of these areas.  

Need to find information on principles and practices of Keepin’ It Real

Program example: Keepin’ It Real

• Basic care and services
• Caring relationships
• Relevant, challenging experiences
• High expectations and standards
• Opportunities for choice and contribution
• High-quality instruction

What does it take to create after school programs with the elements described above – programs that support youth development and learning in settings where young people consistently experience the supports and opportunities they need during the out-of-school hours?   Important answers can be found at the program level. Programs face the challenges of ensuring quality and continuity of supports, building staff and organizational capacity, maintaining adequate and sufficient resources, and gaining public support. There are also significant citywide challenges related to building quality and continuity, developing resources, and creating a climate where investments in high-quality afterschool programs are adequate and sustained. Creating such a climate means nurturing broad public understanding and appreciation of all the benefits and possibilities of a youth development approach.

Other points to cover:

• challenges to creating a successful PYD program
• best practices
• recommendatons to ALA

Volunteering at the Grassroots Level...

A couple of weeks ago our PRP class had an opportunity to participate in a community clean-up AKA Volunteer With Me 2011. It was a community-building event aimed at uniting/bonding members of the school community, their families and friends, and other do-gooders through involving them in a volunteering activity.  It was a gray Saturday morning with some drizzling rain, but the urge to give back to my community made me crawl out of bed and successfully make it to the event. 

Organization and Registration

I don't have a lot of complaints regarding organization of the event, except that Lanier High School where registration took place is pretty far from where I live (Hyde Park), and after registration (writing my name down on a scrap of paper, getting snacks, bottled water, and a t-shirt), I had to go all the way back to Dobie. Lanier High School was crowded with volunteers, and it was hard to find the registration spot due to the absence of arrows. It turned out to be in the very back of the school, quite a long and confusing walk for those who are at the school for the first time. 

At Dobie and the Process

When I think about 'community clean-up', I imagine raking leaves or picking up garbage. However this time it was different.  We were literally digging in the dirt in front of Dobie - pulling grass roots out, digging up plant roots, etc. After a couple of hours my back and upper arms started to hurt, dirt got under my nails, and it was becoming rather hot - but surprisingly I really enjoyed it! 

Pluses:

- The organizers had enough tools for all the volunteers, and we could easily share, too. 

- Bottled water was available on-site

- The organizers offered a variety of tasks (well, I noticed at least 4 of them)

Minuses:

- There were too many volunteers doing one job. The flower beds were literally crawled with volunteers, so, in my opinion, task/volunteer ratio could be a bit more efficient

- Instructions could be a bit more clear and precise

So, Community Involvement...

As far as I remember, the original idea of our participation in the project was to interact with the local community members, particularly, with parents of the kids going to Dobie. Personally I did no see any parents or any other adults at the event whatsoever. So I would say the community engagement was very low and limited to high school or college volunteers. As for the "local support", we had a middle-school band perform a couple of songs, which was,, honestly, truly awesome. I was even more excited about the band play when I realized that one of the songs they were playing was a hit which was very popular last fall. I heard it in a club a couple of times, but didn't know who the singer was so couldn't find it anywhere.  Now when i heard it I just came up to one of the band members and asked them what they were playing. Yay! "All I Do Is Win" - added to my playlist.  

What I Got Out of the Event

- ideas for organizing such an event in the future

- cool bonding experience with my wonderful classmates

- I brushed up my digging in the soil skills

- I truly connected with the nature, which was amazing

- once again I realized that volunteering is a big thing in the USA

Ideas for Improvement

So as a participant of the event, I have a couple of ideas for improvement:

- Registration: put up signs so that it's easier to find the registration tables; make sure the registration tables are not that far from the parking lot

- At the site: a bigger variety of tasks and a more reasonable task/volunteer ration, so that volunteers don't have to dig in the soil on top of each other

- Engaging a wider community (maybe, radio announcements, newspaper ads, facebook invite, etc) to make sure more people come to the event

On Social Collaboration and Communit Involvement

Howard Adelman, Linda Taylor. Fostering School, Family, and Community Involvement. The Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence & Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2007. 

The article is about enhancing home, community, and school collaboration as part of comprehensive safe school and school improvement planning. Schools are more effective when they are an integral part of the community. This contributes to a better academic performance, fewer discipline problems, higher staff morale, and improved use of resources. For communities, collaboration with schools can strengthen students, their families, their schools, and the community in which they live.

What Is Collaboration?

In other words, if we want a school to be a good and safe place, we must enhance family and community involvement with it. A key strategy in all this is collaboration.  Collaboration, which is defined in the article as “formal working partnerships between schools, families, and various local organizations and community representatives”, is becoming more and more popular in communities across the country.

A good approach involves bringing together resources of at least one school with local family and community resources. It is done to sustain connections over time. The range of entities involved in such collaboration is not limited to agencies and organizations; it also includes individuals, businesses, community-based organizations, postsecondary institutions, religious and civic groups, programs at parks and libraries, and any other facilities that can be used for recreation, learning, enrichment, and support.

Why Is Collaboration Needed

Successful collaboration is a way to overcome barriers to learning, enhance healthy development, and strengthen families and neighborhoods. Building such collaboration requires stakeholder readiness, an enlightened vision, creative leadership, and new and multifaceted roles for professionals who work in schools and communities, as well as for family and other community members who are willing to take on leadership.

Interest in connecting families, schools, and communities is growing fast. For schools, such links are seen as a way to provide more support for schools, students, and families. For organizations, connection with schools is a way to provide better access to families and youth, creating an opportunity to reach and have an impact on hard-to-reach clients. The interest in collaboration is now even bigger because of the concern about widespread fragmentation of school and community communication. The hope is that integrated resources will have a greater impact on “at risk” factors and on promoting healthy development.

Get Good Grades and Get Your Act Straight!

The topic of our next presentation at Dobie was sports, the importance of going in for sports, and being fit.  A lot of research has shown that joining a sports team at an early age can save kids from getting into trouble during the afterschool hours, it also has a lot of health and social benefits (see previous blog entry). 

And since none of us – Stephanie, Anna, and me – are really active in sports, we decided to have a guest speaker, a student from UT. It would be another opportunity for the kids to interact with a college student, to learn more about college life, and, of course, his/her experience with sports. This could also show the kids that going to college for them could be a reality – o a sports scholarship.  We knew that for many of those middleschoolers, college is not something widely discussed in their families, and most of their parents or other relatives do not have college education at all. So having a UT student talk to the class could become another good seed planted in the kids’ minds.

Our fellow LBJer Phillip Nevels and his friend Marlon, also UT student, agreed to be the guest speakers and talk to the kids.  The guys were a perfect fit. Phillip Nevels earned an football scholarship to attend the University of Louisiana Lafayette where he was the Team Captain and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Biological Anthropology. There he graduated Magna Cum Laude, was honored as the University most Outstanding Graduate in the College of Liberal Arts, and was President of multiple organizations.  Marlon Bright played basketball at Florida International University where he was recently named Team MVP and awarded the Sporting Behavior Award which is based on outstanding leadership, achievement in the classroom, and commitment to the community. He served as both a member of the Executive Board and then as President of the FIU Chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Under his leadership the chapter worked with other service organizations and local community groups to clean rehabilitate local landscapes, support basic operations at the Ronald McDonald House, and fundraise on behalf of the American Cancer Society.  With such a background in sports, strong educational performance, and outstanding leadership experience, Phillip and Marlon could become great role models for the Dobie kids.

The presentation went really well. We had a better turnout than usual – 6 kids showed up this time, and we thought it was a good start. What started out as a presentation, gradually turned into a discussion and a Q&A session. Phillip and Marlon told the kids about themselves, their sports achievements, experience as college students, and, more importantly, about the goals they want to accomplish and principles they follow in life. They talked a lot about the importance of doing good at school – starting right now, in the 6-7^th grade, about making the right decisions, pursuing higher education in a university, and eventually getting a great job. It was amazing, and it seemed that the guys were talking right to the kids’ hearts. They were speaking in a simple language, sharing a lot of examples from their own lives – and that’s what grabbed the kids’ attention instantly. The middleschoolers were sitting quietly, listening attentively to every single word that Phillip and Marlon were saying, and it was obvious that they would remember this day and what the guys talked to them about for a long-long time.

After the presentation, we went outside to play ball. It was a lot of fun to interact with kids in the non-academic atmosphere, listen to their fun stories from their lives, and just enjoy the warm sun.

More on Sports…. And Some Interesting Statistics

Kevin M. Thompson. Activity Participation and Delinquency and Substance Use: Another Look. The North Dakota Journal of Human Services, 1999.

People believe or would like to believe that the boys and girls who participate in sports learn certain positive character traits. There is evidence to suggest that as a result of participation, they have:

- better attendance in school

- better grades in school

- better behavior in school

- less trouble and fewer discipline problems in school

- better citizenship in school and community

- an upward mobility orientation (e.g., go to college)

Sports, Girls, and Some Statistics

To further expand on these positive aspects of sport, the following information about girls and sport was presented in a recent news release. It was reported that:

- Girls who participate in sports get better grades and are more likely to

graduate.

- Girls who play sports are less likely to get pregnant at an early age.

- Girls who participate in sports are less likely to use drugs or to stay in

an abusive relationship.

- Girls who participate in sports experience greater self-esteem, increased self-confidence and a more positive body image.

- If a girl does not participate in sports by the time she is 10 years old,

there is only a 10 percent chance she will be participating later in life.

- Women who participate in sports four or more times per week, decrease their chance of breast cancer by 60 percent.

- 80 percent of female Fortune 500 company executives participated in sports.

Four Main Reasons for Sports

There are at least four reasons why sport can influence behavior in a positive direction.

First, sport occupies the time that youngsters might use for other activities. As a rule, sport leaders then to be positive influences on the kids, but that is not always the case.

Second, sport is used as a positive lever by coaches and parents. That is, the players must conform to certain rules in school and at home to maintain their school eligibility or parental permission. This tends to keep them on track.

Third, school players may have greater opportunities to seek tutoring that may not be of much immediate value to other students. Players may also have other support groups in place to keep them headed in the right direction.

Finally, coaches and parents generally are interested in encouraging and otherwise pushing players to strive for the next higher level of play. In the highly visible sport market, that usually means do well in school and then go on to college. In this regard, players can become the focal point of attention based totally on their sports ability.

Sports and the Youth: Why So Important?

Harrison, P., Naraya, G. Differences in behavior, psychological factors, and environmental factors associated with participation in school sports and other activities in adolescence. Journal of School Health, 2003. 


Sports provide children and youth with many opportunities to grow physically and socially, as well as emotionally. Moreover, physical activities with other children allow them to build social skills through peer interaction. Many parents are concerned about whether or not to allow their children to participate in team sports and, if so, at what age.


At What Age Should Children Start Team Sports?

Child development experts say that children develop interested in team sports around ages 5-6. Some educators feel that learning to cooperate with peers at a young age is very important for children because this way they will be more socially ready for kindergarten and grade school. However, adults must emphasize cooperation over competition in team sports, especially with young children. They also should not show favoritism to young children based on their demonstrated skills in sports. Children's (especially boys') motivation to participate in team sports moves from a focus on competition in early childhood to one on cooperation and friendship by the late elementary school years. Thus it's important to help young children advance developmentally to appreciate the cooperativeness of team sports.

Competition

Team sports are useful for teaching youth many important skills. The first of these skills is competition. In today's world, we are surrounded by competition. Adults face competition when they are applying for and keeping jobs, whereas children face competition in academics and sports. Participating in competitive team sports at an early age gives children an opportunity to understand the healthy aspects of competition in a friendly environment. 

Physical Benefits

Team sports also help a child's physical well-being. Children who are actively involved in a sport are more likely to describe themselves as being in good physical health than students who do not participate in sports.

Social Behavior

A child's feeling of self-worth and learning of social behaviors can be helped greatly through extracurricular sports. Meeting new friends, working together as a team and developing a healthy competitiveness are important strides in social and emotional growth that all children experience. 

Emotional Benefits

Emotional growth is also important for youth. Sometimes, the emotional development of youth is hindered because of the physical and/or emotional absence of parents. Sports provide youth with opportunities to interact with a caring and supportive adult. Adult support outside the family is a major protective factor for high-risk youth. The interaction a child has with his or her coach helps to improve self-esteem as well as lower the chance of depression.

Conclusion

Sports provide numerous opportunities for children and teenagers to grow socially, emotionally, and physically. Furthermore, they also allow youth to learn and practice in a competitive environment. 

As for the reference to Keepin It Real program, sports sounded like a great topic for an in-class presentation made by a guest speaker. This could serve at least 3 purposes: 

1. Tell the middle schoolers about the importance of going in for sports, being fit, and leading a healthy life style. 

2. Show the middle schoolers that going to college is a reality. One of the ways to get higher education without having to pay high tuition fees is a sports scholarship. For that, we decided to invite a UT student, an athlete, to be a guest speaker in class and to serve as a role model for the kids. 

3. Get the kids more excited about Explore UT Day.

With all this in mind, we started planning.... TO BE CONTINUED

International Day at Dobie

Last week to had an International Day at Dobie. We thought it would be nice to talk to kids aged 11-13 about differences and similarities among cultures. Most Dobie students come from different ethnic backgrounds, so being able to overcome their differences, to cooperate and work with each other despite differences in ethnicities is crucial for them. We also wanted to talk about stereotypes. The hypothesis is that if kids are able to recognize cultural stereotypes, they might also realize that their perception of a group (class, for example) or each other might not be always accurate. So consequently, they should be more tolerant of each other. These are the main ideas Stephanie, Anna, and I had in mind when putting the International Day program. We also wanted to tell the kids about our cultural backgrounds, which could help us bond with hem. Besides, I remember when I was in middle school, it was always interesting for me to learn about other countries, since back then I did not have a chance to travel.

We started our International day with a brief exercise on who has traveled the farthest. Most of the kids have been out of state, and some of them as far as north of the country, and the state of Washington.  We talked for a bit about differences they noticed while traveling, and most of the kids said food and clothing.

When talking with kids about stereotypes, I realized they don’t really know what stereotypes are. We had the kids work I pairs to draw a typical Polish, a Russian, and an Italian person, as they saw them. I wasn’t really surprised that the kids have very little idea about Poland and the Polish, but little knowledge about Russia was rather shocking. All of them came up with funny drawings, and we discussed what they drew and why. A typical Russian person, of course, works for KGB, likes to ski, wears a fur coat, and is a part-time specnaz employee (I was rather astonished that a 11-year old Ricky knew that word; specnaz’ means special purpose troops). An Italian, of course, likes pizza, spaghetti, and is in mafia. And the drawing of a Polish was based on the only piece of knowledge the kids had – that Poland once was invaded, so they built it upon that (they added apartment buildings, and tanks). 

Then Anna and I talked about our countries (Poland and Russia). I showed pictures of some of the most famous places of interest (czar cannon, czar bell, largest jet, etc), and the kids seemed to be very impressed.  Then we gave the students handouts “How to say hello in different languages”. You should have seen how excited the kids were! They started practicing saying hello to each other, and trying to remember some of the words they know in different languages. It was a lot of fun!

At the end of class, we had a fun quiz on different countries. It was a group exercise, so the kids took turns reading questions and discussing answers. “In which country there are 10 sheep per person?” “Where do the tallest people live?” “Which country has the biggest airport?” – It turned out that our middle schoolers know answers to many of these questions!

As a small reward for their efforts, kids got Russian candy. While they were eating the candy, we talked about what we have learnt today. Some of the responses were:

“People are different”

“Stereotypes are not always true”

“We should be aware of stereotypes”

And, my favorite – “I want to go to Russia” (Ricky)

In my opinion, the day was a great success.

What the kids learnt:

• What stereotypes are and why it is important to recognize them
• Countries can be much different from what they know about them
• Stereotypes are not always true

Skills we practiced:

• Work in pairs, learning to work together and agree on things;
• Work in a big group: learning to listen to each other ad to agree on things
• Drawing: developing imagination