Federal Afterschool Study Compromised by Negative Bias, Methodological Flaws and Small Sample, Afterschool Leader Says

2/5/2003

From: Gretchen Wright or Matt Freeman, 202-371-1999 both of Afterschool Alliance

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 -- Following is a statement of Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Judy Y. Samelson regarding new mathematica study on 21st century community learning centers afterschool programs:

"The study released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. underscores the great promise of afterschool - so it is terribly disappointing that the report highlights only negative findings and that the Bush Administration is using this study to justify a deep, indefensible cut in the federal afterschool program. The Bush plan to slash the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program (21st CCLC) funding from $1 billion to $600 million in Fiscal Year '04 would deny afterschool programs to more than 571,000 children.

"The Mathematica study found that African American and Hispanic students, as well as girls participating in 21st CCLCs afterschool programs, showed significant academic gains. African American students in programs had higher math grades, a reduced incidence of being absent from class, and were judged to have shown increased effort in the classroom. Hispanic students also had higher math grades and reduced absence from class. And girls in afterschool programs were found to have higher math grades and improved class participation. These are extraordinary results.

"Moreover, the study found that student participation in 21st CCLC programs produced greater involvement by parents - long acknowledged as a critical asset in increasing student achievement and a major goal of nearly all educational programs. And, especially good news, the study found that children spent more time under the supervision of a caring adult - often a teacher - rather than in the care of siblings.

"The study reaffirmed something the afterschool field knows well and has been diligently at work on for months: The academic benefits of afterschool programs are most pronounced when children participate regularly and over an extended period of time. Afterschool programs are hard at work identifying new, creative ways to encourage students to attend programs more regularly.

"Despite these very promising results, this study has significant limitations. First, the findings are based on just one year of data, collected very early in the life of the original 21st CCLC initiative. At that time, improving test scores and grades was not an immediate goal of the 21st CCLC legislation and thus not a mandate of the programs studied. The 21st CCLC program has changed dramatically since 2000 and especially since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. Second, this study examined only a very small group of afterschool programs that participate in the federal 21st CCLC program. Of particular concern, the elementary school data are based on just seven participating grantees. As a result, these findings cannot be applied to the universe of 21st CCLC elementary programs. Third, children in the study are not representative of the afterschool population. Sixty-six percent of elementary students in the study were African American, while just 22.8 percent of students in elementary afterschool centers are African American. Less than two percent of elementary students in the study were Hispanic, while 27.6 percent of students in 21st CCLC elementary school centers are Hispanic. Just 28 percent of elementary students in the study were white, while 39.7 percent of elementary students in 21st CCLC programs are white.

"Dozens of other respected, independent studies tell us that afterschool programs keep children safe, improve academic achievement and help working families. Although the Mathematica study challenges the benefits afterschool programs provide in terms of keeping kids safe, two recent evaluations of afterschool show clear evidence of increased safety. Among the findings:

-- "An about-to-be-released multi-year study by Policy Study Associates evaluated a sample of 96 programs run by The After-School Corporation (TASC) in New York City and found that students reported certain risky behaviors, including alcohol use and sexual activity, were less common in their lives than they had been before they began participating in the TASC program. -- "In a recent report to the U.S. Department of Justice, UCLA's independent evaluation of LA's BEST afterschool program found that children reported feeling significantly safer at an LA's BEST program than in their neighborhoods.

"Our nation has no higher priority than to prepare children for the future. A 40 percent cut in federal funding for afterschool programs will leave more than half a million children who need afterschool programs behind."

NOTE: A backgrounder reviewing evaluations of afterschool programs is available at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/backgrounder.doc

The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization supported by a group of public, private, and nonprofit entities dedicated to ensuring that all children and youth have access to afterschool programs by 2010.