Assessing After School Programs as Contexts for Youth Development

• NCJ Number: 188878
• Journal: Youth and Society Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 421-446
• Author(s): Joseph Kahne; Jenny Nagaoka; Andrea Brown; James O'Brien; Therese Quinn; Keith Thiede
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Educators, policymakers, and funders increasingly argue that structured after-school activities can provide youth with valuable supports for development; the current study presents a method for evaluating varied youth programs in accordance with a youth development agenda.

Abstract

Although large-scale empirical studies show the value of many extracurricular activities, they leave many important questions regarding policy and practice unanswered. Specifically, they do not provide much guidance for policymakers who must evaluate particular programs or policies, and they do not help those working in youth organizations identify programmatic strengths, weaknesses, and strategies for improvement. By comparing the supports for youth development offered during the school day with those offered after school, the current approach provides a means for assessing the ways particular contexts and curricula do and do not provide the supports and opportunities associated with a youth development model. The youth observed attended one of two elementary schools or the high school in a Chicago neighborhood of approximately 50,000 residents, with 96 percent being African-American and 48 percent living below the poverty line. The data focused on a sample of 6th- through 10th-grade African-American students (n=125), as well as samples of students who participated in three other after-school programs. The analysis of survey data shows that only some after-school programs provide more opportunities and supports for youth development than students received during the school day, but that almost all provide significantly more attractive affective contexts than students experience during the school day. This difference is particularly great for African-American male youth. The study also compared community-based and school-based after-school programs and identified possible directions for future research. 6 tables, 8 notes, and 51 references