Successful after-school program - Essay Example

Considerable attention and resources have been directed to after-school programs, particularly those that serve urban students and even more specifically those that serve at-risk students in urban schools. However, little is known about the origin, mission, or goals of after-school programs (Halpern, 2002), and even less is known about the impact on academics of the students who participate in these programs. More attention is being presently focused on these programs because there is a growing awareness that all students, including those who differ in some way from the “average” student, must be provided with an equitable, non-stigmatizing education (Montgomery and Rossi, 1994).

Academic-based after-school programs may be one way that professionals can supplement the traditionally under-achieving at-risk students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities and help them reach and remain at-grade-level performance.Neither student diversity nor after-school programs are new to America’s school system. One account suggests that these programs emerged at the start of the 20th century as a result of an economic and ideological shift in the United States from using children as laborers to placing children in classrooms (Halpern, 2000).

Children are no longer working with their parents in a factory or in the fields. As the century progressed, other trends, such as women working outside the home (and the subsequent “latch-key kid”), emerged (Lopoo, 2005).5 Summary 6 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 6 Introduction 6 History of After-school Programs 7 No Child Left Behind 9 Federal Role of Out-of-School Learning 12 At-Risk Students 13 Computer Usage in After-school Programs 14 Attendance and Academic Success 16 Benefits of Math After-School Programs 17 Summary 17 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 18 Introduction 18 Research Questions and Hypotheses 19 Research Questions 19 Hypotheses 19 Background and Purpose 19 Methodological Design 20 Participants 22 Data Collection and Analysis 23 Consent and Confidentiality 24 Assumptions and Limitations 25 Summary 25 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS 27 Introduction 27 Description of Participants (Demographics) 27 Students’ Academic Performance 28 Analysis of responses to questionnaire 1: Student participation 31 Detailed analysis of each part 31 Further analysis through categorization of the responses 37 Identification of strengths and weaknesses of the program 39 Analysis of responses to the second questionnaire: Open-ended questions 40 2-1 Where the students went after school before the program 40 2-2 How often the students were alone before the program 42 2-3 Improvement in schoolwork after attending the program 43 2-4 Classes that would help to get a job in future 43 2-5 Usefulness of the computer lab at the program 45 2-6 Usefulness of the program in scoring better on the report card 45 2-7 Main language spoken at home 45 2-8 Affect of program on liking to attend school 45 2-9 Willingness to attend another program 47 2-10 Future goals since attending the program 47 2-11 How participation in the program could help to achieve future goals 50 2-12 Whether the program would be recommended to friends 52 Analysis of results from the parental evaluation 53 Detailed analysis of each response 53 Summary