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The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Program Description
Overview | The LA’s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) Program is an afterschool program that serves elementary-school-aged youth in Los Angeles, California. The program provides youth with a safe environment, enhanced opportunities through integrated educational supports, educational enrichment activities to supplement and deepen the regular program, recreational activities, and interpersonal skills and self-esteem development. |
Start Date | 1988 |
Scope | local |
Type | afterschool |
Location | urban |
Setting | public schools |
Participants | elementary school students |
Number of Sites/Grantees | 186 elementary schools |
Number Served | 28,000 per year |
Components | The program is available from the end of the school day until 6 pm, Monday through Friday, at no cost to parents. In addition, numerous citywide events and field trips are scheduled on weekends. To attend, youth must enroll in the program and are expected to participate on a regular basis. |
Funding Level | $36 million (2009–2010) |
Funding Sources | City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District, private sector, private foundations, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program, California Department of Education, other federal grants, and private individuals |
Evaluation
Overview | Beginning in the 1989–90 school year, a series of evaluation studies has been conducted that examine the program’s implementation and impact. |
Evaluator(s) | Center for the Study of Evaluation, University of California, Los Angeles |
Evaluations Profiled | Evaluation Report, March 1, 1990 Evaluation Report, July 31, 1991 Final Evaluation Report, December 17, 1993 Final Evaluation Report: Longitudinal Study, 1992–94 The impact of the LA’s BEST after school enrichment initiative on subsequent student achievement and performance Examining the Relationship between Afterschool Staff-Based Social Capital and Student Engagement in LA’s BEST Exploring the Relationships between LA’s BEST Program Attendance and Cognitive Gains of LA’s BEST Students Exploring the Effect of Afterschool Participation on Students’ Collaboration Skills, Oral Communication Skills, and Self-Efficacy |
Evaluations Planned | The Center for the Study of Evaluation team continues to evaluate the role of LA’s BEST in supporting youth’s academic and social development. The Center is currently conducting an exploratory study on the first year of LA’s BEST summer schools’ impact on language development—due June 30, 2012. |
Report Availability |
Brooks, P. E., Valdes, R. M., Herman, J. L., & Baker, E. L. (1990). Evaluation report, March 1, 1990: LA’s BEST after school education and enrichment program. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, University of California–Los Angeles. Huang, D., Coordt, A., La Torre, D., Leon, S., Miyoshi, J., Pérez, P., & Peterson, C. (2007). The afterschool hours: Examining the relationship between afterschool staff-based social capital and student engagement in LA’s BEST (CSE Technical Report 712). Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), University of California–Los Angeles. Available at: www.cse.ucla.edu/products/reports/R712.pdf Huang, D., Leon, S., Hodson, C., La Torre, D., Obregon, N., & Rivera, G. (2010). Preparing students for the 21st Century: Exploring the effect of afterschool participation on students’ collaboration skills, oral communication skills, and self-efficacy. Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), University of California–Los Angeles. Available at: www.cse.ucla.edu/products/reports/R777.pdf |
Contacts
Evaluation |
Regino Chávez |
Denise Huang, Ph.D. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation 301 GSE & IS Bldg Los Angeles, CA 90095 Tel: 310-206-9642 Email: dhuang@cse.ucla.edu |
Program | Carla Sanger President and CEO LA’s BEST Office of the Mayor 200 N. Main Street, Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Tel: 213-847-3681 Fax: 485-6606 Email: csanger@mayor.lacity.org |
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Profile Updated | April 4, 2012 |
Evaluation 2: Evaluation Report, July 31, 1991
Evaluation Description
Evaluation Purpose | To describe selected characteristics, services, operations, and perceived effects of the LA’s BEST program; to explore selected issues raised in earlier evaluation studies; to provide a range of data for program enhancement and improvement; and to generate recommendations for improving program quality. |
Evaluation Design | Non-Experimental: School principal, site coordinator, and on-site surveys were collected at the 19 LA’s BEST sites in operation during the 1990–91 school year. Eight of these sites were randomly selected for intensive data collection, which included structured interviews with youth participants and parents; informal interviews with community representatives, program coordinators, and project directors; school performance data; police information; and surveys of LA’s BEST staff. |
Data Collection Methods |
Interviews/Focus Groups: Program participant interviews gathered information about the afterschool activities in which youth would have engaged had the program not been available, and perceptions of the program, including its activities, safety, and staff. Parent interviews gathered information about afterschool care activities and costs prior to the program, perceptions about LA’s BEST staff and programming, parent involvement in the program, effects of the program on their children, and demographics. Secondary Source/Data Review: Data related to school performance included grades, absences, tardiness, and English as a Second Language status. Police information included statistics on arrests and criminal activities in neighborhoods surrounding the eight intensive study sites. Surveys/Questionnaires: Principal surveys gathered information about satisfaction with afterschool staff, effectiveness of the program, program accomplishments, others’ reactions to the program, and the usefulness of other types of programming. Site coordinator surveys gathered information about satisfaction with staff, hiring problems, program components and effectiveness, participants’ responses to the program, level of support from others, and recommendations for youth who should be in the program but were not. Staff surveys gathered information about program effectiveness, participants’ responses to the program, quality of work environment, training, and recommendations for youth who should be in the program but were not. The on-site survey gathered information about program attendance, release procedures, staffing, staff training, and implementation. |
Data Collection Timeframe | Data were collected between September 1990 and July 1991. |
Findings:
Formative/Process Findings
Activity Implementation | According to parents, youth, school-day teachers, principals, and program staff, LA’s BEST was successful in creating environments in which inner city children experienced the larger world. |
Program Context/ Infrastructure | Over the year, LA’s BEST successfully added four new sites. Proportionally, more sites offered more major program components, more sites offered a broader array of activities within each of the major program components, and there were fewer “weaker” sites in the program and more solidly operating, strong programs. |