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Program Description

Overview The Urban School Initiative School Age Child Care (Urban School Initiative SACC) Project provides resources to develop and implement school-age care programs in Ohio urban school districts.
Start Date February 1998
Scope state
Type after school, before school, summer
Location urban
Setting public school, community-based organization, private facility, recreation center
Participants kindergarten through 8th-grade students
Number of Sites/Grantees 125 centers in 17 Ohio urban school districts
Number Served 2,500 per year
Components Innovative educational activities supporting/expanding on the school day curriculum, daily time for/support of homework and tutoring, special emphasis on academic enrichment in reading, mathematics, computer use, and other areas. Students have choices of experiences each day and access to many educational/enrichment materials and supplies. A nutritious snack and/or meal is served daily. Each program has some flexibility to meet local needs so all programs do not necessarily have all elements.
Funding Level $10 million over two years plus a local match and resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Funding Sources Ohio Departments of Human Services and Education, local Ohio Urban School Districts, and the Ohio Hunger Task Force. Training and technical assistance are provided by Ohio resource and referral agencies at the same time that programs receive additional support from private foundations and United Way agencies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides the resources for snacks and meals. All programs add local 20% in-kind and 20% cash match contributions. Co-payments are required of parents at all sites.


Evaluation

Overview Evaluation of the Urban School Initiative SACC program's implementation and impact.
Evaluator Evaluation Services Center, University of Cincinnati College of Education
Evaluations Profiled 1998–99 School-Year Program Evaluation Urban School Initiative School Age Child Care Expansion
Evaluations Planned none
Report Availability Evaluation Services Center, College of Education, University of Cincinnati. (1999, August). 1998–99 school-year program evaluation Urban School Initiative School Age Child Care expansion. Cincinnati, OH: Author.


Contacts

Evaluation Lynne M. Smith
College of Education
P.O. Box 210002, Room 432-G
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0002
Tel: 513-556-3328
Program Dianne A. Radigan
Associate Director
Ohio Hunger Task Force
181 East Livingston Ave.
Columbus, OH 43215-5744
Tel: 614-341-7700 x225
Email: radigan@ohtf.org
Profile Updated October 31, 2001

Evaluation: 1998–99 School-Year Program Evaluation Urban School Initiative School Age Child Care Expansion


Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose To examine the difference(s) the Ohio Urban School Initiative School Age Child Care (SACC) projects make in the education of participants and the difference(s) they make for families and communities. Also, the evaluation examined whether indicators of quality are present in SACC programs and what these indicators are.
Evaluation Design Non-Experimental: Data were collected in 10 SACC sites. The sites were chosen to represent diversity in: ages of children served, kinds of school system partners (YMCA, YWCA, private day care programs, Urban League, etc.), program foci, length of time program has been in place, program hours of operation (before school, after school, both before and after school), and geographic location.
Data Collection Methods Document Review: Documents reviewed included notices and newsletters, program attendance records, daily program schedules of activities, menus, and staff bulletins.

Observation: Participant observation was used to collect qualitative data. A series of evaluation forms were used to document: physical space, materials and supplies, attendance, staff interaction with children, tutoring, homework, and enrichment activities. Time sampling was used to describe children's activities over time.

Secondary Source/Data Review: School records were used to collect data on children's school attendance (absences and tardiness), grades, suspensions, promotions, expulsions, and standardized test scores.

Surveys/Questionnaires: Surveys were administered to SACC staff, teachers of the SACC participants, parents of SACC children, and young people participating in the program.

Staff surveys were used to collect information on qualifications and prior experience, responsibilities in the program, communication with parents/guardians, and perceptions of program quality and the program's effects on participants.

Parent surveys were used to collect information on children's activities prior to joining the program, children's activities in the program, communication with program staff, and perceptions of program quality and the program's effects on their children.

Teacher surveys were used to collect additional information about the program.

Young people's surveys were used to collect information on program activities, activities children would have been involved in had they not been in the program, favorite things about the program, and perceptions of program quality and effects.
Data Collection Timeframe Data were collected during site visits conducted during the fall of 1998 and spring of 1999.


Findings:
Formative/Process Findings

Activity Implementation All visited SACC programs included daily time and support for doing homework and, to a lesser extent, tutoring. Some SACC programs placed a special emphasis on academic enrichment in reading, mathematics, computer use, and other areas.

Innovative educational activities were a part of each of the programs, supporting/expanding on the school day curriculum.

All programs provided a meal or snack for the children each day.

A wide range and variety of program activities were present in the SACC programs. In both before school and after school programs, children had choices of activities in which to participate.

Children had a wide variety of educational/enrichment materials and supplies available to them at all the observed program sites.
Recruitment/Participation SACC program attendance was high, most centers exceeded 90% daily attendance throughout the school year.

The race, gender, ethnicity, and income mix of the SACC programs reflected the population of the children's schools.
Staffing/Training The ratio of children to adults during evaluation observations varied from a low of two adults to one child to a high of one adult to 18 children. Adult-child ratios varied because of the time of day and because of particular activities. (Computer use or tutoring had low ratios, whereas soccer games and kickball games had higher ratios.)

Staff members' qualifications were varied, from high school students hired to assist staff to certified teachers providing academic enrichment during before and after school hours. Some staff members had particular kinds of qualifications, such as lifeguard training, first aid training, coaching experience, and computer skills.


Summative/Outcome Findings

Academic Ohio Proficiency Tests scores for both fourth and sixth graders showed that SACC children exceeded the statewide percentages of students meeting proficiency standards. SACC fourth grade students' scores exceeded the statewide percentages of students meeting proficiency standards in every subject area tested: writing, reading, mathematics, citizenship, and science. SACC sixth graders exceeded the statewide percentages of students meeting proficiency standards in four of the five areas: writing, reading, mathematics, and citizenship. Only in science did the SACC sixth graders' scores fall slightly below the statewide percentages of students meeting proficiency standards.

School absence and tardiness were reduced for participating students. First graders who were not in a SACC program during kindergarten reduced the number of school days they missed from an average of eight during their kindergarten year to an average of three days during their 1998–1999 firstgrade year. Eighth graders who were not in a SACC program during 7th grade reduced the average number of school days missed from 18 to 5.

Suspensions and expulsions, when comparing the 1998–1999 school year to the prior school year, were reduced for both elementary school students and middle school students who participated in SACC programs.

Homework completed/turned in and classroom grades were positively impacted, as reported by both teachers and parents.
Community Development School-community agency partnerships were begun or extended.

School buildings housing SACC programs were in use more hours of the day and weeks of the year because of these programs.

The adults in the participating children's families had a greater awareness of community agencies, their facilities, and their services because of the SACC programs.

Adults in the participating children's families reported that their children were able to enjoy community facilities they had not previously known about or had not been able to afford.
Family Parents participating in interviews or completing surveys felt the programs had positive impacts on their families.
Prevention Participating children spent more hours in a safe, supervised environment before and/or after school than they had prior to program involvement.
Workforce Development Adult family members with early morning jobs and second shift jobs appreciated having child care during the hours they really needed it; some reported moving into a school district specifically because of the SACC program.

Adults in the participating children's families reported that they were able to work additional hours or move from part-time to full-time employment due to the availability of child care they could afford (SACC).
Youth Develoment Participating children's television and video viewing decreased because of attendance in this program.

 

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