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Program Description

Overview Sacramento START (Students Today Achieving Results for Tomorrow) is an after school program that provides children from low-income neighborhoods in Sacramento, California, with homework assistance and enrichment activities. The program is a partnership between the city of Sacramento, the county of Sacramento, and six local school districts. START is built around the idea that high quality after school programs promote youth development and build on student assets by helping children form new friendships, develop new interests, and build their self-esteem. This positive youth development, in turn, promotes social and emotional growth and greater attachment to school. START aims to be particularly beneficial to students who are struggling academically.
Start Date 1995
Scope local
Type after school
Location urban
Setting public schools
Participants kindergarten and elementary school students (K–6)
Number of Sites/Grantees 18 elementary schools in 1995–1996; 29 elementary schools in 1998–1999; 40 elementary schools in 1999–2000; 32 elementary schools in 2000–2001; and 37 elementary schools in 2001–2002, and 2002–2003. START involves six school districts in the Sacramento region.
Number Served 4,209 in 1999–2000; 3,820 in 2000–2001; 5,136 in 2001–2002; and 6,939 in 2002–2003
Components Each START program includes three components: homework and tutoring assistance, literacy, and enrichment. The following activities are incorporated in all START programs at least twice a week: (1) reading—group and individual reading opportunities that emphasize accuracy and fluency; (2) literacy and math—activities presented at each grade level to support and reinforce the chosen curriculum at the school site; and (3) enrichment—activities such as art, cooking, crafts, science, health and physical education, cooperative games, sports, drama and dance, music and movement, cultural and holiday-themed activities, field trips, nutrition, gardening, and environmental education.

Each START site is also provided with an array of educational resources, such as games, language review resources, literacy center resources, and activity resources.

Program Leaders serve classes of approximately 20 students. Site Directors supervise Program Leaders and manage programs. Regional Directors supervise five to twelve Site Directors and coordinate activities with school districts and citywide functions (e.g., training, special events, and enrichment activities). A classroom teacher at each school serves as an Academic Alignment Coach to link the START program with the school curriculum and school staff. The Academic Alignment Coach is paid an annual stipend. Recreation Managers and Program Managers supervise the program for the city of Sacramento.
Funding Level $4.8 million (2001–2002)
Funding Sources the city of Sacramento, six local school districts, and numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals
Other The city of Sacramento Department of Neighborhood Services serves as the fiscal agent for the program, employs and trains staff, and prepares reports for funders. START also requires five core training classes for all program staff offering direct services, which cover an array of topics related to providing after school services.


Evaluation

Overview START is evaluated annually to look at program implementation and its impacts on participating youth.
Evaluator Minicucci Associates
Evaluations Profiled Achieving Results: Evaluation Report 1999/2000

Supporting Student Achievement: Evaluation Report 2000/2001

Evaluation Report 2001/2002
Evaluations Planned The 2002–2003 evaluation is in process. Annual evaluations are required by the California Department of Education, which provides major funding for the program.
Report Availability Lamare, J. (1998). Sacramento START: An evaluation report, September 1996 – May 1997. Sacramento, CA: Sacramento Neighborhood Planning and Development Services Department. Summary available at www.aypf.org/rmaa/pdfs/sacSTART.pdf (Acrobat file).

Minicucci Associates. (2001). Achieving results: Evaluation report 1999/2000. Sacramento, CA: Author. Available at www.sacstart.org/pdf/1999-2000_eval.pdf (Acrobat file).

Minicucci Associates. (2001). Supporting student achievement: Evaluation report 2000/2001. Sacramento, CA: Author. Available at www.sacstart.org/pdf/2000-2001_eval.pdf (Acrobat file).

Minicucci Associates. (2002). Evaluation report 2001/2002. Sacramento, CA: Author. Available at www.sacstart.org/pdf/2001-2002_eval.pdf (Acrobat file).


Contacts

Evaluation Cathy Adams Minicucci
Minicucci Associates
1540 River Park Dr., Ste. 212
Sacramento, CA 95815
Tel: 916-920-7800 x224
Fax: 916-649-3161
Email: minicucci@pacbell.net
Program Sacramento START
8795 Folsom Boulevard, Suite 101
Sacramento, CA 95826
Tel: 916-808-6089
Fax: 916-808-1214
Profile Updated May 11, 2004

Evaluation 1: Achieving Results: Evaluation Report 1999/2000


Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose To examine START participants' outcomes in the areas of academic achievement and school attendance.
Evaluation Design Quasi-Experimental: Outcome data were collected on START participants in grades three through six in four school districts for the current program year (1999–2000) and the previous year (1998–1999), although the evaluators were unable to determine whether or how many 1999–2000 START participants were also participating in START during 1998–1999. Evaluators attempted to identify 50 students at each grade level who attended START at least 30 days in February and March of 2000 at each school. The rationale for this selection criteria was that standardized testing usually occurs in April or May, so for START to have helped raise test results, the children would have to have been present in the program a sufficient number of days leading up to the SAT-9 testing dates.

Because START participation was not high enough to obtain 50 students per grade per school, the study team identified as many students as possible that met the criteria for each grade level. In addition, some students lacked a complete two years' worth of data due to not having been enrolled in the school for both years, having been absent during test times, or having been exempted from testing as an English Language Learner (ELL). No more than 40 students met the criteria at any grade level. In total 1,369 students were identified for inclusion in the evaluation, with complete two-year data available for 871 of these. This sample was more female (58%) than male (42%), and was racially and ethnically diverse (31% African American, 27% Asian, 23% Hispanic, 18% white, and 2% other). Approximately half spoke English as their primary language, while 22% spoke Hmong, 16% spoke Spanish, 5% spoke Cantonese, 2% spoke Mien, and 4% spoke some other language.
Data Collection Methods Secondary Source/Data Review: Program participants' school attendance data were obtained from school district databases. START registration information was gathered to examine students' date of birth, bilingual language information, and gender.

Test/Assessments: Participants' SAT-9 reading and math test scores were obtained from school districts. SAT-9 data were reported in percentile rank format.
Data Collection Timeframe Data were collected during the 1999–2000 school year, including academic data for the current and previous school year.


Findings:
Summative/Outcome Findings

Academic From 1998–1999 to 1999–2000, SAT-9 achievement scores showed overall growth in percentile rank scores for fifth and sixth graders in reading, with a decline for third graders and virtually no change for fourth graders (an average of one-percentile rank point decline across grades).

From 1998–1999 to 1999–2000, SAT-9 achievement scores showed overall growth in percentile rank scores for all grade levels in math (an average of seven percentile rank points growth across grades).

From 1998–1999 to 1999–2000, the proportion of students scoring below the twenty-fifth percentile dropped from 45% to 44% in reading and from 43% to 33% in math. Of students scoring below the twenty-fifth percentile in reading in 1998–1999, 23% scored above the twenty-fifth percentile in 1999–2000. The corresponding figure for math was 36%.

Low-performing ELL students showed more improvement in reading than English-speaking low performers (28% and 20% of low performers moving above the twenty-fifth percentile, respectively). This was also true for math scores (40% vs. 31%, respectively).

Among START students with complete school attendance data across both school years, the average number of days absent dropped from eight days in 1998–1999 to five days in 1999–2000.

For START students with school attendance problems (missing 10 or more days in 1998–1999), the average number of days absent dropped from 17.6 days in 1998–1999 to 8.9 days in 1999–2000.

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