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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.

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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 2: Supporting Student Achievement: Evaluation Report for 2000/2001


Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose To examine (1) outcomes for START students in academic achievement and school attendance and (2) program implementation strengths, challenges, and emerging solutions.
Evaluation Design Quasi-Experimental and Non-Experimental: Outcome data were collected for the 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 school years on START participants. A total of 1,200 students from six districts were selected from grades three through six who participated in START for at least 30 days in February and March of 2001. Of these, 748 had complete standardized testing information for both years, while 705 students had complete attendance information for both years. A subsample of 227 START students in the 2000–2001 evaluation sample, who had also been included in the previous year's evaluation, allowed for a separate longitudinal analysis of students participating in START for two consecutive years.

The evaluation group sample was slightly more female than male (54% vs. 44%, 2% unknown). Thirty percent were third graders, 33% were in fourth grade, 24% were in fifth grade, and 13% were in sixth grade. The sample was ethnically and racially diverse, with 29% Hispanic students, 27% African-American students, 23% Asian students, 15% white students, and 1% other. Approximately one-third of the sample were English Language Learners (ELL). ELL students' languages included Spanish (45%), Hmong (31%), Hindi (7%), Mien (5%), and Chinese (5%).
Data Collection Methods Interviews/Focus Groups: End-of-the-year focus groups were held with 25 Site Directors and five Regional Directors in May 2001. Focus groups concentrated on perceptions of the benefits of START, perceptions of START students' needs, and START's milestones in the 2000–2001 school year.

Secondary Source/Data Review: School attendance data were obtained from school district databases. Program registration information was also gathered, including participants' date of birth, bilingual language information, and gender.

Surveys/Questionnaires: Pretest and posttest questionnaires were collected from 76 START students (about 10% of the achievement test sample for 2000–2001) that asked questions about how often in the past 30 days the students wanted to go to school, studied for a test, felt unsafe at school, and talked with a parent/guardian about school or homework. Pretest/posttest data were gathered for as many START students as possible.

Tests/Assessments: SAT-9 reading and math test scores were obtained from participating school districts. SAT-9 data were reported in Normal Curve Equivalent scores (NCE).
Data Collection Timeframe Data were collected during the 2000–2001 school year, with data collected from the current and previous school year. For the whole sample, academic data were available in school years 1999–2000 and 2000–2001. For the subsample who had participated in START for two years, academic data were also available for school year 1998–1999.


Findings:
Formative/Process Findings

Activity Implementation Staff reported a number of milestones during the 2000–2001 year, including involvement of high school students as tutors and mentors in a science program, participation in 4-H Cooperative Extension enrichment activities, a University of California-Davis Steps to College program at eight START sites, an art and garden project at four START schools, and a special nutrition program at 11 START sites.

Site Directors reported that students often come into the program tired and in need of some fun, a snack, and a break, which made it difficult to launch immediately into academic program content.
Program Context/Infrastructure A number of Site Directors reported that many START children come into the program needing various support services, such as basic needs (e.g., food and clothing), social services, or health services.
Program-School Linkages Program staff expressed frustration with the pressure they felt to stress reading and math with students who wanted more music and art, which was often lacking in the regular school day.
Staffing/Training Many Site Directors and Regional Directors noted that turnover in Program Leaders was one of Start's largest challenges, and could be time consuming in terms of needing to continually train new staff.

According to Site Directors and staff, successful strategies for training staff included shadowing experienced START staff, observing skilled classroom teachers during the school day, and having classroom teachers observe new hires and offer suggestions.

Site Directors felt that lower staff/child ratios and higher hourly pay would help to retain quality staff.


Summative/Outcome Findings

Academic Overall, SAT-9 scores showed a 1 NCE point decline in reading and a 3 NCE point gain in math between 1999–2000 and 2000–2001. Both changes were statistically significant (p < .05).

ELL students remained steady in reading from the first year to the second year, while English speakers lost 1 NCE point. In math, ELL students gained 4 NCE points, as opposed to 2 NCE points for English speakers.

In reading, 20% of students in the bottom quartile in 1999–2000 moved out of this quartile in 2000–2001. The corresponding figure for math scores was 42%.

Overall, there were 2% more students in the bottom quartile in reading in spring 2001 than in spring 2000. In math there was a seven-percentage point drop in the percentage of students in the bottom quartile (31% in spring of 2000 vs. 24% in spring of 2001).

ELL students showed a 1% drop in the proportion scoring in the lowest quartile in reading and a 10% drop in the lowest quartile in math. The corresponding drops for English speakers were 3% and 6%, respectively.

For the subsample with data for three consecutive years (two years in START), results showed a decline of 2 NCE points in reading and an increase of 4 NCE points in math between spring 1999 and spring 2001. For the lowest quartile scorers in this subsample, 22% moved out of this quartile in reading and 45% moved out of this quartile in math.

START students showed very little overall change in school attendance between 1999–2000 and 2000–2001, missing 5.5 days and 5.4 days, respectively. Among problem attenders (those missing 10 or more days in 1999–2000), the number of days absent dropped from 14.8 in 1999–2000 to 10.1 in 2000–2001, a reduction of 4.7 days absent.

Among the subsample with data for three consecutive years (two years in START), students missed an average 7.3 days in 1998–1999, 5 days in 1999–2000, and 5.1 days in 2000–2001, for a two-year drop of 2.2 days absent. For problem attenders in this group, the corresponding figures were 15.9 days absent in 1998–1999, 9.8 days absent in 1999–2000, and 9.7 days absent in 2000–2001, for a two-year drop of 6.2 days absent.

Questionnaire data revealed a drop from pretest to posttest in the percentage of students reporting that they liked going to school and studied hard for a test in the past 30 days.
Family A higher proportion of questionnaire respondents from pretest to posttest reported speaking daily with a parent or guardian about school in the past 30 days.

Staff focus groups revealed that many staff felt that their provision of reliable after school care enabled parents to work, particularly for families coming off of welfare.
Youth Development There were no changes from pretest to posttest questionnaire in the percentage of respondents reporting always feeling safe at school.

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Published by Harvard Family Research Project