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www.HFRP.org

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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This research was commissioned and funded by The Wallace Foundation as part of its mission to support and share effective ideas and practices.

About the Project
Harvard Family Research Project and Public/Private Ventures partnered on a Wallace Foundation-funded research study of youth participation in out-of-school time. This study investigated innovative efforts to recruit and retain middle and high school youth in after school programs. The research, which took place in six cities that are building after school systems, examined program-level strategies to engage older youth and city-level strategies to support and strengthen this work. Our goal was to identify effective strategies for engagement and the different factors that influence participation. Study sites included Chicago, Cincinnati, New York City, Providence, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

Afterschool and Older Youth
Decades of research confirm that afterschool programs have the potential to keep children and youth safe, support working families, improve academic achievement, and promote the civic and social development of young people. Yet these outcomes are only possible if young people have the opportunity to participate in afterschool programs and engage in them in meaningful ways. Participation in afterschool programs is a challenge for middle and high school youth because of the many competing demands on their time and their changing developmental needs.

In addition to finding innovative strategies to engage them in afterschool programs, this study looked at the ways that participation in afterschool programs changes for older youth. We explored how program features and strategies for older youth differ by developmental stage, activity focus, and expected outcomes.
 
Why Participation Matters
Four factors make participation among older youth a critical topic for out-of-school time research:

  • First, there are real discrepancies in access to and participation in afterschool programs. Significant differences exist in participation for subgroups of youth across a range of nonschool activities, including school-based and community-based afterschool programs, sports, and school clubs. In addition, youth have varying access to programs depending on the supply of high-quality programs in their neighborhoods, whether they can get transportation to programs, and other factors.
  • Second, issues of participation are particularly important for middle and high school youth who must make choices about a variety of productive and nonproductive afterschool options, which go beyond school and structured programs to include employment, responsibilities at home, and hanging out with friends. More so than their younger counterparts, older youth can vote with their feet; they can choose to participate or not based on their interests and on competing activities.
  • Third, it is not participation in just any afterschool program that matters. Programs need to be high-quality and engaging for youth to want to be there and for youth to benefit from participation. Older youth want to be challenged, develop skills, have a voice in the programming, and have activities that are geared toward their age group. These are emerging as critical features of program quality, and programs need help developing them.
  • Finally, we know that, once enrolled, sustained participation is a key factor in getting positive youth outcomes. To really benefit from out-of-school time programs, youth must develop connections to the people and activities in the programs over a period of time. 

To address these issues of access, quality, and engagement for older youth, this study asked two questions:

  1. What are effective program practices and strategies to improve participation in afterschool programs for middle and high school youth?
  2. What are effective citywide strategies for supporting afterschool programs in these efforts and for overcoming systemic barriers to participation?

Methods and Data Sources
This mixed-methods research took place in six cities that are building afterschool systems that have the capacity to collect data on participation and a special focus on middle and/or high school youth in afterschool. Using prior research on participation, as well as other bodies of research, this study first developed a set of considerations for understanding participation and engagement. Then, using this information, we examined each city’s data system and interviewed key informants to identify programs in each city that have high participation rates or are working to achieve higher participation. We surveyed these programs for organizational and programmatic features that might help explain high participation and chose a subset of these programs for further investigation through site visits, which involved interviews with both program staff and system representatives.

A key feature of this study was the creation of a community of practice—an intentional, focused, voluntary group, whose members came together around a common interest or problem to share knowledge, find solutions, improve performance, and discuss innovations. Representatives from each of the six cities, as well as others in the afterschool field, convened over the course of this study both to give feedback on this work and to use the findings from the research and the collaboration with colleagues to benefit their own systems and programs. 

Impact of the Research
This study contributes to city systems and the field on many fronts. The research helps practitioners, system leaders, and policymakers learn about effective strategies for engaging youth in meaningful ways and for increasing participation. The study also offers stakeholders ways to spread innovations and work toward overcoming barriers to participation. Additionally, the study builds the knowledge base about the system- and policy-level factors involved in improving participation and engagement.

Project Team

  • Heather Weiss, Principal Investigator
  • Sarah Deschenes, Senior Researcher and Project Manager, HFRP
  • Priscilla Little, Associate Director, HFRP
  • Diana Lee, Graduate Research Assistant, HFRP
  • Helen Janc Malone, Graduate Research Assistant, HFRP

© 2016 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
Published by Harvard Family Research Project