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JANUARY 2005

Christine DeVita, President of the Wallace Foundaton

Wallace Foundation Funds New Report onAfter-School Programs

By Sarah Ann Mockbee

After-school programs have long been a staple in our communities and experts agree that children who are engaged in meaningful activities outside of school will benefit more than those students who do not. But until recently, only the experts were weighing in on just what is best for a child’s out-of-school time, while the voices of students and parents were
not properly considered. However, a new study has been released by the Wallace Foundation, which revealed some surprising findings about those directly affected by the quality and availability of these programs.

Stephanie Palmer, New York Mission Society

The Wallace Foundation, an independent foundation whose mission is to enable institutions to expand learning and enrichment opportunities for all people, commissioned Public Agenda—a nonprofit opinion research organization—to survey students and parents on what matters most to them when it comes to how out-of-school time is spent. Christine DeVita, president of The Wallace Foundation, emphasized the importance of a survey that focuses on what children want from out-of-school time, especially when “kids can—and do—vote with their feet.”

Ruth Wooden, President of Public Agenda, calls the study groundbreaking, and one major finding of the study shows that most parents do not look to after school programs to improve their child’s academic performance. In fact, only fifteen percent of parents cited academic achievement as the best reason to involve youngsters in after-school programs. Rather, most parents wanted activities that engaged their child’s curiosities and social development. Moreover, out of over 600 students surveyed only 28 percent said they wanted a program that focuses mainly on academics. This is a crucial revelation considering that many policy makers cite the lack of academic improvement as reason not to fund after-school programs. If that is not a main priority for parents or children, perhaps these same policy makers should reconsider their position.

Ruth Wooden, President of Public Agenda

According to the survey, children do find after-school programs particularly important, with 85 percent affirming that students who participate in extracurricular activities are “better off” than those students who do not. Moreover, 77 percent believed that when their peers are bored or not engaged in organized activities, they are more likely to get in trouble. Perhaps the most revealing statistic produced by the student participants is that 89 percent of them stated that a parental push is sometimes necessary to motivate them to actually get involved in out-of-school activities.

An equally important finding suggests that there is a major gap between what majority and higher-income parents want for their children’s after-school experience and what minority and low-income parents want. Unlike their counterparts, minority and low-income parents tend to choose academically centered programs. Stephanie Palmer, executive director of the New York City Mission Society, noted that at the same time these parents have more difficulty finding high-quality, affordable and trustworthy programs available to their children. In fact, only 37 percent of minority and low-income parents say they feel they have their children’s after-school activities under control, compared with 60 percent of higher-income parents. These findings not only suggest drastic inequalities between the two groups but also a stark difference of opinion on just what the focus of after-school programs should be. 

DeVita summed up the report with an astute observation: “If there’s a single most important finding in this valuable report, it’s that we need to listen more closely to these different voices as we continue to debate the future of after-school programs and where and how to invest scarce public and private resources.”#

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