Why Afterschool Matters

Children and youth in DC spend only a fifth of their waking hours in school. Yet they learn all the time. What children do when they aren’t in school matters. Good after-school programs provide safe, nurturing environments. They offer tutoring, sports, arts, and life skills. They improve school attendance and attitudes toward learning. They reduce risky behaviors. They help kids succeed in life.

After-school programs are particularly important for middle-school children. As early as sixth grade, educators can identify those children with only a 10 percent chance of graduating on time. Research shows that children with one or more of the following problems are likely not to graduate on time: failing English, failing math, truancy, and behavioral problems. By giving middle-school children better social and academic supports, after-school programs can help them move to high school and finish school.

Good after-school programs complement the school day, rather than extend it. They offer broadening experiences that build enthusiasm for life-long learning:

• Success for All Learners: Some children shine in class; others, after school. A visual child may discover a talent for documentary video. A child who learns through movement may excel with an elaborate science project. A child who learns through relationships with others may find untapped skill directing a play.
• Hooked on Learning: After-school programs allow youth to choose topics for exploration. When youth choose what they are studying, such as the science behind the latest cool technology, their excitement about learning grows.
• Practical Skills: Children become more committed students when they realize that sports involves statistics, that design depends on geometry or that music requires measurement, literacy and economics.
• Tangible Rewards: Afterschool offers tangible results: models built, poetry published, family history mapped, performances recorded, murals mounted, gardens grown. All build confidence and desire to do more.
• Broader Horizons: DC has museums, embassies, monuments, cultural festivals, and artifacts from around the world. Field trips and guest speakers are a frequent part of many after-school programs. Youth see a larger world and a larger vision of themselves.

• Studies show that after-school programs improve academic achievement, keep kids safe and help working parents.
• National studies show that high-quality out-of-school-time programs can improve school attendance, graduation rates, test scores in reading, math, and English, as well as cultivate positive attitudes toward school.
• Research also shows that such programs reduce risky behaviors.
• Such programs also increase business productivity because they help working parents.