The study was commissioned by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The primary purpose of the study was to determine if students benefited more from an after-school program that was academically rigorous, compared to a more informal after-school program focused on homework help.

In previous years the 21^st Century Community Centers were designed to improve academic success through after-school programs. The centers were having only limited effects on students’ academic achievements. Evaluators thought that the cause was that the after-school programs were not intense enough.

They posed the question, do enhanced programs that are designed to be academically intense have a greater effect on students? 50 after-school centers were chosen for the study – 25 for mathematics and 25 for reading. 27 after-school centers agreed to participate in the research for the two year program – 15 of the centers had an enhanced after-school math program, and 12 with an enhanced after-school reading program.  This report, The Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs, concerns the results of the after-school centers that participated for both years.

As the report states, the purpose of this research was “… to determine whether providing students with enhanced after-school academic instruction improves their math or reading achievement above and beyond what they would have achieved had they remained in a regular, informal after-school program.”

 There were two main research questions that were examined by this research:

·         What is the impact on student achievement with students who participated in the enhanced after-school program for one year?

·         Is this impact on student achievement different in the second year of implementation than in the first year?

The following question is also addressed in this report:

·         What is the impact of offering students the opportunity to participate in the enhanced after-school programs for two consecutive years?

·         45 minute sessions with certified teachers

·         Teaching models designed for a voluntary after-school setting

·         Research-based instructional materials (Harcourt School Publishers and Success for All)

·         Engaging curriculum material for students of diverse background culturally and economically

Enhanced Math Program - Students in the enhanced program received math instruction that was more structured and intensive than regular after-school program students.

·         One year of enhanced instruction produces positive and statistically significant impacts on student achievement.

·         Two years of the enhanced program produces no additional achievement benefit beyond the one-year impact.

·         There was program fidelity across both years of implementation.

·         No clear lessons emerge for program improvement or targeting the program in particular types of schools.

Enhanced Reading Program - Students in the enhanced program received reading instruction that was more structured and intensive than regular after-school program students.

·         The enhanced program has no impact on total reading test scores after one year of participation.

·         Though the reading program was staffed and supported as planned, implementation issues – especially related to the pacing of lessons – occurred in both years.

·         No systematic relationship exists between center-level impacts and program implementation or the local school context.

“The project found that it is possible to implement structured instruction in math and reading for second- through fifth-graders in an after-school setting.”

“It also proved possible to recruit certified teachers who will commit to participate for the full school year.”

“The enhanced program produced a 26 to 30 percent increase in hours of academic instruction for math and 22 to 23 percent increase for reading, over the school year.”