|
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.”#
