How Are After-School Programs Working at High Schools?

• In Event: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Innovative Programs for Secondary and Postsecondary Students

Abstract

The current study looks at the effects of after school program participation on high school students’ academic performance, using California’s statewide data. Comparing the high school students who are after school participants to a matched sample of students, using propensity score matching, results suggested that after school participants generally performed better on all student outcome measures than they would have if they had not participated in the after school programs. Overall, the after school program effects were slightly larger for students who frequently attended an after school program, rather than just attending at some time during the year. The after school participation seemed to make the most difference in student performance in California High School Exit Exam.

Authors

• Jia Wang, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jordan Rickles, University of California - Los Angeles