Supporting Student Success in Middle Schools: Examining the Relationship Between Elementary Afterschool Program Participation and Subsequent Middle School Attainments

• In Event: Utilizing Out-of-School-Time Program Strategies to Reduce Risk and Promote Positive Social, Emotional, and Academic Outcomes

Abstract

Young children come to school with a desire to learn. However, by the time they reach middle school, students often take only the minimum science and mathematics courses required of them (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2007). Schools cannot control all the factors that influence student's learning, especially in disadvantaged, low-income neighborhoods where students attend low-performing schools. Recently, studies have shown that participation in high-quality afterschool programs can reduce these disadvantages increasing students’ day school attendance (Schinke, Cole, & Poulin, 2000) and academic and social development (Durlak & Weissberg, 2007; Lauer et al., 2006). This study extends these findings and examines whether participation in afterschool programs during students’ elementary years affects their day school attendance, course-taking patterns, and academic performances in middle school years. The study follows Los Angeles’ Better Educated Students for Tomorrow (LA’s BEST), the largest afterschool program in California within the nation’s second largest school district (Los Angeles Unified School District), as an example. Accordingly, the main research questions are:
1. Does participation in the LA’s BEST have an effect on students’ academic outcomes during their middle school years?
2. What are the relationships among afterschool participation, subsequent middle school attendance, middle school course grades, and end of middle school CST performances?

Data Sources
The sample included roughly 20,000 students from LAUSD schools that offered the LA’s BEST program. The database includes a longitudinal dataset of student demographics, school and LA’s BEST attendance information, and academic records such as CST achievement scores since 1992. The dataset was combined with middle school data obtained from LAUSD for the 2007-08 through 2009-10 school years.

Methodology
Since random assignment was not possible, propensity-based weighting method was used. Multiple treatment groups with different intensity of participation in LA’s BEST were compared to non-participants, thus, multiple binomial logistic regression models were employed to create a propensity score for each comparison. To address the first research question, HLM models were used to produce value added estimates. Path analyses examined the second research question.
Findings
Participation in LA’s BEST helped to improve students’ math performance both at the GPA and the CST levels during the participants’ middle school years. The benefit level also increases as the students’ intensity of afterschool participation increased. Additionally, higher intensity of participation also leads to higher GPAs in science and history in eighth grade. As for middle school course taking patterns, the LA’s BEST participants of a minimum of 140 days has a significant positive value added estimate in their taking algebra in eighth grade; which indicates these students were 1.26 times more likely to take algebra classes as compared to the non-participants.
The findings from the structural models revealed that participation in LA’s BEST is associated with a long-term positive effect on these participants’ 6th grade school attendance. Through this association, the participants are experiencing a better academic experience in their middle school years, such as getting better grades in math and English, which eventually leads to higher performance in their 8th grade CST math and English scores.

Author

• Denise Huang, University of California - Los Angeles