When the eight-year old Kevin McCallister was mistakenly left home in the 1990 movie, Home Alone, he wreaked havoc on the home as well as a pair of burglars. In the real word, some 15 million children are left home alone without adult supervision. Considering this fact, the critical questions to be asked are: Is it time for more funding towards afterschool programs? What are the outcomes associated with participation in afterschool programs? What are some promising practices of afterschool programs?

To address these questions, we looked at a 2014 report by the Afterschool Alliance titled, “Taking a deeper dive into afterschool: positive outcomes and promising practices.” While funding is scare, this report cites that 8.4 million students are participating in afterschool programs and 18 million students would enroll in them if appropriations were available.  This report serves as a vehicle to business and community constituents, policymakers, afterschool programs and afterschool program advocates in their fields to increase appropriations for quality afterschool programs and help ensure that they are accessible to all children.

With a plethora of research confirming the value of quality afterschool programs that help students to become more engaged in school, improve their behavior and raise their academic performance, this report provides the outcomes associated with participation in a number of afterschool programs. One example includes the findings from the After School Matters (ASM) program in Chicago, Illinois regarding student engagement in school. A second example includes the findings from the National 4-H longitudinal study regarding student behavior in school. The final example includes the findings from the AfterZone (AZ) program in Providence, Rhode Island regarding student academic performance.

For example, the report notes that students participating in ASM had a more positive outlook towards school, were more likely to see the value of school and had fewer school day absences compared to students not participating in the afterschool program. Students participating in the National 4-H longitudinal study were more likely to make positive life choices, 3.4 times more likely to postpone having sex and less likely to use alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes compared to their peers not participating in the afterschool program. Students participating in AZ program for two years reported higher academic scores and received higher English-language Arts and science GPAs than students not participating in the afterschool program.

Additionally, the report highlights some of the key promising practices of quality afterschool programs. They include (1) intentional programming/strong program design; (2) staff quality; (3) effective partnerships and (4) program evaluation improvement. Under the program evaluation improvement, for example, the report notes that this practice is designed to  “help hold programs accountable to high quality standards; allows programs to reflect, reassess, recalibrate and further develop and improve upon their program content and service delivery and contributes to the knowledge base of the afterschool field as a whole.”

While the school system and community are constantly looking for programs to meet the needs of children, the findings of this report are supported by a plethora of research on quality afterschool programs. For additional information about this report, please click on the following link: Afterschool Alliance. It provides a strong case to increase appropriations for quality afterschool programs.

 Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of five books, “Education Questions to be Answered,”  “Current Issues and Answers in Education,”  “How to Eradicate Hazing,” “Professional Career Paths” and “Your Answers to Education Questions.” He is publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator and district superintendent. He can be reached at [email protected]