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A 2025 evaluation of the Summer Boost program during summer 2024 found positive, statistically significant academic gains for participating students, particularly in math and English Language Arts (ELA). Compared to non-participating peers, participating students received about five additional weeks of math learning and two additional weeks of ELA learning. Students who attended Summer Boost for two consecutive summers showed about two additional weeks of math learning compared with one-year participants, although this finding was directional and not statistically significant. The evaluation also found promising “sticky” math effects from one year of program participation. High rates of program attendance and smaller class sizes were associated with positive impacts on academic outcomes for participating students.
A 2024 evaluation of Vetri Cooking Lab (VCL), an afterschool nutrition program that promotes healthy eating habits among children in the Greater Philadelphia area, found that programs integrating hands-on nutrition education can improve youth confidence and knowledge about healthy food choices and drive overall improvements in youth eating habits. Students who participated in VCL retained significantly more improvements in their cooking confidence and knowledge post program, with nearly half reporting at least some changes in individual consumption behaviors (49.7%). Greater gains in cooking confidence were associated with higher odds of positive consumption changes.
The study found that students who participated in the Higher Achievement afterschool and summer program over the course of two years had statistically significantly higher grades in math, English, and science, as well as higher overall GPAs, compared to a matched control group. The program appeared to be most effective for students who joined the program on grade level. The subgroup analysis also found that male students in the program also saw greater gains in math compared to girls in year one and two of the program.
This 2020 evaluation of Techbridge Girls during the 2019-2020 school year summarizes the organization's success in increasing STEM identity and awareness, STEM self-efficacy, and socio-emotional skills for girls from historically marginalized groups, particularly through the Inspire program–an afterschool program focused on getting 4th and 5th grade girls from low-income communities excited about STEM.
A total of 1,599 students participating in afterschool programs with a STEM focus in grades 4-12 from 11 states completed retrospective self-report surveys measuring STEM-related attitudes and 21st century skills. Facilitators completed a survey about their experiences leading afterschool STEM, and the programs’ STEM activities were observed and evaluated to establish levels of quality. The evaluation found that students that participated in STEM-focused afterschool programs led to positive changes in students’ attitudes toward science, STEM interest, STEM identity, STEM career interest, career knowledge, 21st century skills, and critical thinking. Larger effects were seen in students who participated in programs for a minimum of four weeks. Higher quality STEM programs reported more positive gains than lower quality programs.
A randomized controlled study following 5,000 low-income, predominantly African-American and Hispanic students from third to seventh grade in five urban school districts located in Boston, MA; Dallas, TX; Duval County, FL; Pittsburgh, PA and Rochester, NY, assessing the impacts of no-cost, voluntary summer learning programs on academic performance and social and emotional skills. Students who had high attendance in the summer programming saw significant near term benefits (gains in the fall after the summer program) and long-term benefits (gains seen through the following spring after the summer program) in math after summer programming in 2013 and 2014, near and long-term benefits in language arts after summer 2014, and positive benefits to their social and emotional skills after summer 2014.
Frontiers in Urban Science Exploration (FUSE) is a strategy to institutionalize engaging, inquiry-based, informal STEM education nationally. In this selection of evaluation data from the 2012-2013 school year, participants demonstrated gains along three major categories of youth outcomes—interest in STEM, capacity to engage in STEM, and finding value in STEM.
Science Minors Clubs is an outreach initiative of the Museum of Science and Industry aimed at increasing interest in science in underserved neighborhoods by engaging students in places where they already spend their time after school, such as community-based organizations and schools. In this selection of evaluation data from the 2013-2014 school year, participants demonstrated gains along three major categories of youth outcomes—interest in STEM, capacity to engage in STEM, and finding value in STEM.
Academic results from year two of a five-year randomized controlled study that follows 5,000 low-income, predominantly African-American and Hispanic students from third to fifth grade in five urban school districts located in Boston, MA; Dallas, TX; Duval County, FL; Pittsburgh, PA, and Rochester, NY. Evaluators compared student success on math tests in the fall following their summer learning programs with the success of students who did not participate in summer programming. Key findings indicate that students who participated in summer programming performed significantly better on their math tests in the fall following the programs.
This Public/Private Ventures evaluation studied the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) project, an eight-year, $58 million afterschool initiative in cities across California designed by the James Irvine Foundation aimed at providing academic enrichment and support to primarily elementary school students in the lowest performing schools, who are often living in low-income families. The evaluation found that students participating in the CORAL program, a majority of whom were English language learners and reading below grade level, saw literacy-related gains. CORAL participants who were English language learners and those who were furthest behind in reading experienced greater gains in their reading performance while in the program compared to their peers who entered the program reading at grade level or who were English proficient. Children who began the CORAL program two or more grade levels behind in reading, based on the individualized reading assessments, gained just as much as their higher-achieving counterparts over the same period of time. The study also found that CORAL students reported having a positive experience in the program. Close to 90 percent of CORAL students reported that they felt safe in the program, and 71 percent agreed that they felt that they belonged in the program. Parents of students in the program also reported a positive experience for their children, with more than 90 percent of parents reporting that the program helped their child to do better in school.
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The Afterschool Impacts Database is a project of the Afterschool Alliance.
The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality afterschool programs.
Afterschool Impacts Database