Afterschool Alliance Research
Informing providers, advocates, and policymakers for 20 years
Delve into our vast collection of research resources that show afterschool programs are keeping kids safe, inspiring learning, and helping working families across the country.
An integral component of Afterschool Alliance’s mission to ensure that all children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs is research that assesses and examines the ways children spend their time during the afterschool hours, the opportunities afterschool programs provide the children and families in their communities, and the public support for these programs.
This section contains research materials the Afterschool Alliance has produced over the past 15 years. Find the resource that best fits your needs by searching by document type or by issue area. If you are interested in learning more about afterschool programs, explore Afterschool Essentials, or find out how many children are in afterschool programs by visiting the America After 3PM page. You can also search by issue topic and learn more about afterschool programs supporting young people in variety of areas and subjects, ranging from the arts to health and wellness to STEM.
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This is Afterschool: Helping Kids Reach Their Full Potential (June 2019) From birth through young adulthood, our brains are continuously developing: brain pathways grow stronger, information is processed more rapidly, and we build more complex connections that enable more complex thinking. Children and youth need continued support throughout this development. Reaching 10.2 million children and youth, afterschool and summer learning programs are a part of the continuum of supports that promote learning and foster healthy development. |
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Thriving in Afterschool: Promoting Healthy Futures for Young People (June 2021) Afterschool and summer enrichment programs have been a consistent source of support to young people and families who are juggling remote school or work, dealing with the health and economic stressors created by the pandemic, and managing the toll that COVID-19 is taking on their mental health and overall well-being. Throughout 2020 and into 2021, afterschool and summer learning programs have risen to meet the needs of their students and families, finding ways to support them as the nation continues to navigate the short- and long-term effects of the pandemic. Health and Wellness |
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Top 10 States for Afterschool (Oct 2014) This report highlights the top 10 states in afterschool programming and provides data supporting these rankings. Top 10 States for Afterschool is presented as part of third edition of America After 3PM, which spans a decade of household survey data chronicling how children spend the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. |
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Two Decades of 21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing afterschool and summer opportunities to millions of young people and families (February 2021) The 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) initiative supports local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs serving students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools. Since the start of the initiative in 1994, 21st CCLC programs have grown and evolved—funding, demand, and the number of students served has increased, as well as what programs offer. Today, programs support whole-child development by providing a safe and supervised space for youth to take part in various enrichment activities ranging from service learning to physical fitness and health, explore their interests, build key life skills, and connect with positive adult mentors. This issue brief explores the history of the initiative and the program’s evolution over its 25 years, while highlighting the importance of 21st CCLC programs and the breadth of work that they do.
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Uncertain Times 2012: Afterschool Programs Still Struggling in Today's Economy This is the third installment of the Uncertain Times series, which assesses the impacts of economic conditions on afterschool programs. Based on 1,012 survey responses, this report finds that afterschool programs are struggling to meet the needs of children and families in their communities as they face shrinking resources and dismal prospects for new support. Hardest hit are programs serving disadvantaged communities—the very population that has the most to gain from afterschool and summer programs. |
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Voters Agree: Afterschool Programs are a Priority (January 2023) A new poll of voters, conducted November 9-14, 2022, finds united support for afterschool programs. This brief highlights voter trend data regarding attitudes toward afterschool programs and illustrates the strong approval rating afterschool programs have from voters across political affiliations, races, ethnicities, and ages. Surveys |
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What Does the Research Say About 21st Century Community Learning Centers? (Nov 2017) 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) are afterschool and summer learning programs that are locally-designed school and community solutions that help kids learn and grow, keep children and teenagers safe, and support families to balance work with home. This fact sheet provides a small sampling of findings from evaluations of the federally-funded Community Learning Centers programs that demonstrate the positive impact programs across the country are having on students' academics, school-day attendance, engagement in learning, and behavior. |
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What Does the Research Say About Afterschool? (Nov 2017) Afterschool and summer learning programs inspire students to learn, keep children and teenagers safe, and give parents peace of mind. This fact sheet provides a small sampling of findings—from meta-analyses to program-level evaluations—that show that there is demonstrable evidence of the positive impact programs have on students' academics, school-day attendance, engagement in learning, and behavior. |
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What Summer Programming Looks Like for 2021 in the Time of COVID-19 - Wave 5 (Aug 2021) This summer, as most states lift COVID-19 restrictions and families ease back into public life, summer programs also report moving toward a return to normal, with a nearly 70 percent increase in programs opening their doors and serving students in-person in some capacity compared to the summer of 2020 and 8 in 10 providers reporting optimism about the future of their program. However, issues remain, with more than half of providers serving students in-person reporting a waitlist and operating at reduced capacity due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The Wave 5 provider survey of 937 program providers was conducted June 2-28, 2021, and represents more than 6,400 program sites. Surveys COVID-19 |
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Where Did All the Afterschool Staff Go? – Wave 6 (January 2022) Finding staff to hire or staffing shortages, and maintaining staff levels through health concerns and safety protocols are the top two concerns among afterschool providers based on the Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 Wave 6 survey, conducted by Edge Research between Nov. 1 and Dec. 13, 2021. While staffing challenges are not a new issue for the afterschool field, this survey of 1,048 afterschool program providers confirms that now, more than ever, staffing is impacting the ability of providers to meet the needs of the children and families they serve. Issue Briefs Surveys |
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The Afterschool Alliance is working to ensure that all children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs. Afterschool programs are critical to children and families today, yet the need for programs is far from being met. Learn more
