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.
Page 7 of 21
|
Afterschool Rising to Challenges Brought by the Pandemic - Waves 1-6 (February 2022) Beginning in late spring 2020 and through late 2021, the six waves of Afterschool Alliance’s Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 online survey, conducted by Edge Research, documents afterschool and summer programs’ operating status, services, and challenges throughout COVID-19. The series demonstrates that through the ups and downs of the pandemic, what has remained constant is the ability of the afterschool field to rise to moment and meet the needs of the children and families in their communities. Surveys COVID-19 |
Read Resource |
|
Afterschool STEM: Re-engaging students in an equitable recovery The hands-on learning approach of quality afterschool STEM programs offers a natural platform for reengaging students as they return to classrooms. Hands-on, project-based STEM learning in afterschool supports students in connecting what they learn in the classroom to future careers while developing a new generation of problem solvers in STEM fields. STEM |
|
|
Afterschool Supporting Students with Disabilities and Other Special Needs (February 2014) The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the second of four issue briefs in our sixth series examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief addresses the importance of a high school diploma for students with disabilities and other special needs, and how afterschool programs can provide an inclusive learning environment that supports students of all abilities. |
|
|
Afterschool Supports Children’s Well-Being and Healthy Development (May 2023) Recent studies describe the rise in young people across the country experiencing anxiety, depression, loneliness, stress, and aggression. At the same time, research has found that this time period during adolescence is “the second most critical period of development” in a person’s life and is shaped by the environments that they move through. This fact sheet highlights the essential role that afterschool and summer programs play to support the healthy development of young people, serving as a safe space that fosters belonging, develops supportive relationships with peers and adult mentors, encourages healthy behaviors, and helps young people build and cultivate the skills necessary to navigate through the struggles and challenges they may come up against in life. Health and Wellness |
Download |
|
Afterschool Supports Service Opportunities from Youth to Young Adulthood (April 2019) All individuals, regardless of age, can benefit from service opportunities. For youth, service-learning projects promote strong community ties and positive development outcomes, while experiential service programs promote similar personal and professional gains for young adults. This issue brief details the way in which afterschool and summer learning programs are expanding access and availability of service opportunities for youth and young adults alike. Accompanying this brief are six in-depth afterschool program profiles that highlight the different roles programs play in the healthy development of both the next generation and our democracy:
Issue Briefs Service Vista Youth Development |
|
|
Afterschool Supports Students' Success (May 2016) Afterschool programs across the county are inspiring learning, providing safe and supportive environments, and giving students the essential supports they need to succeed in school and beyond. This fact sheet and accompanying appendix highlights research that shows that afterschool programs are helping support students’ success. |
|
|
Afterschool, Community Service and Volunteerism (2004) Parents and teens show overwhelming support for participation in community service, and they would like to see their afterschool programs offer volunteering opportunities. This issue brief explores how afterschool programs can give youth the opportunity to volunteer and discusses the benefits of volunteering, including learning applicable life skills, forming bonds with community organizations, and discovering the value of community service. |
|
|
Afterschool: A Bipartisan Solution to Help Young People Thrive (October 2022) At a time of deep partisan divides, Afterschool Alliance surveys of parents of school-age children before and during the pandemic have found an area of consensus around support for afterschool and summer learning programs. Across the political spectrum, parents identifying as Democratic, Independent, and Republican strongly agree that afterschool and summer learning programs are keeping kids safe, inspiring learning, and providing peace of mind to working parents, with overwhelming majorities in favor of public funding for such programs. Parents and Families Surveys COVID-19 |
Download |
|
Afterschool: A High School Dropout Prevention Tool (2009) The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the third of four issue briefs in this series examining critical issues facing older youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief discusses the current dropout problem, the broader impacts of high school dropout rates, and how afterschool programs are proven to support graduation by addressing the issues and risk factors that lead to dropout. |
|
|
Afterschool: A Key to Successful Parent Engagement (2012) The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the third of four issue briefs in our fifth series examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief demonstrates the ties between parent engagement and student success, why afterschool programs are an ideal partner to help schools break down the barriers often present between parents and schools, and how they create unique opportunities that also encourage parent engagement. |
1101 14th St NW Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20005
(866) KIDS-TODAY | Email us
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
