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. 

Date Title

Page 9 of 20

Afterschool: Key to Health and Wellness for Pre-teens and Teens (2010)

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 middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief addresses the innumerable health issues facing middle school students, and shows how afterschool programs can provide a place for youth to be physically active and teach them to make healthy choices.

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2008 Election Eve/ Election Day Poll on Voters' Attitudes on Afterschool (2008)

Afterschool Alliance poll finds three in four voters want federal, state and local lawmakers to increase funding for afterschool programs.

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New England After 3 PM (2006)

New England After 3 PM is a series of reports, supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and focused on the state of afterschool across the New England region. Collectively, the New England After 3PM reports present a picture of how youth in New England currently spend their time afterschool, how stakeholders throughout the region view afterschool, whats currently happening to help advance afterschool and what next steps remain to be taken to make afterschool for all a reality in New England. Released in May 2006, the first installment, New England After 3 PM, examined afterschool across the region with a special focus on Massachusetts.

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Afterschool: Supporting Career and College Pathways for Middle School-Age Youth (2011)

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 middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief focuses on the importance of high school and postsecondary school completion for career readiness, and highlights the opportunities afterschool programs can provide to expose students to higher education options and career paths.

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Afterschool Innovations in Brief: Focusing on Older Youth (2009)

With support from MetLife Foundation, the Afterschool Alliance is proud to present this compendium of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing older youth, and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. The four briefs address: opening doors to work and careers; the challenge of recruiting and retaining older youth; high school dropout prevention; and a place for older youth to mentor and be mentored.

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Roadmap to Afterschool for All (2009)

With the Harvard School of Public Health and through support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Afterschool Alliance initiated the Roadmap to Afterschool for All, a scientific study assessing current investment in afterschool programs from the public sector, parents, foundations and businesses. The study also estimated the additional investment required to provide quality afterschool programs for all children. This study shows that funding of all types is insufficient, and the cost burden is falling heavily on parents, even among programs serving high-poverty children.

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America After 3PM

The first-ever national household survey on how kids spend the after school hours finds that 15 million children are unsupervised afterschool. America After 3PM was commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance and sponsored by the JCPenney Afterschool Fund and was released in October of 2009.

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Evaluations Backgrounder: A Summary of Formal Evaluations of Afterschool Programs' Impact on Academics, Behavior, Safety and Family Life (2011)

The most recent evaluations available today continue to support the important role afterschool plays in student development and success. This updated evaluations backgrounder includes new research, from the local to national scale, demonstrating the impact of afterschool programs on participants’ academic achievement, behavior, safety, and wellness, as well as the support they provide working families.

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Quality Afterschool: Helping Programs Achieve It and Policies Support It (2011)

For years, policy makers, program directors and parents have attested to the widespread benefits of afterschool, backing their claims with extensive research. Promoting quality in afterschool is one way to ensure researchers continue to find positive outcomes that encourage increased investments in programming. This brief highlights the positive impacts of high-quality afterschool programs and shares program characteristics, available tools, current support systems, and federal policies that can better boost quality in afterschool programs.

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Afterschool Innovations in Brief: Engaging Middle School Youth (2011)

With support from MetLife Foundation, the Afterschool Alliance is proud to present this compendium of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth, schools and communities, and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. The four briefs address: the multiple benefits of afterschool for middle school youth; Science, Technology, Math and Engineering (STEM); health and wellness for pre-teens and teens; and pathways to higher education and careers.

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