This is the fourth report of a process evaluation of Palm Beach County Prime Time, Inc., an intermediary organization dedicated to improving the quality of afterschool programs, by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. It covers the 2007-2008 program year, which was the inaugural year of Prime Time's formal Quality Improvement System (QIS)…

Quality afterschool programs offer participants productive ways to spend the crucial afterschool hours--whether these hours are between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on school days, during weekends, or before school--that otherwise might be spent in unsupervised and potentially harmful activities. Also, afterschool programs help provide additional support to…

This report summarizes findings from the Academy for Educational Development's (AED's) evaluation of After-School Math PLUS (ASM+). This program was designed to help students find the math in everyday experiences and create awareness about the importance of math skills for future career options. The evaluation was conducted by AED's Center for…

In communities all over the country, afterschool programs play an important role in keeping children and youth safe, providing them with important learning opportunities, and helping them become successful adults. Federal, state, local, and private investments in afterschool programs have grown in recent years due both to widespread public support…

This applied dissertation reports on an intervention to develop the social skills of six cognitively gifted fourth and fifth grade students. The twice-weekly, after-school intervention was intended to address the asynchronous development of these children who experienced functional disability in social settings due to social dissonance, a…

Education outside the classroom can be defined, in its broadest sense, as any structured learning experience that takes place beyond the classroom environment during the school day, after school or during the holidays. It can include, among other activities, cultural trips, science and geography fieldwork, environmental and countryside education,…

The Coalition Concerned with Adolescent Pregnancy is sponsoring a project entitled Planning Programs for Young Adolescents which focuses on after-school needs of children between the ages of 10 and 15 in Orange County, California. To determine these needs, needs assessment surveys were completed by 90 seventh grade students and 93 parents. The…

Noting that the need for after-school child care will vary considerably by community, this tool kit has been developed to encourage local collaborations of community members to examine the needs and programs for school-age care, with this term including child care before school and during the summer, in their community. The guide provides a…

With a growing number of families with both parents in the workforce, there is a continuing struggle to find child care for school-age children during the out-of-school hours: before and after school, summers, and holidays. This report provides an overview of the need for school-age care in Arizona and highlights the state's major program…

School-age child care (SACC) programs based on-site in Virginia elementary schools were surveyed to determine the scope of such programs across the commonwealth, and to look more comprehensively at existing programs in terms of operators, activities, affordability, and other issues. In January 1993, the survey was sent to school superintendents in…

This practicum sought to develop a consensus definition of what an after-school enrichment program should be, utilizing the Delphi Research Technique, which is designed to collect and synthesize group opinion in an anonymous, interactive, self-repeating, and self-adjusting manner. Three rounds of questionnaires were sent to 31 teachers, school…

The Department of Defense (DoD) is committed to meeting the need for child care among military families. DoD supports the largest employer-sponsored system of high-quality child care in the country. Through accredited child development centers (CDCs), family child care (FCC) homes, youth centers, and other after-school programs, DoD currently…

Over the past two decades, an increasing number of American children are left in self-care after school each day. Parents of these latchkey children often turn to the library as a safe place for their children to go. The purpose of this study was to determine whether public libraries have responded since 1990 to the call put forward by concerned…

Researchers and policymakers are increasingly interested in the issue of school accountability. Despite this, program standards for afterschool programs are not as fully developed as they are in other fields. This study bridges that gap and presents the results from a study that identifies benchmarks and indicators for high quality afterschool…

This program assessment package is for those providing after-school services for young adolescents. Introductory material discusses why the focus is on 10- to 15-year-olds, the need for program evaluation, and assessment criteria. The package includes the following items: (1) "3:00 to 6:00 P.M.; Programs for Young Adolescents," by Joan…