Afterschool Programs

BENEFITS

HOW TO

• Positive staff–student relationships: staff who act as mentors and keep the climate respectful are linked to better grades, engagement and social skills. Punitive responses to behavior are linked to poor outcomes.afterschoolalliance

• Small groups and low ratios: smaller programs with chances for one-on-one tutoring do better. Larger groups are linked to more problematic interactions. ojjdp.ojp

• Qualified, well-trained, stable staff: low staff turnover helps, and ongoing professional development matters.

• Clear goals: goals should line up with activities, staffing and mission. In one study, sites where coordinators required staff lesson plans saw bigger math and ELA gains.afterschoolalliance

• Predictable structure and links to the school day: a steady schedule and strong connections to the school-day curriculum both matter. Academic content should align with grade-level standards.

• Strong programs mix academics, hands-on and interest-based learning, physical activity, and social-skills work. Students who found activities challenging and engaging earned higher English and math grades. Inquiry- and project-based instruction is recommended to boost.engagement.

• Attendance and engagement both count: students with at least two years in a program reported more academic confidence and better attitudes toward school.afterschoolalliance

• More time isn’t automatically better: about 48 hours of math instruction gave roughly a month of extra learning, but a second year added nothing. Intensive reading instruction showed no gain after one year and a negative effect after two.ojjdp.ojp

• Removing barriers: free transportation and meals help attendance. Programs should also keep tracking attendance and performance to improve quality.

CHALLENGES

• in a late-2025 survey of 1,005 providers, 88% were concerned about long-term funding, 67% of them extremely or very concerned. That’s the highest level since 2020. 54% worried about closing permanently, and 53% about laying off or furloughing staff. .afterschoolalliance

• 43% of providers said their weekly cost per child rose over the past year. Nearly half of those saw increases of 10% or more. The main causes were staffing (76%), inflation (66%), supplies (59%) and food (50%). Programs serving many low-income students were hit harder by food and transportation costs.

• 77% of providers are still concerned about staffing shortages, and 42% find hiring or keeping staff difficult. Things have improved, though: 14% called it “very difficult” in 2025, down from 47% in 2021.

• Many effective practices depend on stable relationships, so turnover hurts. Trained staff are more likely to stay. Programs that hold staff meetings at least twice a month keep youth longer, but that takes paid planning time many budgets don’t cover.wallacefoundation

• More than 22 million children would join a program but don’t, mostly because of cost and availability.education.virginia

• Barriers for middle-school families: 56% cite cost, 48% lack safe transportation, 47% find locations inconvenient, and 41% say no program exists nearby.

• Participation drops with age: High schoolers have more independence and often don’t want to stay after the bell; Eighth graders want programs that feel “older;” Interests become more specialized. wallacefoundation

WHAT NOT TO DO

• Don’t run “more school.” Turning the program into a poorly run extension of the school day is a common warning. Principals are told the same thing.files.

• Don’t lecture. Lectures may raise knowledge but don’t change behavior, and students already hear plenty of them during the day. Projects, choice and hands-on learning work better. childtrends

• Don’t start without a theory of change. Programs without one end up with goals their activities can’t actually reach. childtrends

• Don’t adopt only part of a proven model. Results depend on implementing it closely as designed.childtrends

• Don’t run unfocused skill-building. Programs that skipped the SAFE practices showed no significant gains in any outcome. expandinglearning

• Don’t expect a fixed curriculum to carry the program. Attendance is often sporadic, and curriculum materials alone rarely produce results.srcd

• Don’t put high-risk youth together. Grouping kids with serious behavior problems can make behavior worse through negative peer influence. Mixed groups do better. Peer “deviancy training” happens most during loosely structured time.

• Don’t use scare tactics. “Scared straight” approaches don’t deter delinquency, and some increased it.childtrends

• Don’t focus only on stopping bad behavior. A problem-only approach hurts recruitment, retention and self-esteem. Positive goals reduce problems more effectively.childtrends

• Don’t ridicule, demean or rely on punishment. Public criticism undermines self-worth and social skills. Punitive responses are linked to low quality and poor outcomes.

• Avoid “100 kids, 1 adult, and a basketball.” Too few adults compromises safety and relationships. Staff miss kids who are depressed or bullied, and burnout drives turnover.childtrends

• Don’t skimp on staff development. Effective programs work continuously on how staff interact with youth.srcd

• Don’t treat intensive academic time as automatically better. In one federal study, two years of intensive reading instruction actually lowered reading scores.ojjdp.ojp