Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Education Research Report: Model that Effectively Engages Middle-Grade Youth in Quality After-School Programs

Education Research Report: Model that Effectively Engages Middle-Grade Youth in Quality After-School Programs

Model that Effectively Engages Middle-Grade Youth in Quality After-School Programs

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An innovative model in Providence, Rhode Island to coordinate after-school programs to attract middle-school youth through neighborhood hubs has succeeded in enrolling over 40 percent of the student population in the seven participating middle schools.

That is a key finding of a new evaluation, "AfterZones: Creating a Citywide System to Support and Sustain High-Quality After-School Programs," undertaken by Public/Private Ventures and commissioned by The Wallace Foundation.

The new report is the first in a series of two evaluations of the AfterZone model, which is operated by the Providence Afterschool Alliance (PASA).

"In the five years since its inception, PASA has built an accessible citywide system of after-school programs and installed a number of mechanisms to coordinate, manage and support this system," the report finds. "The