A project of the Afterschool Alliance.

Oakland School-Based After School Programs Evaluation: 2014-15 Findings Report

Year Published: 2015

An evaluation of 82 afterschool programs funded by the Oakland School-Based After School Partnership, a collaboration between Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY) and the Oakland Unified School District’s After School Programs Office (ASPO), that served 16,505 students during the 2014-2015 school year. Site visits and student surveys were used to evaluate the quality of the program and student’s perceptions of the program’s impacts on their academic performance, behavior, health, and readiness for the future. The evaluation found that Oakland afterschool programs are positively impacting their students’ academics, behavior, self-confidence, health and wellness, and readiness for the future.

Program Name: Oakland School-Based After School Partnership

Program Description: The Oakland School-Based After School Partnership is a collaboration between the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY) and the Oakland Unified School District’s After School Programs Office (ASPO). During the 2014-2015 school year, it funded 82 afterschool programs serving more than 16,000 Oakland students.

Scope of the Evaluation: Local

Program Type: Afterschool

Location: Oakland, CA

Community Type: Urban

Grade level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School

Program Demographics: More than 80 percent of youth (82 percent) at the afterschool host schools were eligible for free or reduced priced lunches. Roughly half of participants were girls, almost all participants were students of color (45 percent Hispanic, 36 percent African-American, 12 percent Asian/Pacific Islander), and 28 percent of participants were English language learners.

Evaluator: Public Profit

Evaluation Methods: Site visits provided data on components of program quality. The School-Age Program Quality Assessment (SAPQA) was used for evaluations of elementary school programs, and the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) was used for middle and high school evaluations. Each program received one site visit from the evaluation team during the 2014-2015 school year. A total of 5,814 youth surveys were collected to evaluate youth perceptions of the quality of the program and the impacts of the program on their academic performance, behavior, health, and readiness for the future.

Evaluation Type: Non-experimental

Summary of Outcomes: The evaluation found that afterschool program participation had a positive impact on students’ academics, self-confidence, social and emotional skills, and healthy behaviors.

Students participating in the program reported that they improved in their academic behaviors, goal-setting, study skills, and homework completion. Students reported that the afterschool program was also helping them feel prepared for school, with 77 percent of elementary school students reporting that their afterschool program helps them to feel more prepared for middle school, 72 percent of middle schoolers reporting feeling more ready for high school, and 89 percent of high schoolers feeling more confident about finishing school. Eighty-nine percent of high schoolers also reported feeling more confident about going to college.

Students participating in the afterschool programs are developing their confidence with an overwhelming majority reporting that they feel more confident about what they can do and are more likely to view themselves as leaders.

Additionally, student surveys indicated the afterschool programs helped students build their social and emotional skills, improved their relationships with their peers, learned healthy eating habits and exercised more, and increased their connection with their school.

The report also included gender-specific findings. Girls participating in the afterschool programs were less likely than boys to say that programming helped them exercise more (62 percent verse 78 percent), helped them learn how to be healthy (59 percent verse 71 percent), and that the program helped them feel more confident about going to college (65 percent verse 76 percent).