A project of the Afterschool Alliance.

Statewide Implementation and Outcomes: 21st Century Community Learning Centers Programs Indiana 2013-2014

Year Published: 2014

A statewide evaluation of Indiana’s 21st CCLC programs, looking at 75 programs across 218 sites. Key findings of this comparative analysis indicate that high-participating students (participants who attended the program 60 days or more) had higher math and English language arts standardized test scores, as well as better grades in math and English compared to students with lower levels of program participation (attended less than 60 days of programming).

Program Name: Indiana’s 21st CCLC program

Program Description: Indiana’s 21st Century Community Learning Center program—which has received federal support through the 21st CCLC initiative—serves high-needs communities across the state, providing local afterschool and summer programs to 75 sub-grantees operating 219 centers during the 2013-14 school year. Across all sites, 23,298 students were served.

Scope of the Evaluation: Statewide

Program Type: Afterschool

Location: Indiana

Program Demographics: Among students participating in Indiana’s 21st CCLC program for 30 days or more, 75 percent were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 49 percent of participants were female, and 45 percent of participants were students of color (25 percent were African-American and 16 percent were Hispanic).

Program Website: http://www.doe.in.gov/21stcclc

Evaluator: Center on Education and Lifelong Learning, Indiana University

Evaluation Methods: Grades and test scores for math and English language arts were collected for all student participants. Participants were split into high participation students (those who participated 60 days or more) and low participation students (those who participated less than 60 days) and a comparative analysis was done to test the impact of participation levels on academic performance.

Evaluation Type: Non-experimental

Summary of Outcomes: The evaluation found that students attending Indiana’s 21st CCLC programs for 60 days or more academically outperformed their peers who attended the program for less than 60 days. High participating students were more likely than their lower participating peers to pass the Math Indiana Statewide Testing for Education Progress-Plus (ISTEP+) and the English language arts ISTEP+, as well as more likely to earn a “B” or higher or increase their grade from fall to spring in math and in English language arts. Additionally, high participating students were less likely to see a decrease in their math and English grades from fall to spring than low participating youth. High-participating students had a pass rate of 3.5 percent higher on the math ISTEP+ and 3.8 percent higher on the English ISTEP+ than their low-participating peers.
Among higher participating students whose teachers reported they needed to improve, 74 percent improved their academic performance, 66 percent improved completing homework and 59 percent improved turning in homework on time.