Introduction: “We (a) describe the current state of after-school programs, including rates of participation across different socioeconomic groups, (b) review evidence on the academic benefits of participating in after-school programs, (c) discuss steps that could be taken to increase access  to  high quality, sustainable after-school programs, (d) attempt  to  quantify the  potential  impact of increasing disadvantaged youths’ rates of after-school participation on achievement gaps, and (e) make recommendations for future research and policy.”

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Academic Benefits of After School Programs:  “The extant literature indicates that participation in after-school programs – in particular, those that    offer both youth development activities and an academic component – may lead to small gains in academic outcomes.  Research also provides tentative evidence that youth who spend more time in after- school programs – particularly during adolescence – may derive greater academic benefits than youth who spend less time. Perhaps most importantly, preliminary evidence shows that academically at- risk youth may benefit more from participation in after-school programs than their higher achieving peers. Our ability to draw causal conclusions about the academic benefits  of  after-school programs is limited by methodological shortcomings in the   extant literature, but, as a  field, it  seems  prudent to  move forward based on our “best guesses”  and take steps to ensure that all youth can access the potentially beneficial activities offered through high quality after-school programs.”

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Potential of After School Programs to Reduce Achievement Gap: “We examined the impact of increasing rates of after-school participation to 100% among youth living below 100-200% of the federal poverty level – youth who are disproportionately black and Hispanic.  We recognize that increasing rates of participation to 100% is not a realistic goal; full participation would entail   extremely large increases in participation. Yet, this approach clearly demonstrates that even a massive expansion in participation in after-school programs would result in small reductions in the achievement gap. We find that an increase in participation of this magnitude would decrease the black-white achievement gap  by only 2-4% in reading and 4-7% in math, and would decrease the   Hispanic-white gap by 2-5% in reading and 5-12% in math. These findings highlight an essential point: After-school programs are best viewed as one part of a much larger, multifaceted approach toward closing the achievement gap.”