Keeping Kids in School: An LAs BEST Example

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Keeping Kids in School An LAs BEST Example
Denise Huang
American Educational Research AssociationAnnual
Meeting San Francisco, CA - April 7-11, 2006
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The Purposes of After School Program

• In the 80s, after school programs were available
  to students at a much smaller scale
• The purpose is mainly to provide safety
• The opportunities for students to engage in
  enrichment activities
• Develop healthy habits and citizenship

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No Child Left Behind Act (2002)

• An emphasis is placed on schools to improve
  academic achievement, particularly for students
  at risk
• Schools that are not performing well can use
  after school programs as supplemental services to
  improve student performance
• More funding becomes available, both from the
  government and private sector
• For the last 3 years, the 21st Community Learning
  Center is working with a budget of 1 billion

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LAs BEST Better Educated students for Tomorrow

• Serving 23,000 students over 147 school sites
• Focus on developing the whole child
• Education, enrichment, recreation
• Community resources
• Research-based curricula

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Summary of Findings Academic Performance

• Overall LAs BEST students either maintained or
  improved their SAT-9 /CAT-6 or CST performances
• Pre-post analyses indicates that students
  improved their school attendance after
  participating in LAs BEST

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Summary of Findings Social Development

• concerns about safety
• conflict resolution
• academic self-efficacy
• study habits
• family involvement
• future aspirations

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Who Benefited Most

• LEP students
• Female students
• Students who attended more regularly
• Students who scored low initially on attitudinal
  surveys (self-efficacy, work habits, conflict
  resolution skills)
• Students with low performance in test scores

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Purpose of this Study

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• Does participation in the LAs BEST program have
  an impact on former participants long-term
  educational behaviors, such as staying in school?
• What is the minimum number of years of
  participation in LAs BEST needed to see an
  effect on dropout rates?
• Does participation in the LAs BEST program have
  a varying effect on dropout rates for different
  gender, language, income level, and ethnic groups?

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Significance of the Study

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• 745,000 students enrolled in LAUSD, a third would
  not graduate
• In 2003-2004 academic year only 66.4 LAUSD
  students graduated vs. 79.3 of LA county rate
  and 85.3 of CBEDS
• Provide concrete evidences for the public/private
  investment in ASP
• Filled a gap in the current literature
• Spark the interest for future long-term effect
  studies to follow

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Data Source

• LAUSD longitudinal database
• LAs BEST attendance record
• Four cohorts of LAs BEST participants (6th
  through 9th grade in 1998-1999)
• Three levels of participation examined 1 year, 2
  years, and 3 years

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Sample

• All LAs BEST students were included
• A stratified random sample of non-participants
  matched on grade level, gender, ethnicity, and
  standardized test scores
• Approximately 6000 participants and 6000
  non-participants

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Statistical Approach

• Descriptive statistics to provide demographic
  profiles
• Chi-square analysis
• Cox survival analysis to examine the effects of
  participation, gender, ethnicity, low income
  status, and LEP status

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Demographics
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Results

• Chi square analysis indicate no difference for 1
  year of participation
• Statistical difference was found with 2 years of
  participation with the 9th grade cohort in 1998
• Difference was strongest for the 3 years
  participants.

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Comparison of dropout rates for LAs BEST vs
LAUSD non participants (3 years)

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Results of Cox Analysis

• Male students, Hispanic students, and LEP
  students were more likely to drop out
• Participation in LAs BEST can significantly
  reduce LAUSD students drop out rate
• This effect is compounded with intensity of
  participation
• This effect is also significant with low-income
  students

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Conclusion

• It appears that LAs BEST has provided a
  supportive structure for the kids to stay in
  school
• After school programs that focused on fostering
  meaningful and substantive activities could lead
  to positive social and academic development,
  thereby increasing the likelihood of finishing
  high school and future success.

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Next Steps

• Develop strategies to increase high participation
  and attendance of afterschool programs
• Develop strategies to recruit the kids most in
  need e.g. male, LEP students, low income students
• DOJ study to share more precise findings