Human Services News

Harvard Family Research Project:

Harvard Family Research Project's (HFRP) Issues and Opportunities in Out-of-School Time Evaluation briefs highlight current research and evaluation in the out-of-school time field.

This brief looks at evaluations of 34 academically focused summer programs in order to distill challenges and compile promising strategies for creating quality summer programs.

When many people think of "academics," they conjure a set of standard images: teacher at the front of the room, students at their desks, and teacher-directed instruction in key areas like math or English/language arts.

For example, a small summer program targeting African American students who are all behind in math in a specific underperforming elementary school could serve participants likely to be highly diverse in terms of a host of factors, including how far behind they are academically, their learning styles, and their family situations.

To be successful in working with wide-ranging groups of youth, staff must learn about participants' situations and needs and use this understanding to build positive connections with them.

Many evaluations found that one challenge to developing quality academically focused summer programming was building solid relationships with the schools that educate their participants during the school year.

Inviting parents and families to participate in program events and opportunities can make parents more likely to be engaged and involved.

The All-Around-the-Neigh-borhood program in St. Paul, Minnesota, discovered that by incorporating siblings into the program, it removed the barrier of some youth needing to care for their younger siblings.

We wish to acknowledge Suzanne Bouffard and Priscilla Little from HFRP, and Brenda McLaugh-lin, Deputy Director of the Center for Summer Learning, who offered a number of insightful comments to improve the brief.