Project Learn:
Making the After-School Hours Work for Boys & Girls Club Members

Fall 1999, v15-4    

-Carter Savage

Introduction
Over the past decade, non-profit youth development organizations have become acutely aware of the need to develop and implement educational programs that work. For the most part, local organizations have had very little "hard data" to verify that what they were doing during the after-school hours made a significant impact on the academic lives of young people. Thanks largely to the work outlined in Safe and Smart: Making the After Hours Work for Kids, youth development organizations are now able to put together research and program evaluations that articulate the potential of after-school educational programs.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Project Learn is one such program that enhances our understanding of the positive impact non-profit youth development organizations can have on academic outcomes. The evaluation of Project Learn over two and one-half years demonstrated an 11 percent increase in the overall grade point average of its participants. Moreover, Project Learn participants' overall grade point averages were 15 percent higher than non-Boys & Girls Club participants. Most important to this article, Project Learn demonstrated how participants' academic successes increased their individual motivations for program participation and facilitated self-directed learning.

The Need
There should be no doubt that school-age youth are in need of additional academic support. Youth, particularly from low-income and minority communities, are failing to learn basic skills (i.e., reading, writing, and mathematics) during the existing school day. Recent statistics support this statement:

  • School-age children and teens who are unsupervised during the after-school hours are far more likely to use alcohol, drugs, and tobacco; engage in criminal and other high-risk behaviors; earn poor grades; and drop out of school than those who have the opportunity to benefit from constructive activities supervised by responsible adults.
  • A 1994 Harris poll stated that more than half of teachers singled out "children who are left on their own after school" as the primary explanation for students' difficulties in class.
  • Many children, especially low-income children, lose ground in reading if they are not engaged in organized learning over the summer.
  • In 1998, 70 percent of fourth graders read below the proficient level. 67 percent of eighth graders read below the proficient level. 60 percent of twelf graders read below the proficient level.
  • 90 percent of African-American fourth graders, 86 percent of Hispanic fourth graders, and 86 percent of Native-American fourth graders read below the proficient level.
  • 1n 1996, 79 percent of fourth graders performed below the proficient level in mathematics. 76 percent of eighth graders performed below the proficient level in mathematics. 84 percent of twelf graders performed below the proficient level in mathematics.
  • 95 percent of African-American fourth graders, 92 percent of Hispanic fourth graders, and 92 percent of Native-American fourth graders performed below the proficient level in mathematics.

Given that at-risk youth need additional academic support, the question arises: Can after-school programs affect the academic performance of youth? Recent research indicates that after-school programs have a significant impact on the academic achievement of youth. According to the 1998 U.S. Department of Education report, Safe and Smart: Making the After-School Hours Work for Kids, after-school programs can:

  • Increase achievement in math, reading and other subjects.
  • Help children develop greater confidence in their academic abilities.
  • Increase school attendance rates.
  • Improve the quantity and quality of completed homework.
  • Improve rates of high school graduation.
  • Improve behavior of students.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Project Learn
Project Learn: The Educational Enhancement Program is Boys & Girls Club of America's response to the need of its youth for after-school and summer academic enrichment. This program, based upon the research of Dr. Reginald Clark, is a strategy designed to enable Clubs to assist their members in increasing their academic scores.

Background
Dr. Reginald Clark, an education researcher and consultant, has explored the relationship of the non-school hours and the academic achievement of low-income children and teens. Clark's research has demonstrated that how students from disadvantaged circumstances use their time out of school is an important predictor of their academic success. Clark found that low-achieving students spend the majority of their non-school hours involved in activities that have little benefit to them during their in-school time. In contrast, high-achieving students participate in more activities that reinforce the skills and knowledge learned in school. Thus, these students are constantly learning and building upon knowledge acquired in school.

While low-achieving students spend the majority of their nonschool hours involved in activities that have little benefit to them during their in-school time, high-achieving students are more likely to participate in activities that reinforce the skills and knowledge learned in school.

Clark's research also identified specific out-of-school activities that had a significant effect on the academic success of low-income students. Labeling these high-yield learning activities, Clark observed that high-achieving, low-income students engaged in these activities approximately 25-35 hours per week. Clark's high-yield learning activities include:
  • Four to five hours of discussions with knowledgeable adults (teen rap sessions, talking with parents, etc.)
  • Four to five hours of leisure reading (short stories, sports page of newspaper, adolescent/teen magazines)
  • One to two hours of writing activities (writing telephone messages, writing poetry, journal writing)
  • Five to six hours of homework help and study (homework completion, studying, tutoring, etc.)
  • Two to three hours of helping others (chores, community service projects)
  • Four to five hours of games utilizing cognitive skills (Monopoly, Scrabble, Sim City, Oregon Trail)

The Components of Project Learn
Project Learn was developed based on this research and its implications. Project Learn consists of five components: homework help and tutoring, high-yield learning activities, incentives, parental involvement, and collaboration with schools.

Homework help and tutoring

This program component draws from experience with Boys & Girls Clubs of America's national homework help and tutorial program, POWER HOUR. Through this component, Clubs enable members to develop the daily habit of completing homework and class preparation in a safe, quiet, allocated space with staff and volunteer encouragement for five to six hours weekly.


High-yield learning activities (HYLAs)

Clark's model provides Club staff with a vehicle for extending learning opportunities outside of the learning center. Most importantly, it helps youth practically apply what they learn in the school by making positive and productive choices about how they spend their leisure time at the Club and at home.


Parent involvement

Through parent involvement, Clubs seek to empower the adult members in a child's life to support his or her academic development. This process not only includes involving parents and adults in Club activities, but also providing these adults with opportunities for self-improvement (e.g., G.E.D. programs, literacy programs, etc.), and giving parents materials and activities to do with their children at home.


Collaboration with schools

To effectively supplement the work of the schools, Club staff must also have a relationship with school officials, particularly teachers. This component enables Clubs to work with teachers to develop individualized plans for Club members to build their competency in challenging subjects.


Incentives

Incentives are a means to reward Club members for positive academic participation and encourage parent involvement in Project Learn. As an introductory phase, material rewards (e.g., pizza parties, book bags, etc.) are used. However, the real goal of the incentive component is to help young people develop their own internal means of remaining self-motivated to continue pursuing scholastic success. As children and teens perform increasingly well in school, they become proud of themselves, and in turn, work harder to achieve greater success in school.


Implementation and Evaluation of Project Learn
The Carnegie Corporation of New York partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs of America in the development of Project Learn. Carnegie funded the implementation and evaluation of this model in 1995. Five Boys & Girls Club sites in public housing developments across the United States were selected for field testing, and Club staff members were trained in the model. To test Project Learn's effectiveness, Dr. Steven Schinke of Columbia University's School of Social Work performed a 30-month evaluation of the program.

Evaluation Methodology
In April 1996, Boys & Girls Clubs of America implemented the Project Learn model (then called the Educational Enhancement Program) in public housing in New York City; Cleveland; Oakland, California; Edinburg, Texas; and Tampa, Florida. Schinke's evaluation research design compared educational outcomes for Project Learn participants ages 10-15 against outcomes for similar youth enrolled in five "traditional" Boys & Girls Clubs (not implementing Project Learn) and similar youth participating in five non-Boys & Girls Club programs.

All sites were located in public housing developments. The cities chosen reflected Boys & Girls Clubs of America's need to field test Project Learn in sites that represented the diversity of its Clubs geographically. Public housing developments were chosen because the youth living there are representative of children and teens who need this type of intervention. It was thought that if Project Learn could work in these communities, it could work anywhere else.

Across the 15 sites, 992 youth initially took part in the evaluation. The sample was 40 percent female and had an average age of 12.3 years. Youth did not differ in mean age or gender distributions among program, comparison, and control groups. Youth from program and comparison sites were members of their respective Boys & Girls Clubs. Youth from control sites were regular users of the respective facilities (after-school, recreational, and other human services programs). According to staff records, youth attendance and participation rates were similar and uniformly high across the three groups.

Graduate students (masters and doctoral degree candidates) from Columbia University were trained to collect objectively academic performance data from youth, teachers, and schools. Data were collected at four points in time: pre-program, seven months, 18 months, and 30 months. The data collected on the youth in all 15 sites were school grades, youth self-reports, and teacher evaluations.

Findings of Project Learn Evaluation
Thirty months after the establishment of the program, Project Learn participants not only increased their grade point averages, but also had markedly higher school scores than the youth participating in other after-school programs. By the final data collection period, Project Learn participants had:

  • Increased their overall grade point average by 11 percent
  • Increased their mathematics grade point average by 13 percent
  • Increased their history grade point average by 13 percent
  • Increased their science grade point average by 10 percent
  • Increased their spelling grade point average by 22 percent
  • Increased their reading grade point average by five percent

Compared to non-Boys & Girls Club youth, Project Learn participants had a:

  • 15 percent higher overall grade point average
  • 16 percent higher grade point average in mathematics

  • 20 percent higher grade point average in history
  • 14 percent higher grade point average in science

  • 20 percent higher grade point average in spelling
  • Nine percent higher grade point average in reading


Additionally, Project Learn participants decreased the number of days they were absent by 66 percent. Compared to non-Boys & Girls Club youth, Project Learn youth missed 87 percent fewer days from school.

Teachers rated Project Learn youth as having higher reading, writing, and overall school performance than non-Boys & Girls Club youth. Furthermore, they reported that these youth had greater interest in class material than non-Boys & Girls Club youth.

From the youth surveys, Project Learn participants reported reading and writing more than non-Boys & Girls Club youth. In fact, the more Project Learn youth participated in the program, the more they:

  • Read books and magazines.
  • Received help with their homework.
  • Talked with adults about current events.
  • Tutored younger members.

The evaluation results clearly prove the value of a Boys & Girls Club-based educational enhancement program for disadvantaged youth. Data collected from youth, teachers, and school records dramatically demonstrate Project Learn's effectiveness. In his final report, Schinke concludes, "Boys & Girls Clubs of America can rightfully take credit for helping youth in essential areas of academic achievement, school behavior, and study skills."

The more Project Learn youth participated in the program, the more they read books and magazines, received help with their homework, talked with adults about current events, and tutored younger members.


A New, Exciting Vision for Educational Enhancement
This research had profound effects on how Boys & Girls Clubs of America envisions educational enhancement. Prior to this, a Club's academic enhancement activities were more than likely limited to homework help and tutoring. Club professionals believed that Clubs were not schools. Clubs had an equally important, but different function than schools. Thus, it was thought that implementing "school-like" programs in the Club was to attempt to replicate school in the Club.

As a result, most Clubs confined their education program opportunities to the Club's learning center and its learning center director. As one might imagine, many children and teens who were failing in school or disliked school simply avoided this area of the Club building. Since learning activities were confined to a certain area, a certain time, and a particular staff person, children and teens either came to the Club after the education programs had ended for the day or chose alternate activities during those program hours. Thus, education program participants tended to be those youth who were already moderately successful in school.

When Clubs did implement education programs, ironically, they looked very "school-like." Learning centers, during homework help time, resembled mini-classrooms. Staff members and volunteers acted similarly to classroom teachers, giving lectures and assignments. Many Clubs failed to recognize and take advantage of the unique opportunities a Club setting provides to stimulate learning in young people.

Clark's findings about the benefits of high-yield learning activities suggested that educational enhancement is much more than homework help, tutoring, and the learning center. Boys & Girls Club members can learn and reinforce skills and information directly related to their academics in the gym, games room, arts and craft room, etc. By using high- yield learning activities, Clubs incorporate critical skills and information children and teens need into daily Club activities. In other words, they cannot "escape." By using high-yield learning activities as the template for program development and scheduling, the entire Club can be transformed into a learning center. In fact, every moment of a young person's time at a Boys & Girls Club can be a learning experience (see the sidebar that follows). 		 
 

Sidebar 1:
Implementing the Project Learn Strategy
 
 

Although children and teens may not be able to "escape" learning in the Club, the goal is not only to make learning exciting, but also to make it self-directed. One of the major findings of the evaluation is that the more youth participated, the more they enjoyed the program, and the better they performed academically. As staff members expose children and teens to new ideas, careers, events, and activities, they spark their interest and encourage their questions. Using these questions as a springboard, staff members enable Club members to explore further their areas of interest. As staff members are able to do this on a daily basis, Clubs develop members who are not only successful in school, but also become life-long learners.

For Boys & Girls Club staff, Project Learn requires a change in how they conceptualize their jobs. Since Project Learn is not a curriculum, but rather a strategy, staff members are trained to think strategically about educational opportunities in the Club. Whereas there are some formal educational activities, the major learning opportunities for youth come through the Club's daily, normal programs and activities. Staff members must ask themselves: What academic skills are being reinforced in this activity? What information can be conveyed that will enable members to be more successful in school?

Where Will Boys & Girls Clubs of America Go From Here?
Although Schinke's evaluation demonstrated the positive impact of Project Learn, this is only the beginning. Boys & Girls Clubs of America's youth development outcomes for education state that by age 18, Club members should:

  • Be proficient in basic educational disciplines (i.e., reading, writing, mathematics).
  • Be proficient in the use of technology (computers).
  • Graduate from high school.
  • Become life-long learners.

Project Learn provides the framework for thinking about these outcomes, but other, more specific programs (reading, writing, science, and mathematics) must be developed. Boys & Girls Clubs of America continues to work with research organizations, universities, and other non-profit organizations to develop and implement the most effective education programs available. In addition to its program development efforts, Boys & Girls Clubs of America is also considering the role its facilities play in the learning process. Specifically, how can the Club's learning center be renovated to better support learning in the after-school hours (while still remaining a fun place to go)? The final consideration is training and professional development. With more than 2,300 Boys & Girls Clubs in the United States and on military bases abroad, this is a monumental task.

Project Learn is an exciting, dynamic new program for local Clubs. More importantly, Project Learn provides children and teens with an opportunity to use their after-school hours in a fun, yet academically productive way.

Author Bio

Carter Julian Savage, Ed.D., is Senior Director, Education Programs, for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Savage manages the development and implementation of all education programs in the Boys & Girls Club Movement. Savage is himself a Club alumnus and worked as a Boys & Girls Club professional for 10 years before assuming his current position. 		 
   

NEW DESIGNS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT © 1999