21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 10 claims (4 for, 4 mixed, 2 against) · 4 studies (3 causal, 1 review),q3· 0 of 4 report an effect size · 8 claims rest on one study
Description¶
A U.S. Department of Education programme that funds community learning centers to provide academic enrichment and supervised out-of-school-time activities for students, particularly those attending high-poverty or low-performing schools.
Components¶
- 21st Century Community Learning Center afterschool programs (elementary component, national evaluation): The 21st Century Community Learning Center afterschool programs keep elementary schools open late, providing supervised after-school settings. The article presents evidence from "the elementary school component of Mathematica's national evaluation" of these programs, "conducted in 12 school districts and 26 afterschool centers." The evaluation measured supervision arrangements, self-care, safety perceptions, academic outcomes, and behavior incidents. (Susanne James-Burdumy et al. (2007))
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school program: The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is a national after-school initiative in which schools stay open late to serve students. The national evaluation compared elementary students participating in the program with students not enrolled, examining safety feelings, negative behaviors, achievement, and homework assistance or completion. The evaluation summary states "There were few impacts on student achievement overall" for this program. (James-Burdumy et al. (2005))
Claims¶
- Students in 21st CCLC elementary programs had more incidents of negative behavior [-W]
- 21st CCLC elementary programs did not affect students' academic outcomes [~W] — (also cited [-W])
- 21st CCLC participation showed no statistically significant effect on the incidence of self-care after school [~W]
- 21st CCLC afterschool programs changed after-school supervision, with parents less likely to care for their child and other adults more likely [+W]
- Students in 21st CCLC programs reported feeling safer after school [+W]
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school programs changed where and with whom students spent some of their after-school time [+W]
- Elementary students participating in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program felt safer than students not enrolled [+W]
- 21st Century after-school programs had only limited influence on academic performance, including test scores, grades, and homework completion [~W] — (also cited [-W])
- The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program had few impacts on student achievement overall [~W] — (also cited [-W])
- No difference between treatment and control groups on homework assistance or completion in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers evaluation [-W]
Related Products and Programmes¶
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Key Sources¶
- Susanne James-Burdumy, Mark Dynarski, John Deke. (2007). When Elementary Schools Stay Open Late: Results from The National Evaluation of the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers Program. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 29, no. 4. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/journal-article-when-elementary-schools-stay-open-late-results-from-the-national-evaluation
- James-Burdumy, S., Dynarski, M., Moore, M., Deke, J., Mansfield, W., & Pistorino, C. (2005). When Schools Stay Open Late: The National Evaluation of the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers Program. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/when-schools-stay-open-late-the-national-evaluation-of-the-21st-century-community-learning-centers-program
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
21st-century-community-learning-centers-21st-cclc-program |
title |
21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program |
description |
A U.S. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
element/21st-cclc-elementary-afterschool-program-element, element/21st-century-community-learning-centers-program |
product_kind |
programme |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — susanne-james-burdumy-2007, james-burdumy-2005 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.