Improve future research on afterschool participation by refining how participation is conceptualized, measured, and studied¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The review closes by offering methodological guidance: it states that "several suggestions are offered to improve future research on the relationship between aspects of participation and developmental outcomes." Researchers studying afterschool programs should attend to how participation amount is defined and measured and to study design choices, since the review found these factors determine whether participation-outcome relationships appear. This strategy directs future studies toward better operationalization of participation rather than simple dose counts.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Future studies must specify how participation is conceptualized and measured, since the review found relationships depend on these choices

Constraints¶

• The suggestions address research on the relationship between aspects of participation and developmental outcomes, not program design directly

Target Learners¶

• children and youth participating in afterschool programs

Target Learning Goals¶

• academic outcomes
• behavioral outcomes
• socio-emotional developmental outcomes

Claims¶

• Some afterschool participation benefits emerged when high-level participants were compared to non-participants, but not when compared to other program participants [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Jodie Roth, Lizabeth M. Malone, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. (2010). Does the Amount of Participation in Afterschool Programs Relate to Developmental Outcomes? A Review of the Literature. American Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 45, no. 3-4. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/does-the-amount-of-participation-in-afterschool-programs-relate-to-developmental-outcomes